Friday, July 31, 2009

More progress on Cloud's portrait

If you recall, this is where we left off, with the underpainting completed. Now I paint layers over the underpainting, adding depth and detail. First the left ear:


Then the right:


Starting on his forehead here:


and working my way down:


The next picture shows the painting as it stands now. I wanted to work on his nose before starting the fur on his muzzle. Still a little ways to go, but it's getting closer to the home stretch, stay tuned!


Friday, July 17, 2009

Odds and ends, art and zombies...

This summer has been unseasonably cool so far. In fact, today feels like Fall. To add to the illusion, my red maple is starting to turn color already. This seems really early to me, and as much as I adore its red and orange glory, it seems like Summer has barely started. The weather has been so nice I want to be outside as much as I can.

I have finished with the underpainting on Cloud's portrait, though:


Now to add details and strengthen the darks and lights. Fun stuff!

In other news the neighborhood Zombie War is over (for now,) and we are victorious. The hole in the street where the zombies were crawling out has been filled in, and they are trapped. Waiting... Hopefully we won't see them again until Halloween. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here. :-)

It is also H.R.H. Boomer, The Queen of the Universes' birthday month. Yes, she gets a whole month since I'm not sure of the actual date, only the month. She has been gracing our presence for 16 years now. She will probably be very displeased that I've including something of such great importance as the magnitude of her birth in a post titled "Odds and ends..." If you don't hear from me again, then you'll know why...


And a picture of me and Cloud, just because I like it...


Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Where I'm at so far... (more progress pics)

Here you can see I'm blocking in the rest of his face.


He needs a "nozz!" Poor guy has no sniffer, lets give him one...


That's better!

This is all still the underpainting, which is like a map, telling me fur direction and color and gives me more of an idea of what parts I want to play up or tone down. So all that's left is to block in his chest, and then I can go back over with more layers of paint to bring out some details. That's the really fun part!

Here's a photo I didn't crop to give you an idea of the size of the painting (18 x 18"). That's a really big coffee cup too, lol.


I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I love to take pictures of dogs running...

It's a hobby of mine and kind of an obsession.
I love to freeze the moment and capture the power...


The grace...


(Watching this Basenji move was like watching a ballet, only better...)


The big Cloud smiles!!!


Check out this adorable Beagle running:






RAWR! How stinkin'cute is he??? :-)


Heehee, I just love to click away...


I can't help myself. Maybe there's a support group out there somewhere..?


Visit Cloud's blog to see more pictures and read about his day at the dog park.



The End.