Lion sketch5/15/2023 ![]() Mouths can be difficult as it is very easy to make an animal look as if they are smiling. Using these two lines, I add his eyes, nose and mouth. I use the same process for the male, starting with the big, simple shapes and adding a line to show the centre of his face, which is at a slight angle, and another to show the level of his eyes. I add no further detail to the front legs or body – the lioness is finished! The features on the right side of her face are pressed against the ground, so they are angled slightly. Using this new line I add the eyes, nose, mouth and eyebrows, along with a few dots to indicate where the hair of the chin will be. I redraw the line down the middle of the face because the first line wasn’t quite right. ![]() The front legs are simple, and the back legs are nowhere to be seen (if you can’t see them, don’t sketch them). The hindquarters, belly, shoulders and neck are joined by a long flat line, showing the lioness lying flat on her side. Two simple lines show the start of the tail, and immediately the lioness begins to appear. Once I have the basic shapes I join them together. This line is my guide and ensures that her body and facial features will be aligned correctly so that her shoulders meet her belly and neck accurately and her eyes and ears are correctly spaced on either side of the line. I also draw a line indicating the centre of the lioness’ back and continue it through her neck and down what will become the middle of her face. These lines, like every other, are drawn only after careful observation of my subject. So even though these are the simplest of shapes, they must be the correct size, the correct shape, and they must be positioned correctly in relation to each other. If I get them right, they will hold the sketch together, but if I get them wrong, they will tear it apart. These first few shapes are the key to the sketch. I started with the lioness and used oval shapes to show her hindquarters, belly, shoulders and head. ![]() ![]() The piece I have chosen is Powernap, originally sketched in Kruger National Park, South Africa. So, to show you the stages of a field sketch, I am recreating a sketch in the studio, using pen instead of pencil. I also work without an easel, constantly moving around to find different subjects, making it difficult to document my technique as I’m sketching. I use the technique to demonstrate how to draw lions. I sketch using very faint lines, which will become almost invisible when I add watercolour, but these lines are very difficult to photograph outdoors. When sketching in the African bush I don’t have time to photograph the stages of my pencil sketches because I need to finish them before the people or animals I’m sketching move away. ![]()
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