Pet Portraits in Color
I “paint” with colored pencils by blending colors through burnishing and occasionally using solvents. The final portrait will approach a photo realistic appearance. I use high quality artist grade pencils with excellent lightfast ratings to reduce potential color fading over time. Primarily, I use Faber Castell Polychromos oil-based pencils. However, I also supplement my work with Caran d’Ache Luminance and Derwent Drawing pencils, both of which have very high lightfastness ratings.
(As a note: The links imbedded above will connect you to manufacturer sites. These sites offer good information; but shop around. Prices vary widely from manufacturers to Amazon and across the many different Art suppliers.)
Pet Portraits in Black & White
I use Staedtler 2mm mechanical graphite pencils and occasionally Faber Castell 9000 series graphite pencils to produce black and white drawings. The final portrait will approach a black and white photo realistic appearance. While these portraits do not depict the subjects’ colors, they do capture the gradations in value or the variations in tones of grey.
(As noted previously: The links imbedded above will connect you to manufacturer sites. These sites offer good information; but shop around. Prices vary widely from manufacturers to Amazon and across the many different Art suppliers.)
Paper
To capture the needed detail for a pet portrait, I find 11×14 sized paper works best. However, paper characteristics vary tremendously. I always use an acid free paper that has a weight greater than most card stock. Acid free paper significantly reduces deterioration and yellowing of paper over time. I use Bristol vellum, Bristol smooth, or hot-pressed watercolor paper depending on the subject and if I’m working in color or black and white. I keep experimenting with different papers! Recently I tried Strathmore’s 500 series Bristol vellum. It’s acid free, 100% cotton, archival quality paper. I really liked drawing on this paper! For me, it worked better than Arches’ Acquarelle hot-pressed watercolour, which is also an acid free, 100% cotton, archival quality paper. As I get more into human portraits, I am leaning toward Bristal smooth paper. It works great for creating nicely blended skin tones. I mostly use my Luminance pencils for that work.
(As a note: Many types and makes of paper exist and every artist has their personal favorites. Strathmore is only one manufacturer, but they have many products thereby allowing you to learn a great deal about paper by simply browsing their site.