My feline friend Max died the other day. He was suffering from aggressive form of colon cancer, and there was nothing we could do for him. There's a lot more to the story than that, of course, but that's another article.
In his honor, I chose to try and draw a graphite sketch of one of my favorite pictures of him. I have very little experience in drawing period, and especially with graphite, so please be kind.
As it turns out, this drawing was very healing to do. Over a few hours I was able to create a decent drawing of Max.
...
It was difficult to get the proportions right. The angle of the picture was from below and to the side. Natural light streamed in from outside, while a lamp from inside the house lit up the left side of his face. Even taking color out of the equation wouldn't make this easy.
I got a rough outline done and then shaded in the darker areas with powdered graphite. While it looked like a cat, it needed to look like Max. It needed to BE Max--not just a cat.
As I continued to add texture and layers of fur, little features I saw in the photo, Max started to appear to me. This is a cat I've known for 14 years. He was there before my wife and I got married. He was there when we brought our kids home from the hospital and for every moment since then.
In other words, I knew him well.
Here is the "almost" finished product, as I made a few tiny improvements since I took these photos. It's funny how seeing the same image in a different context helps.
And here is the reference photo I used.
It's not perfect, but it's filled with love for my friend.
I knew enough to get started, and I must say I'm happy with the result. All photos belong to author.
Sorry for your loss. It's so sad when they go...
It's a beautiful tribute to him 💗
I still can't believe you're untrained and only started drawing now. it's unusual someone can pull this off innately. Really...
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