North American Bullfrog
by Bev Lewis

Materials used:
Fabriano HP watercolour paper 300gsm
Stabilo Original pencils in the following colours: 750 Black, 635 Dark brown, 390 Indigo blue, 575 Grass green, 215 Golden yellow, 205 Primrose yellow
Sharp scalpel blade
Putty rubber
Tissue or soft paper towel
Large soft brush (I use a make up brush)

(1) I transfer my final working drawing onto watercolour paper using a light box and a soft pencil (2B), pressing very lightly (I can lift out any lines which are too dark with a putty rubber so that I am left with a very faint image). I select the colours I will be using and keep these separately so I don't waste time searching for them amongst all the other pencils on my drawing board. Firstly, I layer in a primrose yellow (205) followed by grass green (575) very lightly over the skin of the frog and golden yellow (215) in the eye which will become the golden flecks - I blend the layers on the skin by gently rubbing with soft tissue. I want to establish the darkest part of the eye which I do by using layers of blue (390) followed by black (750). I keep these pencils sharp to give me a crisp, sharp line around the pupil. I make sure I retain the 'spark' in the eye, as this is what will give it life.

(2) I continue to build up the strength of the dark pupil by layering in blue (390) and black (750) pressing slightly harder with each layer. After strengthening the yellow in the eye and using a very sharp dark brown (635) I pick out the patterning on the yellow of the iris, leaving an area of white paper showing at the right for a highlight. At this stage I put in some shading around the eye to show me if I have the colours in the eye balanced. I will occasionally brush lightly over my work to remove minute specks of colour, which have loosened from the pencils as I work.

(3) When I am happy with the eye itself I move on and develop the frog's face, building up layers of blue (390) and green (575), blending with tissue as I go and I bring in some of the shading using dark brown (635) and leave other areas white which I will develop as wet shiny areas on the skin.

(4) I can now see that the eye needs to be darkened slightly top and bottom to make it look round. This I do building up carefully with black and dark brown just under the top of the eye and around the bottom edge. I finish the shading and textures on the skin using brown and black and strengthen the green and indigo blue to get the correct tone and colour of skin. Lastly I scratch out tiny specks for the wet highlights and gently lift out a small area under the eye and on the nose using a putty rubber to give more shape to the face.