Here is my latest drawing:
A Highclere Wyvern
Medium: Charcoal on paper.
Size: 8x10 inches. Price: 375 dollars.
A Wyvern is a mythical heraldic beast that is part dragon and part bird. This particular one sits just outside the front door of Highclere Castle in England. That is the house used as the setting for that magnetic Crawley family in
Downton Abbey. I visited the property recently and was intrigued by these winged creatures sitting either side of the front door, watching me enter. When I saw them, I thought "I could do these up in charcoal really right."
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| My reference shot. The thing is no taller than 2 feet, if that. |
Of the many art instruction books I own, one of my favorites is "The Drawing Bible" by Craig Nelson. Mr. Nelson is a master artist in many mediums and in his book he shares a rich variety of techniques for various drawing mediums. There are so many fun techniques and methods to get your artistic vision across, that I sometimes find it hard to decide which one to employ.
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| Draw, draw, draw. Smudge, smudge, smudge, Refine, refine, refine. Repeat. |
For my drawing of the Wyvern I decided to use a technique where, after drawing the loose outline and some shadows, you smear the whole thing with a kleenex to quickly build a middle tone. Then the fun begins when you lift out the highlights with a kneaded eraser. Lastly you go back in with charcoal and gracefully refine the darks where needed. Real nice.
Buy your copy of the book
here, then contact me to buy my
original charcoal drawing.
