Wow, it feels SO good to finally have this drawing down on paper rather than swirling around in my head for months on end (since October)!
The drawing only took around 9 hours to complete! I used powder blender to blend. I was planning on using paint thinner for the okapi initially, but honestly I was having so much fun using the powder blender that I completely forgot all about it!
It was also my first time trying out Fisher 400 sanded paper and it is leagues above UArt paper in terms of quality in my opinion. An extremely pleasant, consistent paper to work on and it can take a lot of layers! I was a little apprehensive about how the background was going to turn out at first, but the powder blender made it so easy that I breezed through the background in just two hours.
The subject for this drawing is my absolute favourite animal – the okapi. They are an endangered species native to the Congo and their closest relative is the giraffe. When they were first discovered by european explorers, they were so strange-looking that they were thought to be mythical creatures – hence the title of this piece – “Mythical Beast.”
My goal in this portrait was to portray a sense of ethereal surrealism, so I chose to have the okapi looking up at the aurora borealis – something you would never normally see in the tropical forests of the Congo! It also gives me the excuse to use lots of pretty blues and greens! I had so much fun from start to finish with this piece.
I’m currently working on the commentary for the extended Patreon tutorial of this piece. It should be available soon! Speaking of which, the extended tutorial of a boxer dog in coloured pencils is now available over on Patreon at the $4 tier, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested! The artist reference photos at the $10 tier are also changing to new ones starting tomorrow (1st April) so be sure to grab March’s references before they disappear!
That’s about all from me for now. I have a lot of other projects in the works including the kudu in acrylic you saw last time and a new pastel pencil drawing, so keep your eyes peeled!