Peregrine Falcon Drawing

This 5" x 5" drawing is in ink on Ampersand Claybord.

I almost always use the Claybord instead of Ampersand's Scratchbord because I want to start with a white surface and add the black where I want it. The Scratchbord is already pre-coated with black ink.

I came across the reference photo via a forwarded e-mail. I contacted the photographer, Gregg Thompson, to ask if I could use his photo as reference for the drawing and he kindly agreed. Please note that the photo (and versions of it) are Gregg's and may not be copied from this site or used in any manner without permission.



I was going to teach a scratchboard class a few months after I saw the photo and thought the falcon would be a great demo drawing. I use square Claybord in my classes, so I cropped the photo to 5" x 5" and focused on the bird's head.


In addition to cropping the photo, I also sharpened the contrast


Greyscale version of the cropped photo. This helps me see the tones better since the drawing is black & white.


A detail of the drawing. I decided not to draw the wing feathers as dark as they appeared in the greyscale photo. I wanted a little more detail, so I also referred to the color photo.

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A Day at the Western States HorseExpo

Sandy and I spent yesterday at the Western States HorseExpo. In addition to wandering around, taking photos, petting dogs and horses, shopping and eating, we spent some time hanging out the "Dogs Pavilion" for dog-related businesses and rescue groups.

These dogs were at the Lake County Animal Services booth:






Considering we were at HorseExpo, I got surprisingly few decent horse photos. The only horse photos I took were at a Tennessee Walker breed demo. We saw lots of great horses though, including: a mini horse mare and her even "minier" foal - the foal had a very cute spotted rump, a gorgeous palomino quarter horse mare and her chestnut foal - also very cute, mini horses pulling carts, and a barn full of horses from the Grace Foundation that need homes (we petted almost every one of them).



I'd like to say I wanted the horse's ears cropped off, but I'd be lying. We were outside the corner of the arena fence, trying to photograph the horses through the railing as they went by. Still, I like the silver on the bridle and flaring nostrils in this photo - I see potential for an interesting drawing. This horse was a gorgeous dark palomino color.





It was a satisfying day spent with a dear friend, good people and plenty of critters. As much fun as it is to spend time with other animals, I'm always happy to get home and see my two:


Magpie the 8-year-old Border Collie


Bess the 27-year-old Quarter Horse

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Dog Day Afternoon

Today my friend Sandy & I went to the "Wag 'n' Walk" event in Grass Valley at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. Sponsored by AnimalSave (animal rescue) and Lazy Dog Ice Cream, this event was a day of "fun, food & games for dogs and their people". Never ones to miss photo opportunities, we took our cameras to see what kinds of dog photos we could get. We met and petted quite a few dogs, chatted with their owners and took some photos. Most unusual for us, we didn't buy any Lazy Dog ice cream. It's good stuff and we always get some when we go to the Draft Horse Classic at the Fairgrounds. But today, we stopped at South Pine Cafe in Grass Valley for lunch after the Wag 'n' Walk.


Dogs in the obedience demo put on by Top Dog Obedience School


Welsh Corgi - the photo's a little blurry, but the dog's expression is really cute



Bird's eye view of a French Bulldog



Border Collie - this is my favorite photo of the day

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Two Mini Dog Portraits

The portraits are mini, not the dogs! These pencil drawings are ACEO-sized. I've posted ACEOs on my blog before - they're art that's always 2.5" x 3.5". ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" and they started on eBay where I first learned about them.

These portraits are commissioned pieces and the dogs belong to the same client.


"Bella"


"Bruno"

I have plenty of samples of pencil ACEOs on this page of my web site. Some were commissions, others were drawings I did to list on eBay or elsewhere. You can visit this page to see ACEOs in other media (color pencil, scratchboard, ink, etc.)

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