HajimeAcrylic on canvas, 5 x 5© Xan Blackburn Hajime, or Haj, is a chow-husky mix, which you can see in his blue tongue and very direct glance (or, that’s what I see, anyway!) He’s drop-dead gorgeous. He is devoted to his mom. This portrait is a gift from a friend, which is always so cool, … Read More “Portrait Marathon: #11 – Hajime”
Sign-ups are open now for the Pre-Holiday Portrait Marathon! If you missed it, here’s the run down. For three weeks, starting Monday, Nov. 26, I’ll be busting through as many small portraits as I can get to, in the order you sign up. As I start one portrait, I’ll email the next person in line a … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Sign up TODAY”
Spencer-Reference photo Fall Portrait Marathon, Painting #4: Spencer Lisa’s kitty, Spencer, in his sleepy pose, is pretty inviting, eh? Don’t you just want to snuggle your face into that soft warm fur? Mmm. Spencer was a Special Cat. Lisa’s friend Jan told me some of his story. The boy loved ice cream and popcorn, and … Read More “FPM Painting #4: Spencer gets started”
I’ve been processing photos submitted for the Fall Portrait Marathon, wrapping up my big mystery commission (that ran over into Portrait Marathon time! :rolleyes: ), communicating with the winners, and sketching up the first Fall Portrait Marathon (hereinafter referred to as FPM) painting. Hailey-SketchDigital painting, ©Xan Blackburn 2011 I did a quicky ArtRage painting … Read More “Mystery portrait wraps up, and Marathon begins”
Mystery Portrait, work in progress©Xan Blackburn 2011 I was working kind of slowly today. My usual timidity, where I’m sure I’ve forgotten how to paint, and will just mess everything up if I dare to actually put visible amounts of paint on my brush. Nonetheless, I did make some progress with my underpainting. In this … Read More “Mystery Portrait: Friday”
Mystery painting, shading begun That looks so awkward, doesn’t it? Well, I promise it makes more sense when you can see the whole thing together. 😉 I’m beginning to glaze in the shading using Payne’s Gray to keep the shadows cool. My intent is to keep the focus tight and high-contrast only on the faces, … Read More “Mystery Portrait; shading begun”
(This is a continuation of the painting begun in this post.)Subtle, eh? I kind of like how this looks. This is the drawing transferred to the panel by drawing over it and letting the dark red-brown Conte crayon I scribbled all over the back side transfer onto the gessoed panel. Then I gessoed over it, … Read More “Mystery Portrait continues …”
Mystery Sketch©Xan Blackburn 2011 I have a commission to finish before the Fall Portrait Marathon, but I can’t tell you who it is. It’s a secret. A surprise. A prezzie! While I wait for the gessoed panel to dry, I thought I’d tease you with mysterious bits of process, while obscuring the final product. Sounds … Read More “Meanwhile, a mysterious painting begins to appear …”
CocoWork in progress. Gouache on matboard© 2011 Xan Blackburn Quick note to clarify: I welcome ANY species for this marathon. Not just kitties!Cats! Feral cats, to be specific. We’ve all seen them, slinking or strutting, hunting, making kittens, eyes glowing on the side of the road, raiding garbage cans or sharing your outdoor cats’ meals. It’s … Read More “Fall Portrait Marathon: CATS”
