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Ruby is a Cockapoo – a Toy Poodle/Working Cocker Spaniel cross. She is quite small – just 8kg in weight and below knee height – smaller in fact than her portrait! Origianlly, she was the runt of the litter but she’s certainly not shy and retiring. She’s full of energy and would play fetch for hours if she could (must be the Cocker in her). She’s cheeky and inquisitive, as well as an opportunistic food thief (children and pensioners her favourite targets); fortunately she’s so adorable that people rarely get cross.
Black dogs can be a challenge to draw as it’s difficult to balance the need to get rich dark tones with capturing enough detail. Using pastels rather than coloured pencil makes a real difference here as I can lay down a very dark base and build up detail with lighter tones added on top. This ensures a realistic portrait rather than a black ‘blob’ or washed-out look. Pastel also blends very easily, so the process of creating the base layer is more like painting than drawing.
She looks amazing and no changes needed. You’ve done an amazing job!
Original coloured pencil portraits, hand drawn in England. For you from pet portrait artist Angie, with love x
