Shevin's Art

Ranger

2012-01-04T17:50:00.001-07:00

"Ranger"

Australian Shepherd

Graphite 8" x 10"

Sienna 2 Complete

2011-12-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

"Sienna" 2

Graphite 11" x 14"

I had the opportunity to draw Sienna again for a Christmas present.

She seems like a such a joy to be around!

Sienna Complete

2011-11-21T21:48:00.001-07:00

"Sienna"

Graphite 11" x 14"

Sienna WIPS2-5

2011-11-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much time to update the photos for the WIP of Sienna, so I'm just going to post them all now.

"Sienna" WIP 1

2011-11-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the beginning of a little girl, named Sienna, I am currently working on.

"Cowboy Kid"

2011-08-15T08:00:00.003-06:00

In Memory of

"Cowboy Kid"

March 5, 1977 - August 14, 1998

Graphite 11" x 14"

Dallas Cowboys Stadiums

2011-03-30T20:18:00.000-06:00

I just completed two more drawings at a friend's request.

They are of the old and the new Dallas Cowboy's stadiums.

"Dallas Cowboy Stadiums"

Graphite 10" x 16"

Otterly Love WIP2

2011-01-20T17:49:00.001-07:00

More completed on the otters...

Otterly Love WIP1

2011-01-04T21:41:00.001-07:00

I started another drawing of two otters.

The background is completed unless I feel like tweaking it later on.

Mikael 2 Finished

2011-01-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

"Mikael"

Graphite 11" x 14"

Landon Finished

2010-12-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

"Landon"

Graphite 11" x 14"

Finally able to post this drawing of my nephew, Landon. He had been playing in a mud puddle, and this is the result: shorts that are falling off. Below is the drawing with the reference photo:

I realized I made a slight mistake and didn't scan a drawing I did for a Christmas present. I thought for sure I had taken a photo of the completed image, but realized the only photo I had taken of it completed was with my cell phone. So I'm sorry to report, that I probably will not be posting that one.

Mikael Finished

2010-12-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

"Mikael"

Graphite 8" x 10"

Mikael WIP

2010-12-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, I have completed a couple Christmas presents, which I will post next year.

I have just finished this portrait of Mikael. I didn't take many pics as I was working on her, but here are the two I did take.

Shayla Finished

2010-11-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

"Shayla"

Graphite 8" x 10"

Shayla WIP 6-7

2010-11-14T20:27:00.001-07:00

More work on arm and some hair...

Continued work on hair and more on shirt...

Shayla WIP1-5

2010-11-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

Finally making the time to post progress pics of my current drawing.

This one is also an 8" x 10" graphite

on Fabriano Artistico paper.

The beginning light outline...

Shading of background...

Began shading elements of the face...

More of the face, darker parts of hair, background...

Close-up of above face detail...

Hair on one side, slightly more work on parts of face,

still not happy with background so played with that

some more, also....

Hope you enjoy! More progress to come soon.

Olivia Completed

2010-09-19T14:06:00.001-06:00

"Olivia"

Graphite 8" x 10"

© Shevin Childers

Awards won at Rosebud/Treasure County Fair 2011
First Place, Best of Class, Judge's Choice, and People's Choice

Olivia WIP5-7

2010-09-17T12:22:00.000-06:00

Finally updating the blog with WIP photos of Olivia.

Olivia WIP4

2010-08-30T21:10:00.001-06:00

Another update of Olivia. I was hoping to have had time tonight to draw more, but not sure that is going to happen. At least I finally had time to post an updated pic...

Olivia WIP1-3

2010-08-18T20:58:00.003-06:00

I'm a little slow getting this new drawing posted of Olivia.

