Dog Day Afternoon

Here's Maggie making herself comfy in the sun on this winter afternoon. For a little change of pace these were done in charcoal, then sprayed with clear acrylic to keep them from smudging. I awlays liked charcoal as a sketching medium. I think it's as close as you can get to painting while still drawing. Charcoal is very soft and easy to smudge and blend, in many ways like oil paint. Whole areas can be covered thickly and then the lights pulled out using an eraser. Lines can be very rich and thick or very delicate allowing for a great deal of variety and expression.