I’d like to to share one of my latest projects, something I never thought I would do since I’ve never really drawn animals other than cats and birds before: custom portraits of my friend April’s Shiba Inus! When she first asked me I wasn’t sure if I could do it so I made this colored pencil sketch of her two Shibas sitting side by side. For practice.
Obviously I got the proportions all wrong. š³ Anyway, working on the sketch allowed me to familiarize myself with their features and markings so I eventually felt more at ease drawing them. I think it also helped that Shiba dogs look somewhat “feline” ((for me at least)) with their upright ears and almond-shaped upward-slanting eyes.
And then I made individual portraits, taking into account each of their distinct attributes — for instance a slightly crooked ear for one of them which was from an operation, etc — for a more personal touch. I was confident enough to use watercolor this time. I don’t typically use blacks for coloring but the black and tan Shiba variety called for it and I was quite happy with how they turned out and thankfully, so was their mom. š
These were so fun to do and once I get more dog-drawing practice under my belt, I’ll likely add animal portraits to my custom artwork repertoire. (I will have to draw the line at pet reptiles though… šÆ )
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Meanwhile.. it’s no secret that I love our cat. In fact he’s right there in my blog logo illustration which I haven’t changed for years. He’s also in my still-non-existent handmade store’s logo (see watermark) and in a lot of drawings I’ve done and even in some of Arnold‘s comics as an Easter egg to friends who know us well.
There was one day last week when my mind hit a blankĀ and I couldn’t start working. He was lying on his play matĀ in front of me and, as if sensingĀ my anxiety, started rolling around playfully. I could never resist when he does that so I went over and gave him a chin and back rub. He looked soĀ contentĀ and carefree that I felt like preserving that moment. Without thinking I started sketching him. He kept moving around whileĀ I tried capturing all his posesĀ and that was the birth of the series of illustrations below (right) which I ended up turning into a pattern (left).
It’s still being proofed over at Spoonflower but if you like cats too, my orange tabbies pattern is now available on phone covers, iPad sleeves, and more at Zazzle and RedBubble.
