You Are Loved Dog Portrait

Australian Shepherd dog portrait in graphite finished. I love drawing animals, dogs especially. It was really fun to play with the Faber Castell 9000 pencils. I'll list the tools I used for this at the bottom.

Drawing is the foundation for all, whether you doodle or want more. It's what humans have been doing to express themselves since the cave days of drawing :)

"You Are Loved", 14'x13.5", Dog Portrait, Graphite on paper. SueBetanzos.com

Tools of the trade for my drawing below:

• A set of Faber Castell 9000 pencils in the leads of: HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B.

• A 9B and extra 6B Derwent pencil because I use those pencils  so much.

• Kum hand pencil sharpener.

• Mechanical .05 mm pencil with 4B lead for fine details.

• Pentel click eraser.

• Kneaded eraser.

• Small pointed blending tool to soften and fill some areas.

As you can see, my favorite pencils for graphite portraits are the 4B, 6B, 8B, 9B.

Any pencil is good for your sketch book.  Now start drawing! :)

I See You, Dog Art Portrait

Playing with my new Faber Castell 9000 graphite pencil set. The smooth leads stay sharp and leave rich marks, shading beautifully.

Also using a .05 Pentel hi-polymer lead in a mechanical pencil with a 4B lead helps get fine lines without sharpening. I love drawing animals. It's great to flip to drawing after the marathon mosaic mural :) Drawing is my foundation since forever.




This Aussie girl lives in Switzerland. The graphite is a study for a painting to establish the main values (lights and darks).  I was going to use it as an underpainting, but decided to let it stand on it's own.

A Grisaille underpainting is really helpful when painting.  It is a technique many of the old and new masters use.
The main work of composition and values is established in black and white. Then it's just a matter of coloring or painting over it.

I like to establish the darkest areas first in relation to the lightest. Then it's easier to find your middle values. The eyes are usually the focal point in portraits. Get them right and the rest falls into place... usually ....

Reading Helper, Pencil Drawing Progress

Young Australian Shepherd Linus is a good reading buddy!
Pencil drawing on Stonehenge paper, about half finished.