Grover, in a blue mood, begins his journey into portraithood. He’s got a long way to go, but I like to show you the basic underpainting stage. This is really where the painting is anchored. It can be a bit off at this stage, but the closer it is here, the easier the rest is. … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Grover, stage 2”
Grover! Just the name makes me think goofy thoughts. But, Tena refers to him as “Gentleman G”, and the reference photo is very subdued, so settle down, Xan! Here’s what I’ll be working from:His eyes are not so light or yellow, Tena tells me, so I’ll change that. Also, I think I’ll throw in a … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Grover begins”
Lottie’s portrait is done! I finished it, almost, on Friday, then Saturday, then really actually finished it again some more yesterday morning before breakfast. When last we saw her, Lottie looked pretty jaundiced.My next steps were to start pouring on the color, and bringing up detail. I apologize ahead of time for not taking more … Read More “Portrait Marathon: LOTTIE is done!”
EDIT!! Huge apologies to Nancy and Lottie for my brain-freeze!! Somehow, I got Lottie’s name switched up in my head while I wrote this. I’ve now corrected it! 😛 Okay, that was quite a break, considering this supposed to be a non-stop marathon! I’m starting from this happy photo of Lottie smiling for the camera … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Return to LOTTIE”
MikeToo needed just a little more tweaking, so I thought I’d show his final result here. I’m so pleased! I hope you enjoy it for many years, Judy! Meanwhile, I’ve gotten going on Nancy’s Miss Lottie, a stunning fawn brindle greyhound. Here’s my reference picture, all photoshopped and ready to guide me through the painting. … Read More “Portrait Marathon: MikiToo is More done, and Lottie steps up to the plate”
MikiToo is ready to view! Let me catch you up on how I got to the finish line with Miki. You saw the underpainting pretty well underway in the last post. I did deepen the shadows in various places, refined the eyes a bit, and the nose. I went about as dark as I could right … Read More “Portrait Marathon: MikiToo is DONE”
Oh my ggoooooodness! This guy, despite being still a goofy youngster, all spider-thin legs and wispy waist, got caught in a moment of grown-up old-school gorgeous! How could I resist this photo?? Well, I could not. I started this one with a deep Payne’s gray underpainting, knowing that I want to have those dramatic shadows … Read More “Portrait Marathon: MikiToo = DRAMA!!”
As I’m typing this, I’m waiting for the paint to dry enough to safely scan the portrait, so I’ll kill some time showing you the interim steps. After the last step I showed you, I kept deepening my darks and adding detail. I also started adding some color, beginning with yellow, as you can see … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Hailey Done!”
Hailey’s portrait is starting off a little differently than usual. Typically, I start with a blank canvas, transfer my drawing, and then do the underpainting, usually in dark blues, not working on the background ’til I’ve got the underpainting well underway. I decided to try a different route with Hailey. She’s a black greyhound, and … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Hailey begins”
Yeay! This little guy was a blast to paint. What a fun, funny, sincere, whimsical, adoring and adorable guy! Hubble and his human, Faith, were obviously lucky to have found each other. (For those of you just joining us, I’m in the midst of my Spring Portrait Marathon, explained here.) This is the phase I … Read More “Portrait Marathon: Hubble is DONE”
