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The L.L. Bean Stag

While working on my sketching and watercolor class last fall, the L.L. Bean Hunting catalog arrived.  I was instantly taken with the stag on the cover, and wanted to try to sketch him…to my utter delight, it worked!

The Stag Christmas card....made just a dozen....

Here is a snapshot of the catalog cover and my sketch:

The initial sketch, before doing the water-wash to get the shading

Fortunately, when I shared that I had used their photo with LL Bean, they didn’t mind!  I used a Tombow water-soluble ink pen on this as well as a permanent India-Ink (Pitt by Faber-Castell) pen for the outlines.  The permanent pen doesn’t bleed or leak, which preserves the crisp outlines.  Then I shaded with the Tombow (a medium-dark gray) and used a Niji Waterbrush to spread the ink.  A tiny bit of the Tombow bled outside the inked lines in the antler, but so it goes.  Finally, I used an extra-fine tipped Pitt pen to write “Forever Wild” as a “frame” for the  sketch.  Back in the old days, Maine’s Governor Percival Baxter bequeathed a huge tract of land to the state which is now Baxter State Park.  His only requirement was that the land remain “forever wild.”

The photo or scan didn’t transfer all the shading to the cream card stock, but it looks good anyway!  PHEW!  Here’s a photo of the cards and the back of a gift ornament (post coming in a couple days) :

Card, ornament and 4-pen set of Pitt pens

2 Responses to “The L.L. Bean Stag”

  1. Dorothy Karman Says:

    I love the stag. You are such a multi-skilled woman! Dorothy.

  2. Art and Quilting in Camden » Blog Archive » The L.L. Bean Stag | Ayshah Maiorano Says:

    […] Art and Quilting in Camden » Blog Archive » The L.L. Bean Stag by Ayshah Maiorano on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 | No Comments Sarah's work encompasses portraits, naturescapes, Hawaiian-inspired designs and abstractions from nature, for there is beauty around us every day if only we …www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/?p=6625 […]