I drew this pencil portrait of a smiling young man called Leigh with his pet dog Gus. Gus sadly passed away. His owner Leigh just misses him so much: “He does miss him quite a lot, they were like two peas in a pod so I am hoping that this can be a nice memorial piece for him” (Caoimhe).
My client, his partner, decided to commission a special gift for their anniversary in December, in the form of a pencil drawing of the two of them. She had a good few images, but none that had the two characters together. I used my ‘artistic license’ to create a composition that encompassed the relationship they had.
The resulting portrait is sized at 25 x 20 cm. I drew it with graphite pencils on paper. I used Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black pencils on Fabriano 5 paper with 50% cotton. I used a hot pressed paper for a smoother texture.
I began the drawing with a really detailed sketch. Once I was happy I captured the likeness of both Leigh and Gus, I moved on to shading. I like to work on several areas at the same time to make sure the tones are working harmoniously together. My client was very happy with the result and send a lovely comment on Instagram.
Oh my God, Ivana, that is brilliant! Thank you so much. I just know Leigh is going to be absolutely over the moon with it. That is amazing!! Thank you so so much!!…again thank you so much, you are an amazing artist and I cannot wait to see Leigh’s reaction to this portrait!
Caoimhe, on seeing a scanned image of the finished portrait of Leigh with Gus, Dublin Ireland November 2024
And lastly, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!
Thank you for all your support throughout the year. I cannot believe another one is starting already. I worked on many interesting commissions in the last year, a lot of them larger than I would have been used to. It has been challenging and very enjoyable at the same time 🙂
Commissions are coming in fast for the New Year 2025, so book yours now by contacting me at info@trueimage.ie. I cannot wait to see what I will be working on next year. I have some very interesting projects on my list already, including a pencil drawing of a school, two wedding paintings from Las Vegas, a painting of books on a bookshelf to mark a retirement and many others….
