More of black and tan

Hello! ;)
Here are some updates on the little dog portrait. I've been using the same colors (see previous post) adding Lemon yellow as well. I will show an update on my Van Gogh painting in my next post. You can also see more detailed posts on the wetcanvas colored pencil forum.






















Van Gogh tomorrow!

little dog again and Van Gogh

Hi there!
Here's the Van Gogh update that I promised, and a few updates on my little dog portrait.
What have I learned about Van Gogh? With his particular style, you either make it look good, or really, really, ugly....







...and here's the updates on the little dog...

















.....and one more....






















Have any comments? Questions? Let me know! Post a comment!

More little dog

Sorry folks, I got preoccupied with taking three of our cats, Tamlin, Vinegar, and Mousie to the vet, so I didn't get around to Van Gogh today.
But I did get to do a little more on my Irish black and tan terrier portrait this afternoon. The colors I've been using are black grape, black cherry, tuscan red, black, white, violet-blue, light umber, sepia, beige, non-photo blue, and goldenrod. I've been very careful with this particular portrait-encouraging myself to work more slowly, more carefully, and most important with this portrait-treat the hair as bits and pieces instead of overhairing it by doing thousands of messy single hair strands.



It was a late night for me last night, so that's it for this evening-more sleep=more art. ;)

Van Gogh and a little dog

Hello everyone!
I started on the Van Gogh project yesterday, with acrylics on a canvas board a little bigger than 11x14 inches.

Here are the steps which I've done so far, which I so patiently and diligently took pictures of for you, (okay, okay, maybe for me, too, ;) ).

Here is the first step. The underpainting. What this does is make the colors you put on top look fuller and more saturated. Red for green, green for red, blue for yellow, and orange for blue. This is what we call the ugly stage.

Now I've slathered on lots of green, blue for sky*, and I've made basic values on my focal point, the cedar tree.
* I'll add more layers of sky as I go, which takes the muddiness away.
Ahhh, now the fun part. I took yellow paint while the green of the grass was still tacky and I splotched it all over it. It's starting to look vaguely Van Goghish.



Now I've added artsy blotchiness to the tree as well.



Here's the beginning setup.



Here is the latest update. I've begun forming the clouds, I dotted white everywhere, which I think I'll probably take out again (ah, the wonders of paint!) because the effect of the that color is too cold.

And here is my other project. It's 10x10 inches on bristol smooth paper, done with prismacolor pencils. I decided to do it all over again, because the hair wasn't right, the layering, I just decided that I could render it better then that.
So here is my friend's dog- again.
To hear more details about how I did this, check out wetcanvas colored pencil forums.
Check my blog out tomorrow for more of this little dog and my Van Gogh project, and don't forget to check up on the Van Gogh project started by Maggie Stiefvater at greywarenart.blogspot.com ( this is the link to her starting Van Gogh post, click here to get her latest to date post.
Thanks for reading!

learning sketches and Van Gogh

I'm back! As promised, here are the sketches that I made recently. So here they are:
...and lastly, here is a random Van Gogh sketch that I made...
Which brings me to the artist-a-month project that Maggie Stiefvater is doing on her blog, greywarenart.blogspot.com, which is, this month, Van Gogh. Do me a favor and check out this talented artist's blog.
I myself have decided to go for the Van Gogh project. I have a vague idea in mind-and no, no, you'll have to wait until next post to hear. ;)

new terrier portrait

Hey folks. Sorry for the wait, I've been away. I did do a lot of sketches (which is a fairly new experience for me) and they are very very useful. I'll show them in my next post.
I did manage to make the beginnings of a portrait of a black and tan terrier, my friend's dog, who makes interesting affectionate snuffling noises when he wants to give you a kiss (the dog, not my friend! ;) )
It's late now, so more later. And soon. I promise.

For now, I'll quickly show and explain a sketch I did.





I've gotten into serious preliminary sketches for all my pieces. What this does is a) give you an idea where your subject should be on the paper, b) how much space that subject should take in that piece of paper, c) establish your darks, medium tones, and lights, d) lastly, but absolutely not least, you get to establish and firm up the correct shapes before you begin the real deal.
I use some computer or sketch paper when I do this, it's not meant to be archival, ;), and you make sure that it doesn't get too detailed-you're just trying to figure out the previously mentioned points (you want to put that effort into the actual piece!).
To figure out the right proportions (i.e, the eye is so and so distance from that eye), you figure it out in fractions. You can use different parts of the length of your pencil and/or a ruler to achieve this. For instance, you look at your reference. The top of the dog's head is two thirds up the photo. You act accordingly when you do your sketch, and later to your actual piece.
Hope that helps those out there who have troubles with proportions, (I know I do, ;) ).
Happy blogging!

"Red and Gold" and "Keira"

Here is an update on my "red and gold" (nasturium) and a new piece that I'm working on-Keira Knightley from "Pride and Prejudice", which, by the way, is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Do me a small favor by watching that movie-I promise you won't regret it ;)!



Have a good evening, and happy blogging!
Note to self: probably eating too much 60% dark chocolate....:) lots of antioxidants though, right?

Special Treat

I can't talk long this evening, but here's an update on my 11x14 acrylic painting "Special Treat ll". It'll probably be done in two or three more progress shots.
I did a tiny bit more on my red and gold nasturium, too. I been busy, busy.



I also got more done on my green scarf, if y'all want to see that, too.

and more.....


Anyway, gotta go. I'm going to watch Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly in it. No cookies or ice cream tonight-I'm trying to be good....;)
Happy blogging!

nasturium, horses, an actor, and some paint

One humorous idea to use up your old pencil stubs
Hi folks!
I come back with peace and offerings, ;). A flower, an actor, some horses, and-gasp, a painting in progress!
Here is the flower that I'm working on. I'd been itching for a long time to work a brightly colored flower on stark black colourfix paper, and yesterday evening I decided I'd give it a go. It's only my third flower, so as always, I'm a little nervous, but it sure is fun putting bright swathes of colors on that black, sandy paper! Here is progress shot one and two for those who are curious. Not two much of a difference here, but thought I'd post it.
Nasturium study, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches on black art spectrum colourfix paper


And here is the horse(s) portrait I'm working on; I'm not so certain of it right now, the light source in the reference photo was not so hot, ;). But here it is just the same.

Many Horse study, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches on terracotta art spectrum colourfix paper

Next in line is the actor, Antonio Banderas, (one of my all time favorite actors!)

Antonio 5x7 inches on bristol smooth done with prismacolor pencils (black, lots of different cool and warm greys, and white)

And here is the painting I started today, 11x14 inches on canvas board, done with acrylics.

Here I am starting out by underpainting some cookies with bright green paint. Ah! How I love the smell of acrylic paint in the morning!

Here is a clearer image of the start that I had.
Okay, now I smeared more bright lime green for the wooden reddish brown table- since the opposite of red is green, and orange cause the grey of the milk has a yellowish warm tone to it.
Now it is officially into the ugly stage.
Now I've added some murky yellow brown over the cookies and a reddish brown table surface.
Now I've added grey to the milk glass and a vague rim.
Ah, a paint snot rag to boot. Enjoy!
I've altered the overall tone of the cookies, worked on the plate, and touched up the grey on the glass.

Make sure you have plenty of room before you get into a painting!!
Here is the collaboration of colors I've used so far for my painting.Here is my latest update. It looks much better in real life-the lighting was horrible. I've begun to add details to the cookies and touched up the grey on the glass.
Thanks for looking!
Have comments about my art or my blog? Drop me a post!
Thanks for looking