Chavonne Completed

2010-08-11T07:49:00.000-06:00

"Chavonne"
Graphite 8" x 10"
© Shevin Childers

Chavonne WIP 2

2010-08-08T18:49:00.003-06:00

More completed of Chavonne. Hope you enjoy :)

Chavonne WIP 1

2010-08-06T07:38:00.003-06:00

I started a new drawing of the human kind this time. It is 8" x 10" on Fabriano hot-pressed watercolor paper. The "model" is my cousin's beautiful daughter, Chavonne. Thank you Lisa for allowing me to draw her.

Prince Final

2010-07-06T16:57:00.004-06:00

"Prince"
Scratchboard 9" x 12"
© Shevin Childers

Prince WIP5

2010-06-27T14:55:00.003-06:00

I finished the tiger! I'm going to think for a bit on whether or not to continue on with a background or just leave it black. The tiger took me approximately 18 hours to complete.

Prince WIP4

2010-06-25T18:21:00.003-06:00

Here is another approximately 3 1/2 hours of work on the tiger.

Prince WIP3

2010-06-22T19:45:00.001-06:00

Another 3 hours of work. My finger hurts, so thought now would be a good time to post an update ;)

Prince WIP2

2010-06-17T07:23:00.002-06:00

Here is update from what I accomplished yesterday. I was only able to get in about 3 hours of work it.

Prince WIP1

2010-06-15T21:43:00.004-06:00

Here is my first attempt at scratchboard. This is the progress after 6 hours of work. It is 9" x 12". Let me know what you think. I still have a long ways to go.

Eagle Completed

2010-06-13T14:56:00.005-06:00

"Respite"
Bald Eagle
Graphite
17" x 22"

I have finally finished the eagle! I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to my friend, Mike, I've decided to name this one "Respite", which means: a delay or cessation for a time, esp. of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief. (Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010)

Eagle WIP 8

2010-05-31T14:41:00.005-06:00

Finally made a lot of progress this weekend on the eagle. Still have to finish up the branch at the bottom, then it should be done.

Eagle WIP 7

2010-05-09T20:58:00.006-06:00

Here is the eagle update. One day it'll get done :)

Eagle WIP 6

2010-02-28T18:47:00.004-07:00

More progress done on the eagle. It's slowly getting done, feather by feather.

Eagle WIP 5

2010-02-18T12:18:00.004-07:00

Feathers, feathers, and more feathers. I have a lot more to do ;)

Eagle WIP 4

2010-01-27T19:38:00.003-07:00

OK I finally have more progress to show. I'm going to make time every day to draw on this until it is finished. Some days I'm sure I won't draw for very long, but it'll be more finished than if I just let a day go past. I have started on the head of the eagle. I still have some detail to draw in on the part that I do have done, but that'll be tomorrow.

Eagle WIP 3

2010-01-10T10:22:00.002-07:00

Here is the eagle with the finished background. I have more of the eagle head shaded in also, but will post a picture of that later.

Eagle WIP 2

2009-11-27T17:12:00.004-07:00

I have made some more progress on the background of the eagle. I am finding I would much rather be shading in the eagle instead of messing with the background. I obviously need a lot more practice on trees and landscapes. I'll be putting that on my to do list, so hopefully one day it won't be so frustrating. Glad I had quite a few hours to work on it today. It was definitely needed. Also wondering what possessed me to draw so large this time?? And wondering how I am going to scan this when I'm finished so that the image is good?? hmmmm...I guess one struggle at a time.

Eagle WIP 1

2009-11-20T19:25:00.003-07:00

I finally have had time to upload a photo of the bald eagle progress. It isn't the best of images, but it gives you the idea of where I'm at on the drawing.

Fabriano Artistico Paper

2009-11-20T10:50:00.003-07:00

Here is a link to the paper I am now using for my graphite drawings. After much paper testing, this is definitely the winner.

Fabriano Artistico Watercolor Paper 22 in. x 30 in. extra white each 140 lb. hot press

Tiger Complete

2009-08-18T20:11:00.004-06:00

The tiger is finished! It is approximately 9" x 11" on Fabriano Artistico paper. I didn't have to struggle using this paper, which was wonderful. Thank you Clive for the paper-type suggestion. Hope you all like "Luna". Now to figure out what to draw next???

