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 … Read More “Bud – Digital Pet Portrait, and my Other Job”
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 … Read More “Radar – Digital Portrait of a Golden Retriever”
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 … Read More “More Katie …”
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 … Read More “Katie the Greyhound, Portrait”
Cosmo5″ x 5″ acrylic on canvas©Xan Blackburn 2012 Fall Portrait Marathon, Cosmo Done. Cosmo’s portrait, and the Fall Portrait Marathon of 2011, both done. Cosmo’s portrait was based on a black and white photo, which has such power on its own that, given the option, I decided to stick with a monochromatic approach. I … Read More “FPM Finale: Cosmo is Complete!”
Cosmo – work in progress #55″ x 5″ acrylic on canvas©Xan Blackburn 2012 Cosmo – work in progress #65″ x 5″ acrylic on canvas©Xan Blackburn 2012 Fall Portrait Marathon, Cosmo I managed to resurrect one of my tinier brushes, which sure helped with the little hair details. I’ve been working on building up that fur texture, … Read More “FPM #10: Cosmo, still black and white”
Cosmo – work in progress5″ x 5″ acrylic on canvas©Xan Blackburn 2012 Fall Portrait Marathon, Cosmo One more little update for today. You know what? It’s not as easy to “draw” with acrylic as it is to draw with a pencil, say. Anyway, it’s coming along! We’ll call this stage 2a. Have a nice Friday … Read More “FPM #10: Cosmo, leeeetle update”
Fall Portrait Marathon, Cosmo I’m going to try to remember to take more scans along the way for Cosmo’s portrait, and write a bit about each stage as I go. Cosmo – work in progress5″ x 5″ acrylic on canvas©Xan Blackburn 2012 So, with the washy start from our last look as a starting place, most … Read More “FPM #10: Cosmo progresses”
Cosmoall rights reserved Fall Portrait Marathon, Cosmo Cosmo the cat chose his family by befriending every person, dog and cat in the house, and then just walking in the door for good one winter day. A sweet and congenial guy, his people are still missing his gentle presence since his passing 3 years ago. We … Read More “FPM #10: Cosmo kitty”
Fall Portrait Marathon, Emmet! EmmetAcrylic on canvas, 5″ x 5″©Xan Blackburn 2012 Well, I almost never totally leave a painting alone even after I’ve told you it’s done, but we’re at that stage with Emmet now. I’ve grown very fond of his little wrinkled brow and arrow-shaped face, but we’ll be saying farewell soon.…Case in … Read More “FPM #8: Emmet is done. Probably…”
