Surprising Sadie, Done

Sadie (eye detail)
Wow.  Well, once I got rolling, this just went like a flash!  Isn’t it funny, ha ha, that the painting part of this portrait actually went quickly, but all the hair-pulling, sketching, sighing and laying in bed at night imagining the painting took days!  I should be used to that, but there ya go. I …

The Surprising Portrait of Sadie

Sadie portrait work in progress #3
How to go from a gorgeous photo to a painting worth the effort? When I (oh, so rarely!) get a reference photo as nice as this, I’m stuck with an odd quandary. Usually, the challenge is how to take a vague series (if I’m lucky) of photos and seek out the truth, the soul of …

Portrait Marathon Date Set: May 20

You know what that means, right?A flat-out painting dash, where I throw caution to the winds, take on all comers, and paint your portraits one right after the other ’til I run out of canvasses.  Or, in this case, a baker’s dozen of 8″ x 10″ panels.  (For a bit more in-depth info on how that …

Roheen, Irish Wolfhound, Done!

Roheen Irish Wolfhound digital painted portrait
Roheen’s portrait is the fourth and final digital portrait in a series.  Her wild fur was the biggest challenge for me, and took several tries to get the right approach.  I tend to be finicky, and she was turning out looking too groomed.  Challenging photo references are often part of my job (for some great …

Moma – Another Digital Portrait Painting

Moma Digital painting (Artrage Pro) © Xan Blackburn
MomaDigital painting (Artrage Pro)© Xan Blackburn Wow.  Well, I’m pretty happy with that, though it did take a lot of hours to get it there. This detail shows a little bit more how much detail I squeezed into this 5 x 7 painting: Moma (detail)Digital painting (Artrage Pro)© Xan Blackburn Yes, those are all individual …

Bud – Digital Pet Portrait, and my Other Job

BudDigital painting (Artrage 4)5″ x 7″ @300dpi© Xan Blackburn 2014 My series of paintings of Ellen’s dogs continues with handsome Bud.  I loved his gentle, relaxed smile, his soft hair and wonderful markings, but who could resist those bluuuuuuue eyes! Working on paintings in a digital way allows a lot of freedom to experiment without committing …

Radar – Digital Portrait of a Golden Retriever

UPDATED  Radar’s owner decided the eyes were too closed; not the expression she wanted, so I re-did the eyes with a more alert expression.  The client was pleased! Radar’s portrait is one of 5 small paintings of my client Ellen’s dogs, a series to add to two I’d done for her in the past.  This …

More Katie …

Katie – work in progressacrylic on Aquabord panel© Xan Blackburn Some good work on this, today.  Building up more layers of color in the background, approaching the values (light/dark) I want around the portrait in general, and pretty close to done in some areas. I had the idea today to make the shadows warm, and …

Katie the Greyhound, Portrait

Katie – work in progress, detailgraphite on Aquabord panelcopyright Xan Blackburn 2013 Now, here’s a challenge.  Katie the greyhound was a lovely girl, much loved by her humans.  Okay, that’s not unusual for my clients and subjects.  Katie was mostly white, which presents the challenges of subtlety in shading, particularly where there is no strong …