I decided to dedicate my work to animal portraits, as I wanted to work on the realism found in a gaze. Some might say that a portrait is static, but if you pay close attention life is found within the eye that reflects a subject’s environment: at times nature, buildings, or even a photograph can be seen. With this in mind, I always use single-color backgrounds in my work: the essence of the details must stand out and strike the observer so that he may be held by the portraits gaze and lively intensity.

My draws are made on Canson or Vergé half-tint paper.
I use Faber Castell Polychrome colored pencils with white gouache high lights in order to better bring out the colors and create a greater contrasts, resulting in a more realistic drawing.
I begin by sketching the general form of the animal and the position of its eyes, as well as other traits that seem important. Then, I draw the look in its eyes (often with a magnifying glass to capture as many details as possible). If successful, I move on to the nostrils (or mouth, muzzle, or snout depending on the animal), ears, and the rest of the body (the difficulty being able to draw various textures, such as short or long, and smooth or curly hair).
I cover the drawing with a sheet to protect it as I progress, working by task or by area of superposed colors one after the other to create the right hue by transparence, mixing the colors directly on the paper until reaching a point of saturation (the grain of the paper should be barely visible).

This technique requires a great deal of concentration to accurately observe the model. One must also make very steady movements, despite the generally accepted idea that one can completely erase colored pencils. 

Technique of realization of the portraits, report for the Artcheval chain : To download video (.avi, 3.2 Mo)