WIP: Dawn: African Lions. Prismacolor sketch pencils on black paper, 10 x 8 in, 2007.
Before I start a new scratchboard I typically make a fairly detailed drawing in graphite. Because scratchboard tends to be an unforgiving medium, it’s important that I have a good grasp of things like: composition and light/shadow placement, as well as nuances of fur, before I start etching the board.
It recently occurred to me, however, that making a dark drawing on a white ground, i.e. pencil on paper, might not be the best way to go about this… I thought I’d try an experiment and begin my prepatory work with a light drawing on a dark ground, i.e. white charcoal on black paper. The above is the result.
The reference is from the WetCanvas! reference image library, otherwise known as the WC! RIL, and it’s by jerrirose (Thanks, jerri, for such a great photo!). The photo shows the lions facing to the left of the picture plane, but I flipped them and I set them farther left of the picture plane - I wanted to make sure the male’s eye fell into a pleasing spot in the composition.
Why the flip? When lions are in the first blush of their mating ritual, they often adopt similar postures and poses – they begin to mirror each other. Whether they do this as a result of being close or because they are trying to signal closeness, I’m not sure; but other animals do it as well. Even humans – don’t believe me? Next time you’re down at the local watering hole, watch how a couple flirting with each other will make similar movements: she touches her hair, he touches his; he laughs and tosses his head back, she does the same. At any rate, these lions are looking off into the horizon together and I wanted to signal to the viewer that they were at the beginning of their relationship. I’ve come to think of the right of my picture plane as “east” and light coming from that direction as dawn or sunrise – thus the beginning of things.
I’m quite pleased with how this has worked out. Pleased enough that I’m going to be buying a lot more black paper…
