Winnie in Repose

I drew this based on the principles of Keys to Drawing, by Burt Dobson. His method is to draw lines based on what you see, and then enrich with textures and detail. I also used Chat GPT to help plan it out and to provide guidance for refining it. I sketched the initial outline with an automatic HB pencil.  Then I used darker graphite pencils from my drawing kit to create the different zones of shading. I also used a pen-style mechanical vinyl eraser stick to lift highlights for additional contrast.   The texture is created with small, short, curving or straight lines flowing in the direction of Winnie's fur. The initial draft had good texture, but the graphite was too light and not the best representation of Winnie's black fur.  So I went over it again with charcoal pencils. Soft charcoal for the darker areas, medium charcoal for the lighter areas, using the same short curved and/or straight strokes.  I noticed that the graphite base was hard to draw on and didn't absorb the charcoal as well as I expected.  But I just used more pressure and turned the pencil a bit when I needed to, and then I was able to complete the darker charcoal layer.    I actually had several drafts of Winnie in Repose.  I was pretty happy with the lines and the shape, but I needed several tries to get the texture right. I used an artist's light pad to trace a new, clean version of my initial outline so that I could easily start over and just focus on the texture.