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Description

I've seen quite a few people upload process GIFs here - and eventually I thought I'd do one myself. The original plan was to make one for the piece this eye belongs to (and which isn't finished yet...), but I got a bit impatient and I had taken images of the entire process behind drawing the eye anyway - so here we are. Making GIFs is more work than I had expected, though

It's a rather basic GIF, and a little too wonky for my taste - but well, that's what you get for taking photos of traditional art. I'm sure I could have improved this too, but there's a balance between time spent and the result too, and I didn't feel for tweaking this even more.

Now, on to explaining the steps:

1 - The original (graphite) sketch

2 - Added the first black layer

3 - I erased the graphite sketch inside the eye and made one with black colored pencil instead. (Graphite beneath colored pencil can be visible and smudge, so I tend to erase the graphite before drawing over it.)

4 - Dark brown layer

5 - Second black layer, for shading and such inside the eye

6 - Reddish brown layer

7 - Light yellow layer

8 - Darker yellow layer

9 - Added some orange and more reddish brown

10 - Finishing touches. Here I often darken up the black even more, and add small details like the fur around the eye.

As you can see, I work in layers, and I often have a lot of layers on any given area. I think the GIF gives a pretty good look at exactly how this works.

Article which shows the whole process behind the drawing:

The process behind Lynx Portrait IVSmall note: As the title says, this article will walk you through the process behind how I drew "Lynx portrait IV - The Fluffy-eared Noble". In a way, it might work as a step-by-step as well. However, note that this is the way I work, with the techniques I like the most. It's not some definite guide about the single best way to draw an animal portrait.Now, on to the fun stuff. And we'll start at the very beginning - namely, the reference.,This is a photo I took myself when I visited a wildlife park this summer. It was feeding time, and this certainly got the lynxes' attention - and made for some good photos. I decided to go for this one because the lighting was interesting and because I liked the angle of the head.The image couldn't be used just like this, though. While I can "edit out" the fence when I draw, only the face is really interesting. Hence, I cropped the image (note that is has the same format as a normal paper now too), and I also edited the colors and the saturation a bit.,Now I had a composition I liked. However, the background wasn't really that interesting - I wanted the lynx to be even more in focus, and I honestly didn't want to spend a lot of time drawing half-blurred grass either.I therefore decided on a green bokeh background. I could have just invented one, but I still think it's easier if you have a guideline, so I went and found a photo I liked on Unsplash. Then I pasted the lynx on top of it and edited the colors. I wanted them a bit more muted to make sure they didn't steal attention from the fabulous feline, as well as adding some more golden to match the fur.,The last step of the editing was to add a grid. I use a large grid (I divide the reference into 16 parts - I'm not starting with tiny little squares) to make it easier for me to get the sketch correct. The first step of the actual drawing process is also, unsurprisingly, to draw this grid on the paper.,(Small note - the grid here is from an older drawing, as I had forgotten to take a photo of this step for the lynx drawing. I didn't want to leave it out, though. Frankly, I made the grid close to invisible on the drawing anyway, which caused trouble later on.Small tip too: If you work with colored pencils, draw the grid with colored pencils too. Those straight graphite lines have a tendency to be more visible than you'd like, even when they are supposed to be erased. This kept me from making grids for a long time.)Next up is the actual sketch. Even though this is an A4 drawing - so 21cm*30cm, or about 8"*12" using Freedom Units - this step takes some time. Using an hour to get a decent sketch isn't unusual. After all, I need to make sure everything is in the exact correct place and that the proportions are all good.,Also note I added no sketch lines for the background. It's blurred, and it's not important if all the circles are in the perfect place - hence, sketch lines aren't necessary here. Next up is the coloring. The graphite pencil is done away with and the colored pencils are found. I tend to start with the subject's eyes - the eyes are the most important part of the animal, and the artwork will only look good if they are done well. Also, I find they give the piece more "life", which inspires me to continue drawing. This is personal preference, though.Now most of you might have seen that I have made a GIF with the steps behind drawing the right eye, and already know I draw using layers. However, this article will include the whole process, so here it is again:,From the top:The original (graphite) sketch. This shows all the important details - the outlines of the eye, the shadow, the main highlight, the pupil.Here I added the first black layer and drew the outline of the eye. This is an important part, as I have to make sure the shape is correct. Here I erased the graphite sketch