Tara

Reference Photo

Framed

This is a drawing in graphite of my mom's dog, Tara. Tara is a Tervuren, or Belgian sheep dog. These dogs are tan and black, and have a lot of thick fur. For this drawing, the fur was the hardest to do. However, the face and especially the eyes were the elements that I was trying to draw attention to the most, so in this case it was not necessary for the fur to have a lot of detail. When creating a drawing I find it is important to think of what features you want to bring out the most. When drawing live subjects that are looking directly at the viewer, it is usually best to try to draw attention to the eyes. Eyes are often the best features for expressing emotion, and it is where most people naturally look when they are talking to someone. Unfortunately for me, at the time I was drawing this I did not have the best reference photo - as you can see above the camera flash completely blocked the eyes. Therefore, I had to draw the eyes from memory and occasionally looking at the real thing. This portrait was a Christmas present for my mother, hence the wait to post!