Luka

This Christmas I had the pleasure of drawing Luka. Sadly, Luka has passed on, but a friend wanted to gift his pet parents with a special portrait for Christmas. Because it was to be a surprise, she had to rely on her own reference photos, and there were only four of them in total. None of them was in crisp focus nor very large, but we settled on one that worked.

I strive to make my drawings at least as good as the original photo, and hopefully a little better. Often, the only change I make is to replace a cluttered, distracting background with a soft wash of color that is meant to complement the subject of the drawing, but my goal is to go further than that. I want to be able to add a little detail or color and make the artwork a real improvement over the camera’s work.

This time, I focused on enlarging Luka’s face and chest to give a better feel for him as an individual. I tried to change the perceived angle from which the photo was taken, so it would look as if it was taken straight on, rather than from above. To accomplish this, I cut out the legs and body and showcased just the head and chest. Since Luka was looking directly at the camera, I was able to accomplish this goal.

In the end, I took a small, fuzzy snapshot and blew it up into a good likeness of Luka. Because the reference came from the client (friend), it would be a fresh view they hadn’t seen before, something entirely new and unexpected. I’m excitedly waiting to hear how they liked it!