ARTWRK060 - Titled "Kinsman Great Gray"

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 great gray owl twice in my photographic journey and its awesome to have taken such photos. I drew it using a combination of the following tools, Pigma Micron Pens, Rapidograph Pens, drawing ink, inking with paint brush technique.

I was initially scared to attempt this drawing, I have never drawn an owl before and the feather pattern was a bit overwhelming. I wasn't sure I could represent it properly, but my beautiful wife gave me a shove and demanded I give it a go. Hint - she really wanted and owl drawing. Off I went and after hours and hours of tedious but enjoyable drawing, it started coming together. I love the final product, I am so glad I attempted it and enjoyed the process and result. We were also so happy with the drawing that we turned it into a wood carving pyrography piece.

The title is a a reference to her the mountain range I put behind the owl and also the fact the owl was referenced from a NH great Gray Owl Photo I took. The great gray owl is the largest and rarest owl in North America, an amazing raptor and fairly relaxed around human beings.

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:

DETAIL IMAGE 2:

FINAL FULL DRAWING:

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