While taking a short break from doing pet portraits, I decided to go back to my longtime muse: wolves. Nothing centers me as much as taking out my colored pencils and drawing a wolf portrait, something I have not really done for a very long time. Many years ago I used to draw wolves all the time. Perhaps it is something I will pick up again when I have more time. Just something for practice, to relax, and to draw a subject that is familiar and beautiful to calm my mind.
This drawing is based loosely off of a section of prose titled “Thinking Like A Mountain” by renowned wildlife biologist Aldo Leopold. In this memoir, Aldo recalls a scene when he is hunting wolves, something he had done before, but this time was different. It was an experience that haunted him, and changed the course of his life permanently, turning him from a pro-hunter anti-wolf person to one of nature’s staunchest advocates. The passage reads:
“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”
This bit of prose also affected me when I was a child, and was one of the things (among many) that set me on the path of my lifelong obsession with wolves. It is a haunting reminder of how fragile the ecosystem is and just how important these beautiful animals are; not because they have economic value to us as humans, but because they have their own intrinsic worth and deserve to live.
This drawing was made with Prismacolor colored pencils on 9×12 inch Strathmore tan colored drawing paper, in November 2023. I did not use any one particular reference to draw it; instead I used a few copyright-free photographs as general references for the face shape and made up my own markings for him. I loved drawing on the tan colored paper. It gives a neutral mid-tone base to work on, so the artist can focus on the highlights and shadows. I prefer working on colored paper vs white paper for most drawings, unless I want them to be as full saturation and vibrant as possible, which white paper is best for.
The original drawing is framed and hanging on my wall in my studio. If you want to purchase it, or want a custom drawing of your own, please contact me.
