Sheep, sheep, sheep . . .

I think I’ll be drawing sheep in my sleep!    I have sold three pencil drawings in the last month of sheep and lambs.  One of which was this ram ( only about 5″ x 7″),  actually executed a while ago.

The purchaser was so pleased she commissioned me to draw some “Berrichon”  Sheep and lambs for a  small size frame;  a Christmas present for a breeder friend of hers.

 

 

Berrichon sheep, a commercial, short, tight coated,  continental breed, have very little “colour” with pink ears and noses and look very “washed out.”  To my mind quite an ugly specimen.  The lambs gawky looking with big ears. The purchaser was really keen for me to stick to the graphite format and  a rear view, which meant I would need to rely entirely on shadow to give any depth or feeling of texture.  My other sales were based on drawings of one of my own ewes and her lambs which have some patches of colour and the ewe has lots of rather scruffy,  textural, woolly coat that makes for interest.  I decided to do a slight watercolour wash over the pencil drawing and see if that helped create some interest.

The first attempt, I felt, was too much colour for the brief.

I was more pleased with the next attempt as was my purchaser.   Just a little  colour wash on the one lamb seems to have  worked for me. But no more sheep  pictures for a while……. please