www.avondalegallery.com Original wildlife, birds of prey, angling, portraiture, landscape limited edition fine art and photography Trevor Harrop, Passion for Angling, Chris Yates

STAGE 1. Firstly I set down an outline of the image, then entirely fill it with a very hard, very blunt and shiny-smooth 3H pencil. I work it fairly hard and this flattens the grain of the paper, and means that I have to work harder to get the paper to accept the other pencils I use. This is a preferred method or style which has evolved over many years. I like to build the image up slowly. Then the first, and most important thing with any drawing of any living thing is the eye or eyes. In this case there is only one showing and this has to have depth and shine. After all, it is this that will set it apart from being the proverbial stuffed parrot.