How to Draw a Miniature Schnauzer Portrait in Pastel Pencils: Zestit Pencil Blend Tutorial & Tips

When you are invited round to dinner at your neighbours home you don’t expect to have to leave early !!! Having just finished a magnificent Spanish Tapas followed by an amazing Mexican Chilli. It was the last thing we expected, to visit our daughter in hospital following her phone call. It certainly brought a swift end to a very pleasant evening. We didn’t even have time to say thank you properly. So, after the crisis was over, what could I do to show our appreciation?

Well, having met Marvin the Schnauzer during the evening, why not produce a portrait for his owners? Here is how I did it and why I decided to use Zestit "Pencil Blend" in the process.

Turning a hastily taken snap into a piece of art with this Zestit Tutorial.

The original snap

Side view giving more detail

The final portrait

I didn’t go for dinner with the intention of producing a portrait of Marvin and, as it was to be a surprise, I couldn’t go back for more photos. I had to rely on the two shots I had hastily taken during the evening.

I wasn’t sure which way to go with this artwork but perhaps unconsciously these days, I go through several mental process steps which I find helps me to develop my approach. These are; composition development, choice of media and finally the process or steps to use.

The Composition, The Media, The Process

Original Sketch subsequently rejected

Developing the Composition for a Miniature Schnauzer Portrait.

I played around with various sketches before deciding on the composition. I had so few reference images to go on, and as I had never drawn a Schnauzer before, I had to rely on Google for some background research into the breed. In the end I decided to crop the original image to little more than a head shot therefore minimising the composition. Having studied various images of Schnuazers it became clear that the Snout, Eyebrows and Moustache are what make them distinctive. Marvin is a real character with a fantastic personality and a very distinctive face. So that’s what I decided to concentrate upon. I was also conscious that a white background paper was not going to give the contrasts I needed to make his eyebrows and moustache pop.

Background Research

Originating in Germany in the 14th Century the Schnauzer name comes from the German word for Snout, and means colloquially Moustache.

The Miniature Schnauzer, which I believe Marvin to be, originated in Germany in the late nineteenth century. It may have been developed from the smallest specimens of the Standard Schnauzer or cross bred with a miniature poodle or similar. Composition decided it was now about the medium.

Choosing Pastel Pencil and Paper for dog portraits

This had to be a pastel artwork, which to be honest is my favourite medium when producing dog portraits because it gives me flexibility. What it would require, learning from my initial sketches, was a careful choice of paper to allow me to highlight the eyebrows and beard. I was, in effect, going to produce a vignette the coat would be a representation only.

I settled on a paper called Tiziano by Fabriano 160gm/2 size 29.7 x 42cm or 11.75” x 16.5” inches. This is a flecked paper and the lighter grey colour would work well as a complement to Marvin’s colouring and a good base to work upon.

I also wanted to use the Zestit Pencil Blend to reduce the need for heavy blending with conventional blending tools. As I was only using a 160 g/m2 paper, this is one of the first benefits of using a blending liquid to save the paper’s surface finish.

Pro Tip before using Zestit to blend

Before using Zestit you will still need to use conventional blending methods. I use a mixture of fingers, silicon blenders and paper torchons like the ones shown in the collage below. Start by layering your colours in the conventional way using the lightest of touch. Lightly blend with a silicon blender or torching to achieve your colour before using the "Pencil Blend". More on this later.

Paper Torchons are useful but having used these with “pencil blend” there are several other tips I would like to pass on.

I had never used Zestit until the last few pieces of pastel art. I therefore did what most artists do. A search across YouTube.

After skipping through the usual candy floss blogs I decided to see if Colin Bradley, an early mentor of Fabre Castell had started to use it also.

Thankfully he had and therefore if you have not used Zestit before he has several video tutorials on his web site worth watching. You may need to join his art class but it’s very competitively priced and an ideal start if you are new to pastel pencils.

What Colin makes very clear is the importance of a light touch. “Pencil Bland” reduces the need for pressure when blending which can result in waxy layers that you can't penetrate.

Blending Tips with Zestit

1. Build your layers using as little pressure as possible and practice combining Zestit as your final blending process. You can add layers on top of an already Zestit blended layer but you will need to make sure that all of the solvent has boiled off before you do.

2. If you are using a artist brush to blend, use just enough Zestit. How much is just enough? Having done some practice pieces you will know. Suffice to say its betters to use too little than too much. Depending on the area I am blending I sometimes dip a torchon into the Zestit fluid, let it soak in for a few seconds and the wipe any excess off with a paper towel. Note however that you will need several torchons depending on the colours being blended. Dark colours will transer to the Torchon and contaminate/transfer colour to lighter colours, especially whites.

3. I have also, with practice, found that silicon blenders with a very light coating of pencil blend works well. But again I cant stress enough the need to do some practice pieces.

   
   

I thought it would be helpful to compile a few of the various steps taken below and add some helpful notes.

Step-by-step process for drawing Marvin the Schnauzer

I always start a portrait by developing the eye. Compartmentalise the eye into its various coloured sections. Where the light is reflecting on the eye start with a layer of white and add the highlights as solid whit dots. Reflected light areas can then be dulled with a layer of grey. The cornea is made up of layers of orange, raw sienna and perylene brown.

Below are the full range of colours I used to produce Marvins coat.

These are from The Fabre Castell Pitt Pencil Range

Fabre Castell Colours Used

101 White, 103 Ivory,169 Carput Mortuum, 230 Cold Grey, 233 Cold Grey IV, 181 Paynes Grey, 199 Black, 157 Dark Indigo, 185 Naples Yellow, 182 Brown Ochre, 102 Cream, 109 Dark Chrome Yellow, 176 Van Dyke Brown

Getting it wrong

Now here is a little composition challenge for you. What changes would you make to my work at this stage?

Pre Detailing and Finishing

1. Left Eye

2. Left Eyebrow

3. Moustache

4. Ears

5. Forehead

Artistic License

Let me say at this point I have a view about artworks. I hate photo realism.

"That's because you cant produce it" I hear you say. You may well be right but its not because I can't, its because I don't see the point. Take a photo if you want accurate realism, for me I do want people to know I have produced a work of art.

Critiquing the almost finished portrait of Marvin with my greatest critic, my wife Chris, we decided to make changes to all of the 5 elements listed above.

The most important changes were as follows :-

1. Left Eye

   Highlight the eye more and add touches of chinese white

2. Left Eyebrow

   Increase the dark fur behind and above the eyebrow

3. Moustache

   Increase the overall width to be in line with the ears, once increased

4. Ears

   Increase the size and blend the left ear more

5. Forehead

Slight modifications to raise the forehead slightly.