A peak behind the curtain

I want to discuss my work process and how I start with an idea and the steps to create a finished drawing. The subject matter of my drawings varies quite a bit, but follow a few themes. Currently, I mostly draw wildlife, but mix in a number of local city-scapes or unique architecture. To do this, I use mostly my own photos. (I have purchased stock photo disks and single files). This is easy when I walk around town with my camera on a quiet early Sunday morning or after the sun comes out after a nice rain. I can shoot a house or street until I feel I have enough good shots to make an interesting drawing.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to Africa or Yellowstone National Park very often. So, I go to the local zoo. In Springfield, we have the very nice Dickerson Park Zoo, and St. Louis isn’t so far away. Over the years I have shot images at a number of zoos, and Yellowstone Park, plus reference material in the local wilderness with the idea that someday I would draw them.

If you have seen my photos, you would know I am not a photographer by any measure. My eye is always focused on the details, yet my camera hardly ever is. Volume of images allows me to composite enough detail to create a drawing from what I shoot.

After I select a subject and an image, I start sketching a layout that works for the size drawing that I am developing. The composition isn’t always required to work within the classical standards for a drawing, but balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern should also include some drama. This can be the addition of humor, implied movement or a forced perspective.

Once I have a layout I like I transfer it to my final working surface with a 0.7 mechanical pencil very lightly. I work a lot of detail into the pencil sketch because it is very important to be precise when working in a highly realistic style. This allows me much more freedom when I start to draw in ink. Currently, my preferred drawing surface is Strathmore 100 lb. Bristol Board. It has just enough of a ‘tooth’ to take the pencil, solidly retains the ink from my pens and allows me to erase the pencil from under the ink.

When I start drawing in ink, I start with the areas that would ruin the work if I messed them up. I start with the eyes, nose and mouth (human or animal). Those pieces that define the character of my subject. I do this so if I ruin the drawing, I haven’t spent a week drawing before I messed it up. I am dealing in ink, so there is no going back. The good thing about the pens I use is they are much easier and cleaner than years ago. Technical pens with the tiny refillable cartridges, fountain pens and the brass and steel nibs all could ruin a drawing in a split second. The Sakura Pigma Micron technical pens are very safe from leaks and they are extremely portable, so you can draw anywhere.

As I draw, I work from the center of focus outward. I work on the tone and contrast level as I go. It is very hard to adjust the value of your inked drawing later on, so it is better to keep it in mind as you go. Some, work may be required to darken some areas may be necessary. I do all of my pen-work in one size pen, a .005 Micron, even for solid black areas. In previous years, I would use a brush and ink or a larger sized pen, but it looks out of place now.

When I am finished, I erase all of the pencil work with a white Staedtler Mars plastic eraser. This removes a gray tones and I am left with a clean black drawing on bright white paper. 

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