Illustration Friday theme: WILD

This is an oil painting I did for my granddaughter's bedroom. so much fun!

In the news, Seacoastonline.com

My graphite drawing of my son was chosen as "Best in Show" at the Seacoast Artist Association gallery in Exeter, NH. Stop in and see it if you are in the neighborhood! I'm always open for commissions if you'd like a portrait of yourself, you loved one, your pet, you name it, I can probably draw it!

Step by Step to Paint an English Bulldog

I received a commission to paint a beautiful English Bulldog about 6 weeks ago. I've been really busy ever since. I've been wanting to post some of my steps so I'm doing it now!

It was to be in oil paint so my first step was to collect as much reference material on her as possible, and find other reference on specific parts like bulldog eyes, which were blown out in the photo. You find something to work with in all cases. So I had about 8 photos to work with. I started with a quick pencil sketch on the canvas. It ended up being too far to the right, so I carefully erased and redrew my sketch. This is what I started with.

Bassett Hound puppy 4 or 5 I forget!

I'm getting there. Added many, many layers of color but I'm still not done. Have to put it away for a few days and then take it back out.

Bassett Hound puppy 3

Step 3 is much like the last step, keep erasing and adding color. I'm drawing on some nice toned coffee with cream orangy kind of color (don't have the name but you get the idea!) Canson paper and it seems to be taking the color well except for the white. Again, I might switch to Prismacolor for the white. I've erased all the pencil from the top of the face and filled it in with the colored pencil. I try to watch which way the fur is falling and make my stokes copy that direction. If you haven't drawn on nice Canson paper because it seems expensive, take into account that you can fold it in half, tear it and then fold those 2 pieces in half and tear it again. Makes 4 good sized sheets for only a dollar or 2 each. It's really worth the investment for any drawings you intend to finish up and frame. It's archival so your drawings will last. Be sure to apply fixative so you don't get haze (called wax bloom) over your colors and they stay bright. And if you are drawing in shifts and have applied lots of layers, consider spraying with workable fixative which will help to lift the texture back up a bit so it has more tooth. Burnishing can press the color deeply into the paper and this helps if you want to go back into it with more color layers. Gives the pencil more bite into the paper. I'm also showing the colors I will be using. Browns, reds, orange, yellow, beigey tan, and of course white. Also a pink in there. May add some blues into the whites later.

Bassett Hound puppy

Well I started a cute Bassett Hound puppy the other night. Here is the first sketch I do when I begin. I do it lightly so I can erase it easily. It's gets all the proportions down and the basic dark and light areas.