How to draw - step by step process drawing a cow in pencil and ink

Longhorn cow. Pen and ink sketch. 2017

I took photos of the steps taken to draw this longhorn cow for day 4 of Inktober. We encountered this very pretty cow during one visit to Lake Tobias. The materials I used were: a cell phone photo, sketchbook, .07 mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, Faber Castell ink pens and brush pen, and a water brush filled with a mix of reddish watercolor ink.

1) First, I drew a rectangle box to contain the shape of the body and a triangle that would contain the shape of the head. I then drew straight lines to mark off angles and body parts. Next, I began drawing lines to define the cow's form.

2) I drew lines within the straight line boxes to define the animal's form and parts.

3) After the shape of the cow and its parts were defined, I began to draw little details and mark areas where shading and color could be added later.

4) I outlined the pencil lines with ink and used a water brush filled with colored ink to add color.

5) Finally, I refined the colors and drew some shading using thin lines. I used the kneaded eraser to clean up the pencil lines a little, but also left some pencil lines remaining in the sketch.

In future ink sketches, I would like to develop my ability to create a range of value using line or other techniques with an ink pen.

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