8" x 10"
acrylic on canvas panel
© Xan Blackburn
Chris' greyhound, Cash, at age 10, is on her second life! That's pretty good for a spooky grey, I'd say! She had a bad reaction to routine shots, actually died, but was brought back to life - a modern-day miracle! And, a gorgeous, blue-brindle gal, to boot.
Cash's portrait is painted on a canvas panel, which is a very big switch from the much smoother Aquabord panel I used on Red's portrait, right before this one. The rougher texture was a nice change, though it makes getting good pictures tricky. Let's see how we got to stage: Done!
Starting with this reference photo ...
stage 1
Once my drawing was ready, I dove in with Payne's gray for the underpainting.
almost there ...
This is where I left it last night, with some serious tweaks, and lots of fine-tuning to do, but generally close. Notice the lighting changes between this and the final version, especially on the right side of her face.
I cropped, played with the lighting a little, made the bed a little more luxurious, but removed the pattern that I felt would compete with Cash's subtle stripes.
The underpainting is well under way, here.
Unfortunately, the photos I attempted of the early color phases just did not come out at all, so you'll have to content yourselves with a big jump here.
8" x 10"
acrylic on canvas panel
© Xan Blackburn
She looks gorgeous, and is one lucky hound!
Thank you! And no kidding, eh?