This is my drawing for the January Scrawlrbox challenge “nature’s eye”. You can see the materials I got and my review of them here.

I sketched a basic outline lightly in pencil, then outlined the eyes with the Pentel needlepoint, colouring them with the yellow and orange Artline 220 pens. I used the white gelly roll pen to add a subtle highlight in the lower part of the eye, the gelly roll ink picked up a tint of colour from the ink below which softened the effect further. I limited the ink to the owl’s eyes and then built up several layers of pencil to create the feathers and markings around the owl’s face and upper body.

The inked eyes are a change from my usual pure pencil or ink drawings, and I’m happy that they drew in the focus as I’d intended. I didn’t want to add ink further out into the picture until I’d done the pencil and decided if that was enough. Sometimes you think a picture will need more work, step back and realise it’s done.