HIS AND HERS: Lion Photography , Step by Step Drawing and a Poem

Lions are power. Lions are strength.
in paws and in claws, their prey clenched.
their scalp a mane golden with length
enemies wail, from victory drenched

The pride, the King and Queen protect
the children raised with intellect
Stand, run , hunt and lead
They live by their gracious creed

They share the world of night and day
at dusk and night she looks for prey
at sun's peak he keeps rivals at bay
Together, His and Hers they slay.

• Jacinta Sevilla

HI steemians! this poem and drawing I made is for my hunted animals tribute.
this royal couple and their cubs are being hunted for sport. Bred for the bullet they say!
Please help me raise awareness. We must respect life. promote life and not death.
This world and the people and animals living in it have so much to offer.

Here are STEP by STEP pictures I took while drawing
I used 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b and 8b graphite pencils including prisma black charcoal pen.

reference photo

This photo is manipulated, the photographer (Robert) takes amazing photos. The link to his gallery found below.

first step, always sketch :)
Here we go!

I also used mechanical pencil for sketching because its so thin and easy to erase.

light shading always before midtone and shadows

also by lightly shading with small zigzag pattern or small dashes you get textured effect for the fur. Here the second layer or midtone has started

fill in a base tone for the whole face of both cats

Having a printed reference helps a lot in proportions and determining tones and gradation

using mechanical pencil 2b and 3b and 4b make thin lines (you dont really have to use all levels of graphite pencils, this was just my exercise)

start to form the flow of the mane by putting smooth strokes

Also smudge an initial layer of graphite and you can erase them using a kneaded eraser or mechanical eraser to highlight

So its shade, smudge, erase and then redraw

The background also has a layer or two of graphite.

Then add darker shades. shadows and rcoal for the outlines

Erase areasa where light touches the fur using the mechanical eraser

Here is the Photo reference by Robert
this is the art website where all his Lion photos are kept, enjoy! https://robbobert.deviantart.com/art/His-and-Hers-429522274
Also my reading material about lions
https://lionaid.org/faqs_lions/at-what-time-of-the-day-are-lions-most-active.htm
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-lion-considered-king-of-the-jungle-when-tigers-nearly-always-beat-them-in-a-fight

I just discovered how Lions work as a unit in their pride.
They act as a family and hunt systematically. Theyre on top of the food chain.
Theyre golden brown, charismatic!
Gotta love lions!

Also, Heres a sneak peak to my next major work
a jaguar
stay tuned!

If you liked my art/poem follow me :D