inside the eye and made one with black colored pencil instead. (Graphite beneath colored pencil can be visible and smudge, so I tend to erase the graphite before drawing over it.) See it as an extension of the first black layer.The dark brown layer. Note that I draw over the black too - this gives the black a deeper and richer tone. This also shows exactly where the shadow is.Second black layer, for shading and such inside the eye.Reddish brown layer, to make the color of the shadow richer and to add some detail to the iris. Light yellow layer, to get an idea of the values in the iris.Darker yellow layer, to make the eye brighter.Added some orange and more reddish brown for details.Finishing touches. Here I often darken up the black even more, and add small details like the fur around the eye.After finishing the first eye this way, I completed the second one with a similar process.,Having finished the eyes, I focused on the third very important part of the animal - the nose and muzzle. This is again done in layers, with the black one first (as can easily be seen on the mouth, because I have only drawn the black layer here). ,With the most important details done, it was time to start working on the fur. The fur on the muzzle and between the eyes was an obvious choice, considering how close that was with the already finished areas. When I draw fur I tend to start with a black layer again, if there are any dark areas. Having dark areas around makes it easier for me to judge my values - in other words, check if I go dark enough or eventually if I go too dark. The lynx had few dark areas in their fur, however, so you won't see much of this.I then add a base layer - which basically is a flat layer of the lightest color in the area. This is to prevent white areas between the different "fur lines", and thereby make the fur look smoother and more natural. After the base layer I will use various colors to draw the fur lines - which really are just lines. Their length and direction will depend on how I want the fur to look, as well as which colors I use and how much I use those colors.Note that I will work in sections here as well, although those tend to be rather loosely defined. I will start somewhere, work on that area for a while, and gradually expand it when I finish parts. This means I won't try to do everything at once (for example finish all the black areas of the fur, then all the brown areas, then all the golden ones...), and this helps me to keep motivated. ,After I finished most of the sunlit fur on the face (the ears don't count - ears are separate sections) I started on the areas which are in shadow. You can very clearly see the base layer in the first image here. Note how it's grey here instead of light pink/flesh. I also started to jump around a bit more here, and started to switch between multiple areas. You can see I started with the shadowy area before finishing the ear, for example. This allowed me to use different techniques - which of course is more fun than doing the same stuff over and over again.,Time for another jump - the sunlit golden fur on the back. After all, the ears were finished, and at the moment the white fur on the chest just wasn't that interesting So the back it was, and then I just continued to work on both sections, slowly expanding both while finishing more and more mini areas. ,Add in the white fur on the left, and the lynx themselves were finished:,With the lynx finished, I had to work on the background. Normally I would have been multitasking with it alongside the fur, but I decided against it this time because I wanted an image of the lynx with a white background - it could be useful as an illustration sometime. (It turned out to be very hard to edit, though, due to lighting issues - but still.)Either way, it was not the background's turn. Bokeh backgrounds aren't especially hard or time-consuming, but still require some work. Again, it's mostly done in sections and layers, and tend to start with the darkest areas (the grey and dark green in this case) and then focus on the lighter areas afterwards. Because the colors have to blend well together there is also a lot of layering going on.,From the top:The first dark grey layer (at least, it's done with a dark grey pencil - it's not exactly dark grey everywhere). This is the darkest area in this section, and is thus worked on first.The first dark green layer, for the rest of that dark section. This layer fades into the grey one.More layers in lighter colors. There's some kind of yellow and a lighter green.And more dark colors again - mostly browns, more grey, and likely some more green as well.I continued this layering process until I has finished the whole background:,This went quite quickly, so I didn't take a lot of WIPs. It does follow the same technique anyway, with a lot of blending and creating smooth areas of color. Note that I drew around the whiskers here - both on the furry side and with the background. While this was some more work, it allowed me to keep the whiskers a bright white. There weren't that many whiskers here and they were quite easy to draw around, making this the easiest choice here.And then we have the finished piece:, ...And the finished article I hope you found it interesting, though!...

Reference photo is taken myself. A cropped and edited version is found here:

Colored pencils, possibly around an hour. The eye itself is some 2,5 cm wide.