Tiger WIP 4

2009-08-06T07:32:00.003-06:00

I promised a few people I would have an update of the tiger's progress last night. So here it is, a little late on the promise :) Since the last update, I have done adjustments on the chin and a few other little adjustments on other parts already done. We'll see if anyone but me notices those ;) Then I have done the obvious work on the face. I have been mainly using 2H, HB and 2B leads.

Tiger WIP 3

2009-08-04T17:54:00.003-06:00

Another update since last night. Enjoy!

Tiger WIP 2

2009-07-31T07:40:00.003-06:00

Here is the update on the tiger.

Tiger WIP 1

2009-07-11T21:15:00.003-06:00

I have finally started another drawing. Here is the progress on the drawing so far. I will try to take a better photo of it with actual light tomorrow. This is the Siberian Tiger, Luna, from Zoo Montana. Unfortunately she passed away on Sunday, June 28th of this year.

Cooper's Hawk Finished

2009-01-02T16:38:00.004-07:00

Here is the completed drawing of the Cooper's Hawk. It is 5" x 7".

Cooper's Hawk WIP2-3

2009-01-02T10:40:00.005-07:00

Here are two more images as I have been working on this hawk (taken with my cell phone camera ~ sorry for the picture quality).

Cooper's Hawk WIP1

2008-12-10T17:49:00.006-07:00

I have began drawing a Cooper's Hawk. Here is the progress so far, a light outline and some light shading.

Firefly ~ The Alpaca

2008-09-29T07:55:00.005-06:00

I just completed this drawing of "Firefly", a blue-eyed alpaca belonging to Lunatic Fringe Alpacas. I thought she was just beautiful, especially those eyes! I seriously thought of adding a little blue somehow to this drawing. I'm calling it complete for now, but may still change my mind and add some blue tint. Still debating. This drawing is close to 5" x 7". I will edit this post later when I remember to see what paper I used (hahaha--I have so many samples to try, I have no idea what I'm using??). I liked this paper. I thought it took darks fairly well. The only problem is that repeat layers did seem to bring up fibers of the paper. Soooo, still not the perfect paper for me, but definitely something I would purchase and use again.

Thank you Donna for showing us your alpacas and letting me take a few good pictures.

The original drawing is for sale. Please contact me for price.

Britt Completed

2008-09-15T15:17:00.003-06:00

"Britt", the Chihuahua, is finished. Took me a couple days to get this image on here, but better late than never right. I'm going to have to try a different paper for the next mini I do. I don't think this paper is very good for getting the tone differences that I am capable of getting with each pencil.

Britt ~ Chihuahua Drawing WIP 1

2008-09-04T20:41:00.002-06:00

I have been seeing some "mini" drawings lately and thought I'd give it a try :)
This drawing is of a Chihuahua named Britt. It is 4" x 6". Britt belongs to my Aunt Ivy of Lamars Doghouse. The picture I am using to draw from was taken by Ivy. I thought Britt would be a perfect subject to draw for a mini drawing, since she is pretty mini herself :)

Rabbit Is Complete

2008-08-08T07:56:00.003-06:00

The Rabbit drawing is finally complete. I have come to the conclusion that I am not meant to draw so much confusing ground cover. It was overwhelming. I will need to work on some way of simplifying, or drawing to give the effect of something without actually drawing in all the detail. That will be something to work on at a later time, though, on a different drawing. I actually didn't mind the pine needles that were still on the branches :) I just didn't like the pine needles that were on the ground. This drawing is appoximately 8" x 10".

Rabbit WIP 5

2008-06-22T17:37:00.005-06:00

More updates as of today on the rabbit. I need to hurry up and get this little guy (or gal) done. Then on to the next project. For some reason I can't seem to do more than one drawing at a time.

