African Elephant Ear Tutorial

Greetings, my fine feathered friend!

Probably the most memorable part of the African elephant is its large, fan-like ears.  The following is the process I used to create the baby elephant's ear in colored pencil.

Prismacolor Pencils used: black, French Grey 10%, French Grey 20%, French Grey 50%, French Grey 70%, Warm Grey 70% 

First stage: Using a black colored pencil put in the darkest shadows.

Layer French Grey 50% over the entire ear, varying the application to give the ear the illusion of shape.

Cover the ear in a layer of French Grey 20%.

Another layer of French Grey 50%.

Add French Grey 70% and Warm Grey 70% to the shadows.  That reddish color cast is due to the poor photo quality at this stage.

Add another layer of French Grey 50% over the entire ear.

Use French Grey 20% in the highlight areas, then add French Grey 10% to the brightest areas.  This creates the illusion of folds at the edge of the ear, and gives the three dimensional quality to the smooth parts of the ear.

Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look :)

Until next time: Happy flying!