Thank you all for your positive feedback on my pencil illustration! I want to share more drawings with you from our next big project, which was to work out a composition with a crowquill pen and dipping ink.

Here was my inspiration photo from a skiing magazine. I love this image because in many ski towns, there is an unwritten powder day rule where you can call in “sick” if the ski trails receive 12 inches of snow. I admit I did that a couple times when I lived in the mountains – it was awesome! Fresh tracks and pow-pow, baby!

Once again, it was all about the process, so first, we had to do a small thumbnail sketch (3-inch square).

Then we had to do a full-page rough pencil sketch.

Then we had to work out the light and shadows on smaller copies using a Sharpie marker. When I practiced on these smaller copies, I realized I enjoyed working with pen more than I thought I would.

Here is my first practice drawing, which had several things I wanted to fix on the next edition, so I did another one.

Here is my final illustration, done on a formal, heavier Bristol paper in a 9×12-inch size. (ready to be framed) This one turned out to have a cool 3-D effect I’m diggin!

I liked this final one so much better, which goes to show that it pays off to practice. I did grow a little tired of working on this drawing over and over again, but I’m happy I kept at it.