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What I learned from doing Dog Portraits
10 years ago
General
I began drawing dogs all the time at work, and so people started requesting certain breeds and I would go home and sketch a pile of retrievers and it was fun. So I decided to join the Pet Portrait community on Facebook and see if I could expand my audience. Surely it's not much different from furry art, right? Here is what I learned:
Most people doing pet portraits are tracing photographs. I was appalled at first but then I saw what happened when they did not trace and they made a lot of mistakes. Also, it's pretty much just head shots and no bodies. Full color and usually painted, what they want is photo-realistic detail and NOT cartoons. They are not wild about inked drawings like what I do. They rarely do backgrounds. Lord, I thought pet people wanted to see more than just heads but I was wrong...they will even stop drawing after the neck and leave the head floating in space.
I am not trying to be negative, but I really thought it would be more like furry art. I honestly expected artists to be trained in drawing like us in the furry community and now I realize how much harder furry art is to create. Copying all those dogs photos was SO easy I would whip them out in a couple hours...but it felt wrong to copy so I began adding expressions and cartoony stuff. Drawing the body from scratch, that sort of thing- because in furry art we are used to doing that. We expect more.
One thing I did teach myself was how to draw dog breeds better. The muzzles and noses and all that, I had been making it very simple before. Lazy. Plus those paws with all the pads, tricky. Now I can draw dogs and I plan on making more of them but I want to do it my way. More expression and body language, more cartoony. That is more difficult but I want to improve until I get it right. The pet portrait community will have to get used to me :)
Most people doing pet portraits are tracing photographs. I was appalled at first but then I saw what happened when they did not trace and they made a lot of mistakes. Also, it's pretty much just head shots and no bodies. Full color and usually painted, what they want is photo-realistic detail and NOT cartoons. They are not wild about inked drawings like what I do. They rarely do backgrounds. Lord, I thought pet people wanted to see more than just heads but I was wrong...they will even stop drawing after the neck and leave the head floating in space.
I am not trying to be negative, but I really thought it would be more like furry art. I honestly expected artists to be trained in drawing like us in the furry community and now I realize how much harder furry art is to create. Copying all those dogs photos was SO easy I would whip them out in a couple hours...but it felt wrong to copy so I began adding expressions and cartoony stuff. Drawing the body from scratch, that sort of thing- because in furry art we are used to doing that. We expect more.
One thing I did teach myself was how to draw dog breeds better. The muzzles and noses and all that, I had been making it very simple before. Lazy. Plus those paws with all the pads, tricky. Now I can draw dogs and I plan on making more of them but I want to do it my way. More expression and body language, more cartoony. That is more difficult but I want to improve until I get it right. The pet portrait community will have to get used to me :)
...it beats having someone sit still for several hours
And end up with a girl that has two waists and a third elbow peeking out from behind her back.
http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/
Yes...NOW I remember!
Thank you for jogging my memory (I think?). ;D
*shutter*
Apparently Anatomy is not as important in comics nowadays as it once was, or at least ACCURATE anatomy.
Sadly, neither is good story telling / writing.
And yes.. I had dabbled in Commercial arts studies in college, but I was discouraged from that trade because it lacked "Expression." It disappointed me, but I wasn't very surprised to discover that the top selling "Pet Portrait" cards were direct tracings from books or photographs. I notice this more clearly every time I see the "Junk" on sale in the racks at Petco. While I was living up in Oakland I posted my card on the communal bulletin boards all throughout the Montclair area, and never got a response. A "Client" contacted me through Craigslist only once, for a portrait of her pets, but I'm certain if she checked out my on-line presence, she more likely "Freaked out."
I'll never forget one car trip that lasted for several hours, to a secluded stud farm somewhere in upper New York state, or western Pennsylvania. We brought our best poodle to be mated with their stud for some ungodly fee. I sat there watching two dogs screwing, learning the facts of life in a way to make it all seem as boring as watching bowling on TV. It seemed to take hours, and for the most part nothing happened. They panted a lot. Then they broke up and we drove for hours to get home again. Of all the hobbies I could imagine taking up, dog breeking, training and showing are pretty much at the bottom of my list.
So, yeah, I hear you when it comes to certain communities that just don't behave the way you envision. I was hoping to find people passionate about foxes of all types and as welcoming as the furry community [used to be].
Here is something to do. Go to the AKC web site and find a dog show in your area. Take samples of your portraits, both realistic and your style, and ask people what they think. I can help you find a show if you like.
It could certainly be fun to take a sketchbook and attend one and just kind of capture the dogs in motion. :)
Tracing has its place, but without that spark of life, it's just a tracing and is as static as a staged photograph. You're hitting the right mix and are succeeding with bringing life to your portraiture. And that's magic. More power to you.
Your average dog portrait is commissioned by a person who doesn't know thing one about hand drawn portraiture.
Different audiences is, as usual, about much more than simple subject matter.
Oh and he had NO CONSTRUCTION LINES!!!. Just "Hey here's a deer"!!
Show me ANYone who can do that NOW!
WITHOUT a computer!!!!!!!
but yes adding elements and change and alter is the artistic liberty one takes, as even if one sues photo references, one still will and have to alter em to make them work in the composition, as to just do it straight of usually tend to look like ass.
People really take furry art for granted. There is an insane amount of effort and skill that goes into being able to draw humanoid anatomy AND a variety of animals, fused together... as I understand, few artists, even serious artists, ever go to the lengths to learn how to draw as many creatures as dedicated furry artists do.