The Artist - UK (2021-02)

30 artistFebruary 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

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in hair direction and texture, which are

frequent across the whole drawing.

There was also quite a bit of tonal

balancing to do retrospectively to pull

it all together.

Dogs’ noses can also be challenging

in a drawing – they take up a prominent

position, they are generally large and,

more often than not, are dark in tone.

Therefore, if not handled with care, the

nose can dominate a drawing and be

jarring to the overall composition. To

combat this, I pulled back on the depth

of tone so that the nose blends in

naturally with the rest of the artwork.

Finished drawing

The final challenge for me is deciding

when a drawing is finished – I’m my own

worst critic. I like to leave a drawing

out for a few days at the end and I

frequently stand and view it at all

times of day, alongside the reference

photograph. With fresh eyes, it is so

much easier to spot the areas that need

an extra bit of tweaking; however, a bit

of tweaking in one area can cascade

across the whole piece, so this needs to

be carried out with care.

When I am satisfied with the drawing,

I email a photograph to the customer

for their approval, and mount and

frame the artwork if required. I cut

the mount and backing board to size

using a mountboard cutter and finish

off the frames with professional tape,

D-rings and cord; costs for mounting

and framing the artwork are based

on the cost of materials and my time.

The artwork is then carefully packaged

and sent out by courier or via the Post

Office.

p Pet Portrait Commission, pencil on paper, 16 3 12in (40.5 3 30.5cm)

p The darkest areas of the drawing required around four layers of graphite. It’s important to

keep checking the tonal balance between areas as the drawing develops

Kate Priestman

is a self-taught graphite artist who

specialises in wildlife and pet portraits.

Find out more about Kate on her website

https://KatePriestmanArt.com

Follow her on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/

KatePriestmanArt

Follow her on Instagram: https://www.

instagram.com/katepriestmanart/

TA

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