Timber, completed. #10 in the Spring Portrait Marathon

Timber (borzoi) 8" x 10" acrylic on canvas panel © Xan Blackburn 2014
Timber (borzoi) 8″ x 10″ acrylic on canvas panel © Xan Blackburn 2014

Cole (greyhound), #9 in the 2014 Portrait Marathon

"Cole" (greyhound) 8" x 10" acrylic on panel, © Xan Blackburn
“Cole” (greyhound) 8″ x 10″ acrylic on panel, © Xan Blackburn

Sushi, #6 in the Portrait Marathon

"Sushi" 8" x 10" acrylic on Claybord, © Xan Blackburn
“Sushi” 8″ x 10″ acrylic on Claybord, © Xan Blackburn Sushi!  Isn’t sushi supposed to be something created quickly, from fresh ingredients, beautifully presented?  Well, Sushi’s portrait took me a whole week, but, I hope she presents well anyway.  I’m pleased! Sushi is a breed mixed to perfection for her active family.  They take her on …

PM – Luki (greyhound portrait)

Luki (work in progress) acrylic and conte crayon on panel 8" x 10" © Xan Blackburn
Luki – work in progress 8″ x 10″, acrylic and conte crayon on panel © Xan Blackburn I’m pleased with this stage, though I had hoped to be a bit further along by quitting time tonight.  Well, life, in all it’s variability, will make hash of the best of plans, eh?   Here’s a quick …

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 …

Portrait Marathon: Finale, stage one. Strider

That’s quite a title, huh?  Well, let’s get crackin’.  As I said in my last post, this will be my last painting in the Spring Portrait Marathon.  I’ve got a couple other projects I can’t put off anymore, so Strider gets to be the big bang at the end of the show. Here’s the reference …

Portrait Marathon: Nikki is done!

Nikki’s portrait is finished!   Lisa’s Nikki (aka Ms Hotlips) Between the last update and this one, I concentrated on building up layers of detail, deepening the shadow areas with color, and basically making all the color zones complicated as in real life.  The scans make the background colors look very different, and have washed …

Portrait Marathon: Nikki graduates from Rehab

Getting there!! After the rough start, Nikki’s portrait languished a bit while I recovered from the trauma, and did some other work.  She gazed back at me vaguely as I passed her throughout the day, patiently or not, she would not say.  Yesterday finally turned out to be her day.  The big graphics I had …