Deb Stanley Art Blog - Deb Stanley Art

The Dawn Sentinel

25/5/2018

Earlier this year I went on a photography day with a fellow artist and very good friend, Lisa Ann Watkins of Animal Art By LAW, the link will take you to her website so you can see her work if you are not already familiar with it. We went to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust to take some reference photos of the beautiful wolves they have there.

One of my photos stood out, in fact I used it as my laptop screensaver straight away and knew it was top of my list to draw.

With this one I decided to work as much as possible from left to right, the background was going to be complex and very dark so I wanted to make sure the wolf's fur knitted into it correctly rather than having lots of edges to blend together if I'd worked them separtately.

Once I'd got the left side done I decided to put in the main features of the face, I feel better when these parts are done. Next on the list were the ears, this was when I got my first inkling of how long this may take me...... Once I'd done one ear I moved on to the next, because they are pretty similar it was easier to do them at the same time rather than move on to another area.

The next step was to fill in the face, there are a lot of layers in this fur, the maize coloured pastelmat helped give the wolf a warm glow which is the effect I wanted but it did take some work to cover it and make the whites white and the blacks black.

The area around the wolf's neck was probably the part that took the longest and was the most satisfying to do, the layering helped to create the thickness of the hair and given it a plush tactile look. After all that dense fur the legs were relatively quick, they are much smoother.

It was then time to move on the background again, (the sheet of white paper is there because my camera struggles to pick up the correct colours without something white to focus on.)

Grass is an area that many people think is easy, if you are a coloured pencil artist you will know that it's not! I find greens difficult and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. The smooth areas were mapped out then blended in, with an out of focus area it's important to step away from your work, if you don't you can over think it putting in details that aren't required and ruin the effect.

The grass in the foreground though took a lot of thinking! I roughly mapped in areas, placing blades of grass and building around them, adding lighter colours for the sunlit patches and deepening when I needed shadows, extending a shadow is easier than generating a light area so it's important not to go too dark too quickly.

Close ups - here you can see more of the details.

The Dawn Sentinel

Faber Castell Polychromos &
Caran d'Ache Pablos Pencils
Maize coloured Pastelmat
40x50 cm
My Photo Ref

Too Close by Deb Stanley

11/3/2018

My drawings have started to take longer purely because since starting on the Big Cats I've been working on a much larger scale, this one however, caused me some problems, the white whiskers on the pale, blurred fur had me stumped for a while. Fortunately it all eventually worked out, I have learnt to walk away and work on something else until the fog lifts and I can figure the puzzle out. This wasn't learnt overnight and I have a folder of casualties that didn't benefit from this lesson!

I have called it Too Close partly because I was obviously far too close for Ta'iri's liking. The reference photo for this was snapped a split second before he launched himself at the bars of the cage, I almost ended up in a heap, the photo was worth the scare. The title also references the fact that as with many animals we are too close to seeing these beautiful creatures disappear. Seeing the big cats in very close quarters was a real eye opener for me, they are stunning, they look right into you and you are hooked, they are utterly captivating.

I took my reference photos of Ta'iri, Panthera Pardus Japonensis/North Chinese leopard at The Cat Sanctuary in Kent UK, it is well worth a visit.

Here are a few close ups, the finished drawing is at the bottom of the blog. If you'd like to see my work in progress pictures on a regular basis visit my Facebook page or Instagram accounts where I post a few times a week.

The right eye

and the left eye....

Nose, mouth and those teeth.

Soft textures in the fur and on the ear.

Too Close

Too Close by Deb Stanley
100% Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils
on white Pastelmat
40x50cm
My photo references

Caught in Laila's Gaze By Deb Stanley

11/3/2018

Next on my list of big cats was a snow leopard. Initially I was going to draw her on white but after spending some time tweaking my photo reference I decided that it would make more sense to work on a coloured support. That meant placing an order for some large sheets of brown pastelmat. Whilst waiting for the order to arrive I've drawn this smaller piece. This is a close up of Leila the snow leopard, another beautiful cat who resides at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent. Drawing this close up gave me an opportunity to sort out the colours I will need for my next big piece and also gives me a chance to draw her gorgeous eyes, the large drawing I have planned is a full body shot and her face isn't as visible.

I was intending to draw Leila in coloured pencils but the pastel pencils called to me, this is 100% pastel, sometimes you've got to let the tools control you as they know best!

Caught in Leila's Gaze By Deb Stanley

Faber Castell Pitt Pastels & Carbothello Pastel Pencils
on Brown Pastelmat
15cm x 25cm approx
My Photo References
SOLD

My brother's Counsel By Deb Stanley

8/1/2018

This has been a mammoth undertaking. When I saw these Lion brothers at The Big Cat Sanctuary, they were grooming each other and the bond they had was obvious. Initially I was going to give it a title reflecting the loving aspect of their relationship but as the drawing progressed I was getting a different feeling about the way the brothers appeared to be interacting. It took a while but I think this title works for them.

