I love penguins - they are so full of character and adorably cute as babies. Emporer Penguins make great parents and withstand almost unendurable cold with endless patience. Their movement on land is comical as they are much better adapted to the sea which makes them even more engaging.

This is a little sketch I completed this morning. It measures just 3.5 inches by 5 inches. Most of my work starts out with a fairly representational sketch like this one. More often than not , quite a few of them. It helps me to learn the form and become at home with the subject. It's about spending time getting to know what is important to make the picture work. In this case, the baby penguin's head is little more than a quarter the size of it's fluffed up body. A baby penguin has a grey body with lighter wings. Black markings are reserved for the head and face.

The sketch is done with Derwent Coloursoft Fine Art Pencils on smooth acid free watercolour paper also by Derwent. The paper is a bright white, important to convey the whiteness of the adult feathers.

Feel free to comment below and share your own sketches.

Janice.