This was an animal that someone the other day showed an interest in. This thought be came a bit of a challenge that just made my brain become obsessive and had to do start creating. This little fellow kept popping into my head and finally landed on the page.
Notice that when I start to add the color on the drawing, I start with the shadow color first, in this case, dark purple and then the extreme high light of a cad yellow. The purple gives a great base color for the browns of the fur to intensify. Black is ok for the shadows, but often shadows are not really black unless it may be at night and then it is a possibility. Using other colors for shadows creates interest and more personality for your drawings, choosing other colors for high lights rather than whites does the same. It can help you look at color totally differently, expand your thinking, create different mood based on color not just expressions and body language, play with color and give yourself permission to have fun.
I got to play with my new Faber Castel pencils. Here is something that you guys might like to think about. I peeled and cut off the wood to get to the lead so that I could use it in my Kor I Noor lead holder and look at how much wood comes off of 100 pencils. This is a pile about 18-20 inches across and 10 inches high. I am also shocked at how much longer the pencils last without having to use a pencil sharpener and only sharpen the lead. It is less messy to sharpen and takes up less space in the old backpack. Maybe I will show this to Faber Castell and they can come up with a wood friendly colored pencil that is like the Kor I Noor woodless product. Just a note, the Faber Castell has a much harder lead than the Kor I Noor.
By the way I HIGHLY recommend this store for its super coffee, one of the best in town. I had the cafe latte silvestre. It is a latte with honey. I was pleasantly shocked and for a spoiling and indulging it was perfect. They also had a selection of art supplies, including Derwent color pencils and inktense pencils. One of the owners is making lovely jewlery as well. This store is in Banos, Tungurahua Ecuador, on Calles: Thomas Halflants Y Luis A. Martinez. If you are visiting here, this will be a coffee highlight for you. Great assortment of reading material also!