My Brother's Counsel By Deb Stanley
Drawn with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
on Buttercup coloured Clairefontaine Pastelmat
40x50cm
I used my own photo references

Petra the Lynx By Deb Stanley

2/11/2017

During September I was given a marvellous gift, a photography day a The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent. It was a great experience and I took many, many photographs... about 1000!
I now have some fabulous shots to work from, I prefer to work from my own photos if possible and I think I am set up for Big Cat pics for a long time to come.
This Lynx is the first one of what I am now sure will become a favourite subject. Her name is Petra. I chose Petra first as I have been asked to teach a 1 to 1 with another artist who wants to learn how to use coloured pencils. I was going to go with a leopard but thought the spots, although interesting may be frustrating for a beginner.
I have posted several work in progress videos of Petra on my youtube channel, Eye 1 & Eye 2, Nose and Ear can be seen in time lapse.

Petra the Lynx By Deb Stanley

Polychromos Artist quality coloured pencils & PanPastels
on Pastelmat
10"x10"
My Photo References

August

8/9/2017

This year we visited the Three Counties Show in Malvern. It's a large annual agricultural show held a few mintues from where I live.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take a photo of this beautiful Falcon/Gyr. The handler kindly lifted him up so I could get a better shot. My photography skills are basic and the beak blurred in the photograph, this turned into a hoppy accident as I feel the blur adds to the 3D effect.

I deliberately left the background until last as I wanted to see if it would be better without one. It was a hard decision, he looked impressive and I was concerned about ruining him with an overpowering background. I tested out a few ideas using photoshop and decided on a softly blended summer sky. I completed the sky using PanPastels and feel that the sky has helped push him further forward and stopped the piece from looking too cold and clinical. He definitely is lord of all he surveys.

I have called this piece 'August', It was completed on the 1st of August and I think the meaning of the word describes him perfectly.

August - without and with Sky

Polychromos, Pablos & Luminance Coloured Pencils
PanPastels used for sky
On Strathmore Bristol Vellum 400 Series
16"x20"
My own photo references
Limited Edition Prints of both versions are available, see the
For Sale section for details.

Birds from Slimbridge

6/5/2017

Hello, I'm New Here
and Feather Pillow

We visited a wetlands bird sanctuary called Slimbridge, it's found between Gloucester and Bristol in the UK. This little duckling and it's siblings were an unexpected treat, they were very keen to be photographed and an absolute delight to draw.
This piece is again in pastels, I thought that pencils may be needed for the details but in the end the pastels were just fine to give the soft effect that was necessary for this bundle of fluff. I used a strong yellow coloured pastelmat that helped enormously to give the warm glow throughout.

Hello, I'm New Here
Pan Pastels, Faber Castell Pitt Pastels, Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils,
on Buttercup coloured Pastelmat.
8"x10"
My photo refs
SOLD

The next bird was also seen at Slimbridge. This flamingo looked so relaxed amongst all of the other noisy, flapping birds. It lay it's head down on it's soft, sun warmed back and went to sleep.

This was an interesting piece to work on, I thought the pale feathers would be difficult and getting the darks right was a challenge. I'm very glad that I did this piece in pastels as the Caran d'Ache pastel pencils worked really well to render the soft feather textures.

Feather Pillow
Caran d'Ache Pastel Pencils,
on Pastelmat.
6"x10"
My photo refs
I am delighted to say that Feather Pillow was SOLD before I finshed drawing it, this is the first time I have sold a drawing before it has been completed.

Taking Flight

9/2/2017

I took the reference photo for this drawing some time ago. The pose was perfect but the image was blurred due to the speed of the owl and my lack of skill with a camera.

Until recently most of my work has been in pencils, and is highly detailed, lately I've been trying out pastels and this picture was a perfect match for the medium. Using pastels meant I could keep the soft edges on the wings, this gave the subtle effect of them moving. The face was slightly clearer and gives a good point of focus for the viewer, I pushed him over to one side so he has plenty of space to fly to.

This is not the original background, initially it was a bokeh style and as soon as I finished I realised that it was far too busy and had to be toned down. I should've walked away and considered my options. Fortunately all went well and the more subdued background made the owl the star of the piece, exactly as he should be.

Taking Flight was created using Pan pastels and Faber Castell Pitt Pastel pencils on Pastelmat. It measures 8"x12*, photo references used were my own.
For Sale, £80 + p&p

Pitter, Patter

29/10/2016

Pitter, Patter, this is the first time I've completed an entire drawing using pastels, usually I would switch back to pencils for the details. This Great Tit enjoys visiting my garden and regularly beats the squirrel to the peanuts, on this day his glance upwards at the drizzly sky spoke volumes to me. A video of the entire process is available on my YouTube Channel
Pitter, Patter
Pastel Pencils and Pan Pastels
Grey Pastelmat
8"x10"
My Photo Ref

All Is Safely Gathered In - Portrait of a Small Mouse,

29/10/2016

Autumn is my favourite time of year, the rich, warm colours and crisp clear mornings cheer me more than the heat of summer.

I have drawn pine cones in the past, much less detailed and wanted to make the pine cone an important part of this drawing and not just a prop for the cute mouse.

Whilst drawing the pine cone was an enjoyable, although timeconsuming process, the search for a title was a struggle, I eventually settled on a rather long one as the shorter more punchy titles weren't seeming to strike the right chord.

This drawing was done using only Faber Castell Polychromos pencils, no blending solutions or powders were used. The paper is Strathmore Bristol Vellum. Finished size is 8"x10".
All photo references used were my own.