Captain Jack portrait in progress 6 - Whisker info

Captain Jack’s forehead and right ear finished. Now working on the intricate detail of his white muzzle and nose. 

Next, the biscuit. There is a story about why he is holding that biscuit. I’ll share that in my next post.

INFO FOR ARTISTS:

Some colored pencil artists make whiskers by applying dark pigment (on either side of the white muzzle in this case, then using a sharp tool to scratch off dark pencil pigment to reveal lighter paper. I make whiskers with colored pencil, as you see here, making them lighter than I want them, then when I add the dark pencil around them, going lightly over the white whisker darkens it to the value I want there. Otherwise the whiskers will look too thick and too prominent. I don’t want whiskers to be a major feature of the face. 

Some colored pencil artists make whiskers by indenting a white or light-colored paper with a light color. Then rubbing the darker pigment over the indentation, not into it. I feel Prismacolors are too soft to indent paper that much, and this paper color is a bit too dark in value to work well for that anyway.

"Portrait of Captain Jack", commissioned by Sindy B.

🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Flannel Grey” Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 10 x 12 inches.