Rabbit WIP 4

2008-05-21T06:49:00.004-06:00

I haven't posted in a while (nice weather, new camera lens, whatever my excuse may be). I have worked on my rabbit off and on and thought I better post the progress, so here it is as of today:

Rabbit WIP 3

2008-03-23T13:39:00.002-06:00

Here is the latest progress on the rabbit drawing. It seemed to take forever to draw in all those pine needles. I can't believe how the time seemed to pass while I was drawing in all the tones in the needles. Yikes! Not sure exactly what area of this drawing I'm going to work on next. For some reason the fur scares me, but I think that the ground cover is going to be even more scary. So may opt for the fur next.

Rabbit WIP 2

2008-03-20T11:17:00.005-06:00

Continuing on with the rabbit...I always start with the eyes, so I have shaded in the eye and then much of the dark areas around the rabbit. At least this scan shows the drawing better. It's so difficult to scan just the outline.

Rabbit WIP 1

2008-03-19T20:31:00.008-06:00

OK I have started the drawing on the rabbit I took a photograph of in Yellowstone National Park. I believe it is a Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii). I have an outline of the rabbit done and most of the tree branches I plan on shading in with the most detail completed. The ground cover still needs to be outlined in. Here are a couple images of the progress so far. The first image I have edited from the scan so you can see it a little better. The second image shows it more as it looks right now (the scanner has added a little bit of darker areas where it is actually supposed to be the white of the paper...don't know why and figured these images were good enough to serve this purpose). Maybe one day I'll get the scanner figured out better :) {Click on the images to see them slightly larger. I realize it is very difficult to see, but that's what is needed at this point of the drawing phase. When the images are viewed a little larger, you'll be able to see the detail better.}

Next Project: Rabbit

2008-03-18T12:31:00.003-06:00

I've finally decided on my next drawing. I took a great picture of a rabbit last year at Yellowstone National Park (at least my opinion it is a great reference picture). It is going to be a challenge for me that's for sure, but it will give me good practice on different textures. I'm sure I need the challenge. It will also be the first rabbit I've drawn. Yikes! Soft hair of the rabbit, coarse texture of the bark on the branches on the ground, and smooth texture of the pine needles on the tree it's laying next to/under, are all going to be a challenge. I think I'm most nervous about the rabbit's fur though. I will need patience.

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." ~John Quincy Adams

For some reason, I'm not so sure patience will make the difficulties of this disappear, but I'm sure patience will help. I'll find some time to begin this drawing and update as I go.

"Someday" Is Completed

2008-03-06T21:53:00.003-07:00

I have finally completed the drawing for the Ducks Unlimited Auction. That was quite the task drawing the reeds/grass and water. The finished product turned out quite well though. Now to frame it so it's ready to go to some lucky bidder.

I am in the process of testing out new papers ~ trying to find the "perfect" one. The paper I used for this drawing is Fabriano Rosaspina, which is 60% cotton, acid-free paper. It has a neutral pH to resist aging. It's also a very heavy weight (220 gsm). Although this is great archival quality paper, it does have a very slight texture to it. I prefer very smooth paper. Other graphite artists like texture on their paper, but I don't. Sometimes the texture gets in the way of the texture I'm trying to create. I found it very difficult to get the shades I was used to getting when drawing on other paper using the same pencils. The shades were always lighter than on other paper. Sometimes the lighter shade was good, but I found it very frustrating when I was trying to get very dark tones. My pencil of choice is the Staedtler mechanical pencil. It is so much more consistent than the normal "pencil". However, I found when using my favorite Staedtler mechanical pencil, it would leave an indent in the paper and then be very difficult to add more tones on top of those indents, no matter how lightly I pressed on the paper. I had to resort to using my other Derwent graphic pencils (that I use very rarely now since finding the mechanical pencils). The Derwent pencils worked better though and I had softer grades to use which allowed me to get darker tones. I also seemed to keep seeing fibers from this paper as I was drawing. The more I went over a spot to add more tone, the more the fibers were evident, and also when trying to blend the graphite. I hadn't had that problem before...This was the first time I used the Fabriano Rosaspina paper, I will use the last sheet of this paper at one point in time, and then I doubt I will purchase or use it again.

