Be Creative With Computer-GraphicsMost computers have some sort of computer-graphics program where you can edit or modify your drawings. Some examples are Photo Impression, Paint and Photo
Smart. There are also some very good computer-graphic programs out there. Adobe Photo-Shop and Paint Shop Pro are the
best. Finding a picture to draw: Magazines are a good source of material. I have even purchased a box of dog food just because there was a quality picture on it. But the best place to get excellent reference pictures to draw is the internet. Make sure the picture you
choose isn't too small. When you find a picture that you think would make a good drawing, right click on the mouse. Select "save picture as". Save it to a file of your choice (don't forget where you put it). Now go to your computer-graphics program and bring up the picture. There will should be an edit button where you can change the picture to black and white. Do this. If you are going to be drawing your
dog portrait in pencil, this will help you to see the tones better. Now you can either re-size the picture or simply print it. If you re-size, remember that it's easy to make a picture smaller. However if you try to make a small picture larger, you may lose some
detail. Scanners: Another great feature of these computer-graphics programs is that you can erase with them. Let's say
for example, you have finished a great portrait of a Siberian Husky. You have carefully erased all the grid lines from around the dog. If you have a scanner, scan your husky drawing and bring it up in your computer-graphics program. Look for the "eraser" tool. Carefully erase the area around the outside of your drawing (Make sure you don't erase any of the dog itself). Now you have a clean copy of your husky portrait. If it looks too light, you can also use the "enhance" tool to make it
a little darker. When you are finished editing your drawing make sure you save it. From this enhanced copy you can print as many reproductions as you like. This is great if you intend to sell prints of your
drawings. Side Note: One night I was working on a Basenji portrait, when a tiny bug landed on it. Without even thinking , I flicked the little bugger off the drawing. Big mistake! As the bug met
his demise, I managed to leave a nasty stain on my drawing. Fortunately this was not a custom portrait for a customer. See the smudge on his chest?
If you want to sell prints of your drawings a scanner is of course, a must. You can get a good flat bed scanner for around $50.00 these
days. Collages: Here's another neat thing you can do with your computer-graphics program.
Add a
Name: This is nice if you want to add "personalization" to your dog prints.
Here's one that's even a little more personalized.
You can even create logos.
Use your imagination to come up with all sorts of neat stuff. |
I tried to get rid of it with my eraser but that made it worse. I scanned the finished drawing and removed the stain with my computer-graphics program.
I can never sell that portrait as an original because of the stain, but I have sold quite a few reproduction prints of that Basenji.
After scanning all three drawings, I re-sized them, cut and pasted them, did some erasing and moving around.
Simply add the name with your 
For more detailed drawing instruction, please check out my How To Draw Books