Jenna Leigh Design Co.

This week in Life Drawing looked a little bit different. Instead of completing a portrait or a set of gestures drawn from life, we were instructed to take a few of our gesture drawings and develop them further in the studio.

Any drawing medium acceptable!

I’ve enjoyed learning more about charcoal, but I have to admit that I was excited to slip back into the comfort of a better-known medium. I chose graphite, which can still be versatile as far as value and texture, but which I find lighter, more precise and suitable for detail work, and easier to blend without making permanent mistakes.

Lorelai and Batty were my gesture subjects from last week (to meet them, check out last week’s post). I selected one gesture from my sessions with each of them to refine into a finished drawing.

Let me walk you quickly through my process:

Drawing Process

The goal for these drawings was to work primarily from our observations and gestures, using a photo to supplement any lacking information. My gesture drawing provided a good basis for Lorelai’s pose, general structure, and anatomy, but of course, it included no rendering of any kind.

To begin, I sketched out basic proportions in a line drawing, referencing my gesture and correcting it as needed.

Once I had established these basic proportions, lines, and features, I began rendering.

Here’s a comparison of the gesture and finished drawing side-by-side:

I followed the same process with Batty, choosing a gesture drawing for which I had a sufficient supplemental photo reference and using that initial gesture to inform my line drawing of form and proportion.

Here’s what that gesture and finished drawing look like side-by-side:

Reflection

Turning these gestures into fully rendered drawings presented a few unique problems.

For one, tails can create some very awkward compositional space! I realized the importance of factoring the tail in a little too late.

Two, black cats are difficult to render from a dimly lit photograph. There is almost no value contrast in the fur! I had to take the picture into Photoshop and adjust the exposure until I could see enough distinctions to work with.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the challenge of developing these drawings. Beginning with a gesture was a simple way to develop an initial understanding of the animals’ basic structure and anatomy, and once I was familiar with these proportions through observation, I found myself able to more quickly establish them using a photo as well.

It’s easy to replicate a photograph of an animal, to render their distinct characteristics from a flat, still picture that doesn’t move, flinch, or run away from you to bark at intruders.

But there’s something about working from life that brings, well, life into the drawing. Sitting in front of a living, breathing, blinking animal and attempting to capture them—not just their physical qualities, but their spirit as well—gives different meaning to the work you create, whether or not it is perfectly “gallery-worthy” or not.

Though I also supplemented my observations with a photo reference, I could still sense that something had fundamentally changed my approach to these drawings.

When I began working on Lorelai, I noted the strength and stability of her haunches, the sturdiness of her solid paws, and the attentiveness of her large, listening ears.

When I drew Batty, I noted—

Well, I noted that she is a rather fat cat.

All jokes aside, the past two weeks of practicing wildlife sketching have reminded me that there is so much more to drawing living beings than merely trying to copy their likenesses.

And there’s something hidden behind those blinking eyes that simply can’t be captured by the lens of a camera.

God made us to see each other face-to-face.

So, you could argue, maybe that’s just the best way to draw each other, too.

(Though I won’t be giving up on drawing from photos anytime soon, I promise!)

If you haven’t tried sketching from life, whether it be people or animals, I would encourage you to give it a go.

Even if it’s not good.

Even if it’s very bad.

Maybe, just maybe, you will catch a glimpse of something you couldn’t see before.