Bella! What a funny picture! This is going to take some imagination, and some help from photoshop to find some detail in the lower half of her face, but the pose is too funny to waste. I can’t wait to get started. I hope you’ll follow along with the progress! First things first, though. Gotta … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Bella is up next”
Yeah. I should never post these until I’ve slept on them. Looking at the portrait this morning, I felt the background was too busy, and too yellow, that it competed with Tiger’s gold and busy self. H agreed, so I softened up the daubed background, and cooled it down, with some washes of warm and … Read More “Tiger: Done, only more so!”
Tiger is all done! Thing P did get back today (see my last post to make sense of that), thank goodness! It and I went back and forth, lighter and darker, cooler and warmer, working nearly entirely on the stripes for several hours (whew!!) The colors in real life are more complicated and intense than … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Tiger is DONE”
Edging towards completion. I love the brindles, don’t get me wrong, but sheesh! SO much WORK! LOL! And, like Tiger’s mouth-frills, his stripes are also very distinct, which means, of course, no fudge-factor. They are also the main source of information about his shape in this picture. There are very few actual shadows, so the … Read More “portrait Marathon: TIGER progress 2”
Tiger as of tonight. I didn’t get as far as I’d have liked. (Am I really going to catch a cold? Bleh.) But, just to be different, I started with the eyes this time. It kind of weirds me out! These eyes, floating in a hazy scribble, then in this glowing fog …. Well, it’s … Read More “Portrait Marathon: TIGER progress 1”
Thanksgiving was great, with lots of family fun and food. I’m re-charged and ready to PAINT! Jennifer’s Ruler TIGER is up next. Jennifer sent me a wonderful photo to work from. Look at that happy boy, with the jaunty tail! Cropping and getting a general idea for background got me this final reference image. Now, on … Read More “Portrait Marathon: TIGER’s turn! (I stand corrected!)”
Ah! Done! Skye’s owner, Leslie, told me that Skye likes to really MOVE, treating the yard like a Nascar track. Her (further) use of race car terminology tipped me that she’s a fan (I hope I got that right!) The reference photo is a stark stare, eyeballs ready to pop out of her head, she’s … Read More “Portrait Marathon update: Skye DONE!”
Okay, so if this was a dance marathon, I’d have fallen asleep on my feet and been disqualified! I did take most of the weekend off. But, I’m back on my feet now, goosed up with the acceptable coffee dose, and ready to hit the dance floor again! Stay tuned for the final product, coming … Read More “Skye update”
What can I say? I was hungry! Anyway, I wanted to talk a bit about how Harry’s portrait evolved. I had a brave idea last night as I was going to sleep, to push the warm, even red, into Harry, while keeping the background all in blues. Red is scary. It’s a very powerful color. … Read More “Harry’s development, which I forgot to post about!”
Nancy’s Harry, staring with full attention out over the waters. This was his first time at Dewey, as a fairly recent adoption. His world was still revealing new things to him at every moment, at every turn, on every walk. I’m always amazed at how well greyhounds hold up at Dewey (Greyhounds Reach the Beach … Read More “Portrait Marathon update: Harry DONE”
