Petey’s portrait

Petey – Work in progressAcrylic on canvas panel, 8″ x 10″© Xan Blackburn 2012 Petey is a handsome young devil, isn’t he? Jumping right in, I took the reference photo, re-sized it, got as much information as possible out of it (luckily, most greyhounds have a lot in common, so I can use locally available …

FPM Painting #2: Toni is done!

Toni – work in progress©Xan Blackburn 2011 Fall Portrait Marathon, Painting #2 Toni is all done.  I think.  It’s after 11pm, so I may change my mind in the clear light of day.  We’ll see.  Right now, I say she’s done. (See the finished version at the bottom of the post.) Toni’s portrait got started …

FPM Painting #2: Toni progresses

Toni – work in progressacrylic on canvas, 5″ x 5″©Xan Blackburn 2011 I accidentally deleted the pictures I took of the first stages of Toni’s portrait, but suffice it to say, it was sort of watery, and I lost most of my drawing when I glazed over it.  😛  You can still see – or …

FPM Painting #2: Toni gets going

Fall Portrait Marathon, painting #2 “Toni,” says her mom, is a pistol!  She’s very much a tomboy girl – always wants to rough house and wrestle and play, though both these pics show her more pensive and sweet side.  She’s smart and sassy, loves squeaky toys and balls, and LOVES the water!  Her favorite color is …

FPM #1: Hailey

Hailey-work in progressacrylic on canvas, 5″ x 5″©Xan Blackburn 2011 Fall Portrait Marathon, first painting. Hailey is up first.  You saw my digital sketch in my last post.  I decided to bring some of that feel to the canvas.  Hope this works!  I used a retarder (an additive to slow down the drying time of …

Silken Windhound Portrait, Hunter, is … Done! (Probably)

Hunter, silken windhound portrait
Tangaloor Malden, CGC “Hunter”11″ x 14″ acrylic and graphite on Gessobord©Xan Blackburn, 2011 A lot of careful work went into refining the silky hairs swirling around the ear and down the neck, bringing them in and out of shadows, giving them dimension, giving them some color, making them finer. Much more shadow was needed along …

Hunter gets a name! Silken Windhound #3 portrait update

Work in Progress, “Hunter”silken windhoundGraphite, acrylic, on gessobord, 11″x 14″©Xan Blackburn, 2011 HUNTER!  Yes, his name is Hunter.  Christina of New York’s Hunter.  The cats are yelling at me for their dinner, so I’ll be brief.  Here’s where we are today, with a fair amount to go.  As you can see, I spent a lot …

Bados: done?

I think I’ve reached the sleep-on-it phase of Bados’ portrait.  (Looking again, tilting my head, going back and adding some more greens to the shadow area at his feet …)Yeah. I’m going to eat my leftover pizza (from Pizza Pi in Seattle – oh, people!  YUM!), by which time it should be dry enough to …

Bados coming clearer

Bados; a work in progress©Xan Blackburn, 2011 My silken windhound friends correctly identified Bados in the hazy earliest stages I showed you in my last post.  I only had a little time to paint yesterday (had to drive to Seattle airport to pick up my hubby after a week-long business trip — Yeay!), but I’m …

Portrait Marathon: Finale, stage two. Strider

I think I’m done.  I know!  I know!  I say that, and then the next day, I fiddle around some more, and THEN I’m done.  So, maybe I should just post this as an update.  The penultimate Spring Portrait Marathon post. Well, let’s back up, and I’ll tell you more about how I got to …