Description

I've seen quite a few people upload process GIFs here - and eventually I thought I'd do one myself. The original plan was to make one for the piece this eye belongs to (and which isn't finished yet...), but I got a bit impatient and I had taken images of the entire process behind drawing the eye anyway - so here we are. Making GIFs is more work than I had expected, though

It's a rather basic GIF, and a little too wonky for my taste - but well, that's what you get for taking photos of traditional art. I'm sure I could have improved this too, but there's a balance between time spent and the result too, and I didn't feel for tweaking this even more.

Now, on to explaining the steps:

1 - The original (graphite) sketch

2 - Added the first black layer

3 - I erased the graphite sketch inside the eye and made one with black colored pencil instead. (Graphite beneath colored pencil can be visible and smudge, so I tend to erase the graphite before drawing over it.)

4 - Dark brown layer

5 - Second black layer, for shading and such inside the eye

6 - Reddish brown layer

7 - Light yellow layer

8 - Darker yellow layer

9 - Added some orange and more reddish brown

10 - Finishing touches. Here I often darken up the black even more, and add small details like the fur around the eye.

As you can see, I work in layers, and I often have a lot of layers on any given area. I think the GIF gives a pretty good look at exactly how this works.

Article which shows the whole process behind the drawing:

The process behind Lynx Portrait IVSmall note: As the title says, this article will walk you through the process behind how I drew "Lynx portrait IV - The Fluffy-eared Noble". In a way, it might work as a step-by-step as well. However, note that this is the way I work, with the techniques I like the most. It's not some definite guide about the single best way to draw an animal portrait.Now, on to the fun stuff. And we'll start at the very beginning - namely, the reference.,This is a photo I took myself when I visited a wildlife park this summer. It was feeding time, and this certainly got the lynxes' attention - and made for some good photos. I decided to go for this one because the lighting was interesting and because I liked the angle of the head.The image couldn't be used just like this, though. While I can "edit out" the fence when I draw, only the face is really interesting. Hence, I cropped the image (note that is has the same format as a normal paper now too), and I also edited the colors and the saturation a bit.,Now I had a composition I liked. However, the background wasn't really that interesting - I wanted the lynx to be even more in focus, and I honestly didn't want to spend a lot of time drawing half-blurred grass either.I therefore decided on a green bokeh background. I could have just invented one, but I still think it's easier if you have a guideline, so I went and found a photo I liked on Unsplash. Then I pasted the lynx on top of it and edited the colors. I wanted them a bit more muted to make sure they didn't steal attention from the fabulous feline, as well as adding some more golden to match the fur.,The last step of the editing was to add a grid. I use a large grid (I divide the reference into 16 parts - I'm not starting with tiny little squares) to make it easier for me to get the sketch correct. The first step of the actual drawing process is also, unsurprisingly, to draw this grid on the paper.,(Small note - the grid here is from an older drawing, as I had forgotten to take a photo of this step for the lynx drawing. I didn't want to leave it out, though. Frankly, I made the grid close to invisible on the drawing anyway, which caused trouble later on.Small tip too: If you work with colored pencils, draw the grid with colored pencils too. Those straight graphite lines have a tendency to be more visible than you'd like, even when they are supposed to be erased. This kept me from making grids for a long time.)Next up is the actual sketch. Even though this is an A4 drawing - so 21cm*30cm, or about 8"*12" using Freedom Units - this step takes some time. Using an hour to get a decent sketch isn't unusual. After all, I need to make sure everything is in the exact correct place and that the proportions are all good.,Also note I added no sketch lines for the background. It's blurred, and it's not important if all the circles are in the perfect place - hence, sketch lines aren't necessary here. Next up is the coloring. The graphite pencil is done away with and the colored pencils are found. I tend to start with the subject's eyes - the eyes are the most important part of the animal, and the artwork will only look good if they are done well. Also, I find they give the piece more "life", which inspires me to continue drawing. This is personal preference, though.Now most of you might have seen that I have made a GIF with the steps behind drawing the right eye, and already know I draw using layers. However, this article will include the whole process, so here it is again:,From the top:The original (graphite) sketch. This shows all the important details - the outlines of the eye, the shadow, the main highlight, the pupil.Here I added the first black layer and drew the outline of the eye. This is an important part, as I have to make sure the shape is correct. Here I erased the graphite sketch inside the eye and made one