My Style
My specialism is head and shoulder portraits, as I love to focus on the character and expression of the animal.
For colour portraits, I use a combination of Faber Castell Polychromos and Caran d’Ache Luminance colour pencils on Polydraw drafting film and occasionally on Clairefontaine Pastelmat. My preference is drafting film as I am a detail artist and find I can achieve finer, more intricate results on the film. Every area of the drawing requires between 3 to 5 layers of pencil to achieve the texture of the fur or feather and as such it is a slow but rewarding process. Most layers are made up of different colours to achieve the desired effect.
For black and white portraits, I use Faber Castell Graphite pencils on Faber Castell paper.
Your choices and how to pick a photograph
Black and White
Black and white portraits are quicker than colour to draw. They are atmospheric and capture light and dark tones very well. However they can lack the realism that coloured portraits produce.
Colour
Colour portraits are slow to produce as they require many layers of colour pencil to create textures. The end result is a more realistic portrait.
How to choose a photograph
It is preferable for me to see a selection of good quality digital photographs, taken in a good light source, where the head and the features of the animal are clear and the photo can be zoomed in and enlarged if necessary. I can then advise which photo (or combination of photos) will produce the best results.