ARTWRK059 - Titled "PROUD MAMA x 3"

The Story of the Drawing:

This pen and ink drawing was referenced from a photograph taken by me. I have only seen a New Hampshire black bear with three cubs on rare occasions and am proud to have taken such a photo. I drew it using a combination of the following tools, Pigma Micron Pens, Rapidograph Pens, drawing ink, inking with paint brush technique.

This drawing is actually an improvement on the original photo, which had one of the three cubs soft in look due to the bokeh effect and the difficulty in photographing multiple subjects with a long lens. This actually means I wouldn't have kept the original photo as a photographic final because of the quality issue. However this made it perfect for a drawing reference and I was proud to draw my 3rd black bear drawing, but for the first time, using one of my own photos as the reference source.

The title is a a reference to her three cubs and how proud she looked at the time I took the photo. This bear is the most loving bear I have ever seen in the wild, her human like qualities are just mind blowing. She took great care of her cubs and they went to den safe and sound.

Once complete I scan the image, then process it to remove the paper texture that shows after being scanned, no other processing is done other than to make it look just like the original.

I started by drawing a basic outline in pencil, with some more intricate pencil work on critical areas like the eyes and face area. Once I am happy with the basic lines I immediately start to draw with ink. I usually don't go back and pencil more, I just work straight form my inking pens. This can be a real challenge as there is no un-doing anything once the ink hits the paper. I used a combination of tools to draw with, but the main items are: Rotring Pens, Pigma Pens and some painted ink useing brushes. The original drawing is approximately 16x20 inches in size and drawn on heavy 300gsm watercolor paper.

Once the drawing is complete, we scan it at 800 dpi and process the scan to reflect the original as much as possible. We make a limited edition number of prints to sell. The small image size here really doesn't do the original justice, but its a fair representation.

Robert J Andersen

DETAIL IMAGE 1:

Female Black Bear Pen and Ink Drawing Detail

DETAIL IMAGE 2:

Black Bear Cub Drawing Detail Pen and Ink

FINAL FULL DRAWING:

Black Bear and 3 Cubs Pen and Ink Drawing

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