with black colored pencil instead. (Graphite beneath colored pencil can be visible and smudge, so I tend to erase the graphite before drawing over it.) See it as an extension of the first black layer.The dark brown layer. Note that I draw over the black too - this gives the black a deeper and richer tone. This also shows exactly where the shadow is.Second black layer, for shading and such inside the eye.Reddish brown layer, to make the color of the shadow richer and to add some detail to the iris. Light yellow layer, to get an idea of the values in the iris.Darker yellow layer, to make the eye brighter.Added some orange and more reddish brown for details.Finishing touches. Here I often darken up the black even more, and add small details like the fur around the eye.After finishing the first eye this way, I completed the second one with a similar process.,Having finished the eyes, I focused on the third very important part of the animal - the nose and muzzle. This is again done in layers, with the black one first (as can easily be seen on the mouth, because I have only drawn the black layer here). ,With the most important details done, it was time to start working on the fur. The fur on the muzzle and between the eyes was an obvious choice, considering how close that was with the already finished areas. When I draw fur I tend to start with a black layer again, if there are any dark areas. Having dark areas around makes it easier for me to judge my values - in other words, check if I go dark enough or eventually if I go too dark. The lynx had few dark areas in their fur, however, so you won't see much of this.I then add a base layer - which basically is a flat layer of the lightest color in the area. This is to prevent white areas between the different "fur lines", and thereby make the fur look smoother and more natural. After the base layer I will use various colors to draw the fur lines - which really are just lines. Their length and direction will depend on how I want the fur to look, as well as which colors I use and how much I use those colors.Note that I will work in sections here as well, although those tend to be rather loosely defined. I will start somewhere, work on that area for a while, and gradually expand it when I finish parts. This means I won't try to do everything at once (for example finish all the black areas of the fur, then all the brown areas, then all the golden ones...), and this helps me to keep motivated. ,After I finished most of the sunlit fur on the face (the ears don't count - ears are separate sections) I started on the areas which are in shadow. You can very clearly see the base layer in the first image here. Note how it's grey here instead of light pink/flesh. I also started to jump around a bit more here, and started to switch between multiple areas. You can see I started with the shadowy area before finishing the ear, for example. This allowed me to use different techniques - which of course is more fun than doing the same stuff over and over again.,Time for another jump - the sunlit golden fur on the back. After all, the ears were finished, and at the moment the white fur on the chest just wasn't that interesting So the back it was, and then I just continued to work on both sections, slowly expanding both while finishing more and more mini areas. ,Add in the white fur on the left, and the lynx themselves were finished:,With the lynx finished, I had to work on the background. Normally I would have been multitasking with it alongside the fur, but I decided against it this time because I wanted an image of the lynx with a white background - it could be useful as an illustration sometime. (It turned out to be very hard to edit, though, due to lighting issues - but still.)Either way, it was not the background's turn. Bokeh backgrounds aren't especially hard or time-consuming, but still require some work. Again, it's mostly done in sections and layers, and tend to start with the darkest areas (the grey and dark green in this case) and then focus on the lighter areas afterwards. Because the colors have to blend well together there is also a lot of layering going on.,From the top:The first dark grey layer (at least, it's done with a dark grey pencil - it's not exactly dark grey everywhere). This is the darkest area in this section, and is thus worked on first.The first dark green layer, for the rest of that dark section. This layer fades into the grey one.More layers in lighter colors. There's some kind of yellow and a lighter green.And more dark colors again - mostly browns, more grey, and likely some more green as well.I continued this layering process until I has finished the whole background:,This went quite quickly, so I didn't take a lot of WIPs. It does follow the same technique anyway, with a lot of blending and creating smooth areas of color. Note that I drew around the whiskers here - both on the furry side and with the background. While this was some more work, it allowed me to keep the whiskers a bright white. There weren't that many whiskers here and they were quite easy to draw around, making this the easiest choice here.And then we have the finished piece:, ...And the finished article I hope you found it interesting, though!...

Reference photo is taken myself. A cropped and edited version is found here:

Colored pencils, possibly around an hour. The eye itself is some 2,5 cm wide.