The Making Of "Skyfall"

The making of "Skyfall"... a step by step tutorial of how I produced my biggest piece to date. I set a goal for myself very recently to create something that was going to be a wow piece. Didn't know how it was going to turn out and I wasn't really sure what it was going to be when I first decided to go big. I looked through my portfolio to see what I had already done and quickly came to the decision that a Stag would be the obvious choice... a British favourite known for his superiority across our countrysides. I always remember seeing stag's on my wonders around National Trust properties, they have many breeds to boast of in there many locations across the UK. I decided upon a Red Buck, a common deer in this country and one of my favourites, its majestic, spirited and handsome.

Step 1: Paper & Prep

Before I start any piece I decide on the size and the paper I am going to use. Recently I have been using Bristol Strathmore 300 series Smooth. I use this paper for a number of reasons, it's reasonably priced, the quality of the paper is very good and lovely to draw on and it doesn't take a lot of work to get a good results from. I am not particularly keen on using textured or rough surfaces as I find It eats my pencils and the drawing takes twice as long to complete, but that is just me and it's completely down to personal choice. 

One I am happy with the size I then set up my drawing on Photoshop, this is where I set the canvas size as the same size and my paper and play around with the composition on the page. Once I am happy with the positioning I then grid the entire page, typically 2 cm squares. 

I then do the same grid on the paper, 2 cm grid. I use this grip as a guide to translate the same information on the screen onto my paper, this makes the drawing accurate and helps with mapping out colour changes in the fur and shadows. 

Step 2: Eyes 

I always start with the eyes, if you get this big wrong you have already rewind the drawing so if you get this big right... it's smooth sailing here on out. 

Eyes are the first things you see, whether that is the person you are talking to, your dog or a portrait so you have to make sure the eyes are telling the story you want them to to tell. The eyes should show the character of the animal, you can usually tell if the animal is cheeky, serious, playful or got the I just did something I shouldn't look. 

To create realistic eyes there are three main things to think about...

 The shape - No two animals will have the same eye shape. The eye is round, not flat so keep your pencil stokes smooth and rounded moving with the shape of the eyeball. 

The colour - The colour of the eyes will be a build up of many colours and will have a beautiful patten formed around the centre. The eye will have a black centre (Typically quite large, compared to humans). 

The reflection - This is absolutely key, this is what makes the drawing believable. The eye will reflect some of its surrounding, depending on the size of the portrait it could be one white speck or shape or a whole landscape seen within the eye. 

Don't forget to add shadows! The underside of the eye lid will cast a shadow so this should be much darker then the rest of the eye. 

Step 3: Ears

The ears are a mass of long and short hairs all going in different directions and have a vast amount of colours and tones to pick up on. I think I used appox 12 different colours to build up the right amount of depth in the ears. I also went back to them once I had nearly finished the drawing to make sure the build up of colour was dark enough. 

TIP 

The fur on the outside of the ear is much shorter then what is on the inside of the ear. The inner ear hair will be softer and less corse so your pencil strokes should reflect that with very soft moments moving in slightly different directions. 

Step 4: Adding Depth and Tone

Adding depth and tone to any wildlife piece is really important to make it believable and realistic. I have learned over time that studying many animals that fur rarely move/points in the same direction along the body. The fur will follow the bone structure in the face and body so you will get lots of different changes in the fur direction. Individual hairs will also work in very slightly different directions, so the more you vary the fur's direction the more believable it will be. 

Adding depth the drawings is just a matter of picking up on the highlights and shadows created by the facial bond structure. I typically work from the light to the dark adding layer by layer of very subtle colours before adding the really dark areas. This is for two reasons, a) it allows you to build up colours with control. If you go in to quickly with the dark areas you have set the contrast very early on and you won't be able to go back once it'd down. b) The darker the colour the more mess it creates, it becomes really hard to control the smudges of black smeared across the page. 

TOP TIP...

If you are right handed, where ever possible work from left to right... this will also help to control smudging and use a spare piece of paper or tracing paper to lean on which your drawing. 

Step 5: Antlers! 

So I have never attempted antlers before so this was all new to me!

I started by adding a base colour a mixture of a light warm grey and an ivory all over the antler trying to give an all over even colour. I then started to layer up the shading on the antlers, not concentrating too hard on the details at this point, just a build up of soft colour using greys, browns and beige. 

To add the detail to the antlers I started adding small stronger strokes of colour running lengthways up the antlers, this just gives the antlers some texture and depth. I helps the in-between strokes quite light and subtle to show a highlight in the detailing. I then went over all of it with darker greys and blacks to add depth to the shadows this really helped to bring them out off the page and give them a real 3d look. 

I recommend trying this out on a test piece first before attempting this as it is a tricky think to master... I am a lot more comfortable with fur!! 

Step 6: Chest & Back

 Final Piece Reflection

Well I have to admit I wanted to kill myself on several occasions on this piece but boy I am glad I didn't, I don't think I have ever been truly proud of myself with something I have created. I always want to change something or could have done it better, but I really did put my all into this one and I feel it shows. 

By no means do this mean that I didn't find it hard. Everything about this drawing was hard work, I honestly don't think If I had tried to do this same drawing 6 months ago it would not have been as good. I have been building up to something like this for quite a while and you need to believe in yourself before you start it or you will fail. 

I have had a wonderful response to the drawing I am truly overwhelmed by the lovely comment I have receive on Facebook, Instagram and in person. The final drawing has now been framed by The Eyebrook Gallery www.eyebrookgallery.com who have double mounted in an off white conservation mount and framed it in beautiful rustic white wood which I adore, I am so pleased with the final result. The drawing is now for sale and will be entered into an Art Competition later on in the year. If you would like any further information about this piece please email me at kimberley.dewhurst@outlook.com

Thank you 

K x

P.S This piece is dedicated to my wonderful fiancé Matthew... a Life long James Bond fan. One of our favourite film is "Skyfall" which is lucky because if this film hadn't have come out just after we started dating I probably wouldn't have let me him get away with half the amount of stuff he does in our house. BTW since buying our house he now has an entire room dedicated to his Bond Collection (Major brownie points earned). So anyway this piece is for him a handsome young buck! ;-) x