Oaxacan Bearded Dragon, Stage 3!

^ Starting to detail the base of the tail.

^ Working my way slowly upward.

^ Pulling back to show my progress thus far.

^ Scales drawn onto tip of tail.

^ More progress on the tail.

^ Comparison between painted and primed areas.

^ I go back to the base of the tail with Violet along the midline.

^ I work with a light placed closely to my work surface to help me see.

^ The tail (besides the bottom near the hind leg) is finished!

^ Lower part of the tail done; skin in between belly spines colored.

^ Pulling back to show my work space.

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon, Stage 2!

^ I lightly pencil in the markings I want on the Dragon's back and tail.

^ Markings primed on back and tail.

^ Closeup of shoulder patch; I have begun detailing its scales.

^ ASeveral scales on the back, primed with another layer of color.

^ Even more color added.

^ Back finished!

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon, Stage 1!

^ Cut out template made from enlarged photocopies of a thumbnail sketch.

^ Revised lineart on the final board.

^ I begin priming the mouth and eye first.

^ Head and lighter areas primed.

^ Color added for head markings and shoulder patch.

^ Closeup showing the start of detailed scales on the head markings.

^ Color painted on the in-between markings.

^ I create a pebbly texture for the tiny scales around the Dragon's jaw spines.

^ Shading added to spines.

^ The top of the head, jaw spines, and shoulder patch are finished. Not including the priming layer, this is about an hour's worth of work.

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon: lineart!

^ Finished lineart for the Oaxacan Bearded Dragon, done with the 00 (.30) Rapidograph technical pen. I fixed the Dragon's facial proportions in pencil first.

Colors coming very soon! I'm going to finish as much of it as I can tonight and complete the illustration by Sunday. Next week, I'm going to get prints of my work make for my RAW showcase.

My RAW profile.

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon: color study / template!

^ Finished full-size color study, done directly on the template I used to size the Dragon on its final board.

I will begin working on the final piece tomorrow; I am eager for it!

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon: final rough sketch!

^ I curled the Dragon's tail upon Aunt Pam's suggestion. Initially I had its tail curled, and I think this looks much cuter than the straight tail.

Oaxacan Bearded Dragon: color palette and study!

^ My color palette for the Oaxacan Bearded Dragon includes purples and oranges, one of my favorite color combinations and based partially off of Draco's natural markings.

^ Rough color study to help me decide on color placement.

^ Cleaned up sketch, proportional to 9" x 12", referenced from several photos of Draco.

I'll have you know that bearded dragons' tails cannot bend like that, but I'm enjoying some artistic liberty for the sake of composition.

Meet my inspiration for the Oaxacan Bearded Dragon!

^ I took a photo of Dad holding Draco in his "Li'l Buddha" pose.

Draco here is around six years old. He was a high school graduation gift from my father's friends, a couple who used to raise bearded dragons.

I had him up here when I began college in 2007; I mailed him home (yes, mailed; overnight air) summer 2009 so I could better focus on my studies. My parents and brother brought him up here again when I graduated in June.

He's been a wonderful pet, and he never ceases to make me smile.

Rhodesian Ridgeback: progress, start to finish!

Rather than update with a bunch of smaller posts, I opted to update with one massive post, showing the Rhodesian Ridgeback in all its stages of completion, color study to final piece.

^ Revised color study in my second faux-Moleskine notebook (it's the Pentalic brand; they're great for quick color studies and figuring out color palettes).

^ Rough sketch of the Ridgeback on its final board.

^ Workplace shot, showing (clockwise from left): my color study; Verithins for detail work; my color palette; two Rapidograph technical pens for lineart; and the Ridgeback.

^ Finished lineart for the Ridgeback, using the 00 (.30) Rapidograph.

^ The tree is inked using the 3x0 (.25) Rapidograph.

^ Priming the tree's leaves begins with two hues.

^ Two-hue priming finished.

^ Sky primed with Greyed Lavender.

^ Pulling back to show primed tree leaves, sky, and far and middle background planes.

^ I've detailed some of the leaves on the tree, and have begun priming the foreground plane.

^ Closeup of the tree leaves.

^ Underpart of the leaf mass detailed / shaded.

^ The tree leaves are finished!

^ I finish painting the sky by layering Cloud Blue and Pink Rose over the Greyed Lavender priming layer. These two colors retained the underlying hue better than any other colors I tried.

^ Closeup of the Ridgeback's face against the colored background. I've begun desaturating the far background plane with Greyed Lavender.

^ Obligatory "shiny shot" showing a high sheen after buffing with a cotton ball.

^ Another "shiny shot," this time showing the full artwork thus far.

^ Background entirely finished (minus touch-ups).

^ First coat priming layer: Sand.

^ Second and third coat priming layers: Gold Ochre and Terra Cotta.

^ Closeup of the Ridgeback's face.

^ The Rhodesian Ridgeback is FINISHED!

Like the Great Dane, this was a fun illustration. I don't think it's as strong as the Dane is (all funky color combinations therein), but it was nice to create something fairly realistic while practicing my background skills. (I need need need to take up background work again and get better at it.)