Just a quick update on my schedule, for anyone interested/waiting:

I’ve completed two blog designs this week:

• SpencersGame
• Eartodastreetz

And a few last week, in case you missed them:

• VividNUrban
• Fanboy@50
• Kissythecutie

Next week is wide open and I’ll be in the studio finishing up several custom pet portrait paintings:

• Simba, a fluffy orange tabby
• Kiwi & Boo, a pair of bird portraits
• Jambalaya, a red & white husky portrait
• Rex, a tuxedo kitty cat portrait

Then I’ll be back to blog designing for a few more weeks, then a couple more portraits, then a couple more designs … it’s going to be a busy summer!

Stay tuned for portrait progress updates!

It’s raining cats in my studio – this is my second completed cat portrait this week. Morris is an orange tabby and this is also a memorial painting for his furmom. He passed away just a couple of months ago so I hope that his portrait brings her years of warm memories and smiles.

I’ve left my brushes beside the piece so you can see what I use when I work the final layer. Yes – that’s a toothpick, so you can see how small the brushes are. I do paint each piece of fur one piece at a time, that’s what gives my paintings their depth and realism. It may be tedious, but the results are so well worth it to me, and to my clients.

I’ll post the final scan once his portrait is dry & varnished.

Thanks for tuning in to my studio cam, if you had the chance!

Callie’s portrait is complete – I’ll post a scan after the painting is dry. You can view her previous progress shot here. 🙂

I’ve sketched up another cat portrait – this is Rex. He’s a tuxedo kitty, just gorgeous with a Groucho Marx style moustache across his nose. He even has a similar look on his face, too!

I’ll work in this background in the next few days as well.

Jambalaya, aka Jam or Jammy, is a red and white husky. She’s gorgeous – you’ll see that as her painting progresses – in part because she’s got bi-colored eyes. Jam and Badger (recently completed) are in the same family.

I will work in the background while I’m finishing up all of my other portraits – but it will be a week or two before I get to work her underpainting in.

Morris is a short hair orange tabby, so with this rich chocolate background color, he’ll really convey that kind of “regal” air about him that I picked up in his personality while I studied his photograph.

Here’s Simba’s underpainting – he’s a fluffy orange tabby, the fluff will come out a lot more with the finished piece. For now, I worked in the deepest shades into his fur and worked in his eyes pretty well, though they’ll still get more detail with the second session.

I’ve just finished Badger’s portrait – now mom & dad will get to have a look at a larger photo of the painting and see if there’s any tweaking before it’s “officially” done.

Quite invigorating to paint on cam again – it’s been a few years! Way back when, in the land of LiveJournal, I started watching Jasmine Becket-Griffith paint on cam, and thought it was the coolest thing so I had to go get a webcam and do it myself. I stopped because I had some funky people stalking me (I did it on Yahoo IM then, and would get IM’s during my painting sessions, not very productive)! So now this little do-hickey seems to do the trick, and I’ll be able to paint live without a problem. Yay!

I’ll scan and post details when all is said & done on Badger’s painting. If you tuned in while I was in the studio, thanks for stopping in – and I’d love your feedback on the cam!