Ducks Unlimited Drawing

2008-03-03T22:23:00.002-07:00

I began the task of shading in the reeds and grass today. There is still quite a bit of work to do on that part. Here is the progress so far.

Ducks Unlimited Drawing Continued

2008-03-02T19:24:00.003-07:00

Today I continued work on the Ducks Unlimited drawing. I shaded in the Bufflehead and a little of the reflection/water.

A little closer view of the Bufflehead:

Ducks Unlimited Drawing Started

2008-03-02T08:48:00.004-07:00

I have begun work on a donation for Ducks Unlimited. It is a Yellow Lab Puppy peaking out of the reeds at a Bufflehead swimming by. I thought that would be a cute idea...The scan below shows what I have completed so far on the drawing.

Here is a little closer view of the puppy...

Winter Wolf Is Complete

2008-02-27T16:47:00.005-07:00

"Winter Wolf" is complete! Last night I put the finishing touches on the landscape. The finished original pencil drawing is 11" x 14". Below is a close up of the head which shows the details better (including the snow on the tip of the nose).

Winter Wolf

2008-02-26T10:24:00.006-07:00

I have been working on a drawing of a wolf for a friend of mine and thought I'd post a couple pictures of it's progress. When it's complete I'll get a good scan of it to post. I should have it done very soon :) At least I better if I'm going to get it to her in time.

This first picture is the completed wolf drawing before the background was added. I always get nervous before adding the background, because if I mess up the background, then I have also messed up the main focus of the drawing.

In this case, I'm actually really happy with the background so far. After a few hours working on the wintery, rugged mountains last night, this is the result:

Tonight I plan on adding a few trees and finishing the shading of the moon ~ I wasn't pleased with the first attempt at that :(

Pen And Ink Eagles

2008-02-21T20:58:00.005-07:00

I have been experimenting some lately with pen drawings. It's been fun and I plan on doing many more. I hope you enjoy these bald eagle heads just recently completed. They have already been added to some apparel at my Zazzle Store. I think they would make great Eagle Tattoos also. If you're interested, please let me know.

Here are a few of the products I've created with these designs at my Zazzle Store.

Zazzle Store

2007-12-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I know, it's been a long time since I last posted on here. I have been busy creating products for my Zazzle store (See my gallery at Zazzle). It's been a lot of fun creating products and also looking around at the other stores. There are soooo many talented people out there! The positive comments and friendly atmosphere are wonderful.

Wolf

2007-12-10T20:24:00.001-07:00

This wolf was drawn in 1993. So many years ago and yet it is still my favorite image of a wolf that I have drawn to date. The original is still with me and not for sale.

Big Horn

2007-12-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

I drew this Big Horn ram in 2000 for a friend, who has the original.

Site Design

2007-12-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well this past weekend I changed the look of this blog. I hope you all like it :) I used some of my artwork to create the top and bottom images. The eagle at the top is from a drawing I did quite a few years back, which I call "Downy Eagle". The wolf at the bottom is part of a drawing titled "The Song", which is a drawing of the wolf and an eagle. I also used the background of "The Song" to help create the tree skyline on the top image. After a few modifications on the computer, the graphic was completed. I had so much fun creating these images!

The First Post

2007-11-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to my new site on the web! I am a self taught pencil artist living in Montana. My favorite subjects to draw are eagles, wolves, and other wildlife. Hopefully one day I will be able to photograph more of my subjects for my drawings. I recently purchased a Canon Rebel Xti and am thrilled with it! I need to purchase a telescopic lens for it now and I'll be set. I'm sure I will be posting a few of my photos along with my art on these pages also.