Pulled an all-nighter last night to get my Knobbed Hornbill portrait finished in time before my September commission and personal projects.

This portrait has been a bit of a struggle and has taken me much, much longer to finish than I expected, but I’m glad I pushed myself to get it finished in the end. I learnt a lot while making this piece and in retrospect there are some areas I would have done differently, but I’m very happy with the final result regardless. I hope you like this piece as much as I do!

And here are some work in progress shots:

I’m going to finish off Toto’s portrait next and then it’s onto the next project which I will hopefully be doing on Fabriano Artistico Hot Pressed 140lb Watercolor Paper. I’ve heard many good things about this paper. Hopefully it will be able to take more layers of coloured pencil than the Strathmore Bristol Vellum, as that is one of the things I struggled with in my Hornbill portrait. Often with the bristol vellum I found that the pencil had already become burnished on the paper before I’ve even finished layering – so frustrating! So here’s hoping the Fabriano fares better as it is a heavier weight of paper.

Anyway that’s all for now, see you next time with my completed portrait of Tottie-boy!