Drawing Tasha

I sketched Tasha from a photograph in pencil first, and chiding myself for trying to run before I had learned how to walk, next looked up the Internet for how to draw fur! There are YouTube videos aplenty, and other websites -  this one, for example - which show the amount of work needed for it to look real.

One tip is that your color pencils have to be very sharp. I didn't always adhere to that for this drawing.

I was actually quite pleased when I finished, but now, looking at it months later, I think it's an obviously unfinished piece of work. Some bits, like Tasha's back, could do with several more dashes of color, either darker or lighter strands, so the fur has more depth in color and texture and doesn't look like someone (namely, me!) just had one go at it and then lost interest. (In the link above, the artist went over each section of fur four times, adding an array of shades.)

The websites that I consulted also raised my awareness of how fur lies one way or other, and how this can be achieved by varying the direction of the strokes.

Tasha is actually whiter than this. But I had to do her in more beige-y shades since the paper in my sketch book is rather white.

The litmus test came when I showed this drawing to my sister Anne, Tasha's owner. She said it was a very good likeness of her spoiled moggie.

The husband posted the picture on his Facebook page and garnered nearly 50 likes from his friends, some of whom said they didn't know I had this in me.

But I know I have to work at this more. I hope to be drawing more animals in the coming months.