Pet Portraits of Sorts: Disco Fever the Australian Shepherd Greeting Cards
Not gonna lie, coloring a dog digitally was actually a ton of fun. So thanks to my friend Diane for commissioning these greeting cards of her Australian Shepherd, Disco Fever! I definitely got way more detailed than I needed to with it considering a lot of what I did can’t even be seen at the card’s actual size, but this is me we’re talking about. Being a slave to detail is what I do best, for better or worse.
Original Photos:
Materials Used:
Original Sketch:
Strathmore Recycled Sketch Paper - Fine Tooth Surface
Lead Holders w/ 2H lead and HB lead
Design Process: (Click each image to see it blown up)
Materials Used (Continued):
Final Drawing:
Wacom intuos 5 Touch Professional Pen Tablet
Corel Painter 2016
Pens - Flat Color 2 (for initial blue outline and base colors)
Acrylics and Gouache - Bounced around between Captured Bristle 2, Real Dry Flat, and Real Long Bristle (for the fur texture)
Airbrush - Detail Airbrush (for final outlining)
Progress Pics: (Click each image to see it blown up)
Time Spent / Time-Lapse Video: As I mentioned above, originally I thought the final drawing/coloring process was going to take little to no time considering once my designs were complete the demands for coloring something so small were pretty simple. You’d think by now I’d know myself better... A rule one of my theater design teachers taught me in college was to guess how long a project will take to complete, and then multiply that number by three. Do I ever actually heed this advice? Not as much as I should, unfortunately. Suffice it to say, if I’m ever asked to do this again (and I really hope I am considering how much I enjoyed myself) I will keep track of how many hours I spend working, as well as record my Corel Painter coloring process.
Up Next: Unless I pick up a commission in the next couple of days the sky’s the limit for me. Maybe I’ll finally put some work into figuring out a project to do with Scout the Saddest Puppy. Or I can always tackle a breed I have yet to draw. We shall see!
Until next time! Lauren H.
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