Joey - Alaskan Husky in Coloured pencils

"Joey always had a smile on his face. He was so easy going, the well-behaved and quiet guy who was eager to do anywhere and do anything. But most of all, he liked to lie in the corner, a smile on his face, those bright blue eyes so soulful... He passed recently, very suddenly, and it was so devastating. He will be missed"
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MEDIUM: Coloured Pencils
SIZE: 9" X 9"
SUPPORT: 300gsm Mid Grey Ursus
COMPLETED: NOVEMBER 2017
Hi Karen, I received Joey today and he looks fantastic! I brought him to a really great frame shop to finish the piece. 
​Thank you again, Karen. It has been an absolute pleasure working with such a professional. 

Watch the portrait come together

As Joey's colouration is light tones, I decided to use a mid grey paper to compliment these tones and help make the detail 'pop'. It was decided to make a couple of major changes to the portrait, closing his mouth and adapting his eyes to the standard 'oval' shape of the Husky. Joey was looking up at the camera which created round eyes and I thought it best to close his mouth of the Artwork as his pink tongue would detract from his stunning blue eyes. 
As Joey had sadly passed, detailed photos of him were limited and so I spent some time online searching for suitable photos of Alaskan Huskies that I could use for detail that I could not see in the reference photo. I began working on the eyes first to ensure I got them as close as possible to natural shape by using other photos of Joey. I then began building up the white fur and applying shaded tones where needed to create definition and shape. I am able to adapt a pencil portrait as I go along to a certain extent and I do spend a lot of time tweaking a portrait, but the most important feedback always comes from the Commissionee - if they are happy, I finally put the pencils down!
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Time-lapse video on Instagram 

From time to time, I will record time-lapse videos of a portrait and upload to my Instagram account, here is one of those videos for Joey's portrait.
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