Steadfast | Process Behind this Patreon Piece

Today I want to share with you the process behind this Patreon Reward drawing; Steadfast. This original drawing is the reward for the top tier, the patron provides a prompt of their choice and I create a new drawing around that theme/idea. The prompt for this piece was ‘Family’. I pretty quickly settled on a wolf pack as the main subject considering all the studies on their tight family structure and bonds.

SKETCHING

I always begin a new piece by sketching the subject in multiple poses. I usually start with photo references and once I understand the form better I will play with new poses from my head.

In the early stages of the drawing I lay in the forms with carbon pencil and dust on some charcoal for some basic values.

I really wanted to emphasize the relationships between the wolves, that the care and look out for each other. Capturing this interaction was a really important element for the concept of the drawing; showing the family bonds, affection, and personalities. I watched some wolf documentaries while planning this drawing they are very beautiful and interesting animals with fascinating family dynamics.

Once I have the general placement and poses of each wolf in place I will begin with some powdered charcoal, applying it to the areas I know will have darker values. In this case I start to work on the rocks they are resting on just to give the surface some visual weight before I start to work on the wolves.

When I have multiple subjects like these wolves I tend to hop around from one to the next building them up until they each feel complete. I use a combination of painting with powdered charcoal for base values and soft textures with carbon pencil for the darkest values and precise details. The wolves are the focus of this piece and the landscape serves to show them at home. I will only add as much detail to the environment as I think will balance the piece and showcase the animals, I am not looking to create a fully realistic image.

Working on the wolves and leaving the environment vague for now. It is a slow process of building up layer by layer.

Another tool I often pull out is the smudge stick (tortillon) to add soft values in a more precise way.

For the final details I pull out highlights with a kneaded eraser and white ink. This just helps really set the details apart and sharpen the drawing. I love this stage of the process because this is where it really feels like a complete drawing. My original vision finally comes together here.

Thanks for exploring the process of this piece with me. I really loved working on it and look forward to showing more!