Ethan Nguyen

Drawing Animal Portraits for Beginners / Realistic Sketching & Shading Techniques

Just finished the other two drawings! I loved all the techniques you explained and I cant wait to try it on my own. Thanks again! <img src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/parentClasses/264f551812e0aaa436331af86e90b01e/99f8b833" class="zoomable rounded-image-wrapper" alt="99f8b833" /><img src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/parentClasses/264f551812e0aaa436331af86e90b01e/f3de0998" class="zoomable rounded-image-wrapper" alt="f3de0998" />

Great job, Melissa! I really like how much attention and time you are putting into these drawings, it really shows!

Hi Melissa, Thank you very much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the course. Also, great job on the drawing! I really like the work and details you put into it. The subtle highlights and textures on the fur look very good and you weren't afraid to give it a really high contrast, which is great! Very well done! :-)

Thank you. One question I have for you, how often do you re-sharpen your pencil, get a new eraser, or blending stick?

I will re-shapen my pencil depending on the need. Sometimes, when filling in a shadow or soft tones, it can help to have a dull pencil. But when drawing fine hair or fur, you need a sharp pencil. So it depends on the situation. Also, I'm pretty cheap so I try to not sharpen my pencil too often if I can help it, lol. 

As for the kneaded eraser, you'll have to reshape it very often (probably after every 1 or 2 strokes) to clean it up so that it can keep erasing.  But other than that, they last a pretty long time. If you find that it gets complete black and you can't find any more clean surface on it then it's time to get a new one. 

And as for the blending stick... they last a really long time too. I still haven't gotten any new one. Although, I keep a few stumps that I only use for really light areas and a few that I only use for dark areas. Once a stump gets too dark, you can't use it in really subtle light areas. 

I hope that helps :-)

Yes! that is helpful. I figured it depends on the artist, but was curious what you did. Thanks so much!

This is my first time drawing something so realistic. You are really good about explaining all the steps, I really enjoyed following along! I don't love&nbsp;the dark eyebrow hairs, and I think the fur needs some practice, but overall I'm pretty proud.&nbsp;<img style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="https://static.skillshare.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,width=1000,format=auto/uploads/project/264f551812e0aaa436331af86e90b01e/4a4dff4b" alt="Dog Eye Drawing - image 1 - student project" srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,width=600,format=auto/uploads/project/264f551812e0aaa436331af86e90b01e/4a4dff4b 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,width=1000,format=auto/uploads/project/264f551812e0aaa436331af86e90b01e/4a4dff4b 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" loading="lazy">

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