HOME | DD

cjc7664 — Cuddle

Published: 2009-02-18 05:05:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 3331; Favourites: 63; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description A mother cheetah with her cub cuddling up next to her.


14x11 bristol vellum. I've lost total track of time spent on this drawing. I spent most of sunday at work finishing it, so I'd say about 12 to 15 hours. Maybe more.

I'm about 95% happy with the drawing, so I haven't given it a coat of fixatif. The problem is that it seems unfinished to me, but I can't tell what I need to fix. Ugh.

Comments are always welcome.

**** Update ****
I went back and evened out the shadows, added detail to the cub, and made some changes to the background. I'm very happy with it now. A big thank you goes out to all who gave me their input.
Related content
Comments: 34

Oddslane [2011-05-17 10:47:55 +0000 UTC]

Sooo beautiful! love it!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

WarriorWhite [2009-07-21 07:44:23 +0000 UTC]

Cool!! I think you used the same image reference I did to make this painting [link]

looks great. I wish I had put detail into the mother's eye like you did. It looks a lot better.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

sidneyeileen [2009-06-06 06:08:57 +0000 UTC]

Hi! I featured this deviation in my journal today --> [link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DazedOblivion [2009-05-14 13:55:16 +0000 UTC]

Featured [link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

The-Vampire-Danchan [2009-03-22 07:41:58 +0000 UTC]

Great work

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to The-Vampire-Danchan [2009-03-26 03:35:57 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

cheetahspirit [2009-03-17 19:25:46 +0000 UTC]

I really like it. My one suggestion, and maybe that 5% you are missing, might be to add a little sparkle to the mother's eye, and possibly their noses as well. I know, the light is probably not really hitting it that way, but that's what art is all about- making it your own!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to cheetahspirit [2009-03-19 07:11:13 +0000 UTC]

Hmmm. I'll have to do it digitally to see if I like it first. I think my biggest problem is that I compare all my animal pictures to my Mother and Pup drawing. Thanks for the suggestion though.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cheetahspirit In reply to cjc7664 [2009-03-23 23:21:49 +0000 UTC]

I just checked out Mother and Pup. It is an excellent drawing, though you have a very different light situation going on there, and the mother seems to be looking away from the light. I understand the desire to compare your art with your best pieces, but you have to take risks to make them better! Experimenting with it, digitally or otherwise, sounds like a good idea!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to cheetahspirit [2009-03-26 04:14:41 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very, very much for you advice and the encouragement. I'm trying to get away from just trying to reproduce a photo as is. It's a bit of a struggle, but I'm getting there. Maybe one day my colored pencil drawings will be as great as yours are.

Thank you again.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cheetahspirit In reply to cjc7664 [2009-03-30 22:30:53 +0000 UTC]

I think that they will - keep up the good work!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BlueAngel271183 [2009-03-17 18:52:20 +0000 UTC]

Hi! You are featured in my new journal [link] ...hope you don't mind!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to BlueAngel271183 [2009-03-19 07:08:32 +0000 UTC]


I definitely don't mind.
Thank you very, very much.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

SoLong-AndGoodnight [2009-02-24 14:50:15 +0000 UTC]

Ah! Now I have nothing to complain about. (Not that I WAS complaining)
It's even lovlier than it was before, if that's possible.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to SoLong-AndGoodnight [2009-02-25 05:32:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

My girlfriend thought so as well, so it must be possible.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SoLong-AndGoodnight In reply to cjc7664 [2009-02-25 15:55:35 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! Yep.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

klumtimea [2009-02-24 08:57:02 +0000 UTC]

OMG! It's sooo adorable!

Just the background needs a little improvement... If you improve that, it will look even better!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Lorna-Leigh [2009-02-23 20:29:39 +0000 UTC]

Very nice job. I looove it.

The mother and cub both look practically perfect, like scheherazadenerai said, maybe a little more detail on the background would improve it.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to Lorna-Leigh [2009-02-24 04:50:33 +0000 UTC]

thank you.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

scheherazadenerai [2009-02-19 00:27:14 +0000 UTC]

Very good detail on the mother - maybe you could try more detail in the background? I love how you got white highlights in the fur - that's so hard to do IMO

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to scheherazadenerai [2009-02-24 04:26:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

I'm making some changes to the drawing. I'm fixing the shadows a bit. I'm going to leave the background blurry though. I don't want it to take any of the focus from the two cheetahs.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

scheherazadenerai In reply to cjc7664 [2009-02-24 15:30:45 +0000 UTC]

Ok sure

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

bluemystic [2009-02-18 18:56:06 +0000 UTC]

I love it! Excellent work! Great depth and dimension and also well done with the shading!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to bluemystic [2009-02-24 04:14:27 +0000 UTC]


Thank you.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ChrissieCool [2009-02-18 12:50:04 +0000 UTC]

Wow fabulous work

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to ChrissieCool [2009-02-24 04:12:35 +0000 UTC]

thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DazedOblivion [2009-02-18 10:55:21 +0000 UTC]

very well done! it's beautiful!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to DazedOblivion [2009-02-24 04:12:07 +0000 UTC]

thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

nocturiouz134 [2009-02-18 10:12:52 +0000 UTC]

this so cute~ seriously~

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to nocturiouz134 [2009-02-24 04:11:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nocturiouz134 In reply to cjc7664 [2009-02-24 06:34:38 +0000 UTC]

ur welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

SoLong-AndGoodnight [2009-02-18 09:37:22 +0000 UTC]

It looks gorgeous. The only thing that really jumps out at me (that looks not-quite-right) is the dark bit on the very edge of the cub's head. It's not overly worrying, but I just thought I would mention it. I know it's probably on the reference like that, but...yeah.
Anyway, it is still a very gorgeous drawing and I love it to pieces.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

cjc7664 In reply to SoLong-AndGoodnight [2009-02-24 04:11:37 +0000 UTC]

The dark strip is the shadow from the mother, but it didn't match the shadows tone for the rest of the drawing. I worked on the drawing, darkening the shadows a bit everywhere else on the drawing and bringing the highlights up more. I haven't scanned it yet though. I'm going to make sure I didn't miss anything while I'm here at work.
Thanks for the help, and the compliment.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SoLong-AndGoodnight In reply to cjc7664 [2009-02-24 14:45:34 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I thought it was, it just looked a little out of place whilst the rest of the drawing was relatively lighter.
Awesome, I'll look forward to seeing the updated version!
You're very welcome.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0