In addition to being intelligent, social creatures, pigs are pure joy to draw.
They’re pretty much a round shape with triangles for ears. Add eyes, a snout, legs and a curly tail and you’ve drawn yourself a pig. If you make a mistake, cover it with brown paint and say it’s mud. Pigs love mud!
By the way, we’re drawing some lovely sows today on Zoom at 4pm EST.
Here are some of my favorite materials and methods for drawing them:
PanPastel + Pencils
This little piggie started as a an obtuse pink triangle of light red oxide PanPastel. I worked on top with violet pink and madder brown pencils, then added green and yellow ochre grass.
Watercolor Pencils + Water
I used the Nina Cosford special edition Supracolors to draw this oinker. They’re buttery soft and a delight to layer on top of each other. The colors are perfect for drawing pigs!
Colored pencils only
I resisted the temptation to add water to this solemn swine. No regrets whatsoever.
Graphite pencil only
Sometimes, a smooth 8B pencil is all you need to get the job done. I used a Blackwing Matte for this happy hog.
Gouache + PanPastel + pencil
I initially colored this precious porker so pink that it looked like she’d spent the day on the beach with a bucket of Coronas. I lightened her up with Desert Rose Neocolor II and blended until she calmed down.
In the video I:
Talk through my process as I draw the pigs above
Test drive the Nina Cosford Sketchbook and Caran d’Ache Supracolors set
Share some of my most-beloved colored pencils and how they differ
