Well here it is – the update you’ve been waiting for! Joey’s portrait is complete. I could not be more pleased with this piece, and I am so proud to be able to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it, as well!

This is an oil painting, completed on a 12×16 linen panel. My client will be framing the piece and gifting it, so I am excited to hear how both he and his recipient enjoy it in person. It’s traveling all the way over to the UK over the next week, God willing it will arrive with time to spare.

Enjoy!

Here’s the 6th day progress shot on Joey’s portrait – I’ve made it down to his eye, detailing his mane over his forehead, and I’m in the beginning stages of detailing the muscle and veins throughout his face. Many, many fine brushstrokes make up his coat, so it is taking a bit longer than anticipated but it is still coming along on schedule.

I’ll be painting into the night tonight, so I’ll have still another update (or two) on his portrait for you over the next few days!

Thanks for checking in!

Another progress shot for you on Joey’s portrait. I’m working from the top down, now. Yesterday I completed his neck, ears and the top half of his white patch, so now today I can go back and paint the remainder of his mane over the top on his forehead.

I’ll keep working down his face today and if all goes well, get a nice long session in so that I can finish up this portrait in time for it to dry, varnish, scan and ship by Friday.

I’ll post another progress shot tomorrow so be sure to check back!

Here’s the fourth progress shot of Joey’s portrait. I’ve completed the under painting at this point so the next stage will be to start detailing in the blades of grass up to his muzzle and then complete the detail in his coat and muscle structure as well.

Just a few more sessions and Joey will be complete! My goal is to get this piece en-route to its destination (from the US to the UK) by the end of next week.

Stay tuned for more progress on this painting – and have a great weekend!

I made quite a bit of progress on Joey’s portrait yesterday, painting in the fence line, the background of the pasture and the base for the dark shadows of the blades of green grass in the foreground. Next, I’ll work in the under painting of Joey. I’ll work in some of the grass as well, but the very bottom/foreground grass will come up in front of Joey as he’s grazing, so those will be the last bits that I’ll work on.

No painting today, these dark colors (olive, indigo) take an extra day to dry. I’ll post another progress on Friday, after tomorrow’s session.

Enjoy!

Here’s my progress from my first sketch/painting session yesterday. I’m working in the background, fence line and pasture. I’m hoping to finish the background today. I’ll update again after I’m farther along.

I have to say – I’m enjoying painting on linen, and may very well make it my preferred canvas choice. The paint just glides right on and for the very thin layering technique that I use, I am getting along with it really well!

Time to load up my little MP3 gadget and get back to the studio – have a great day!

I’ve just begun a new portrait; this is a lovely chestnut horse named Joey that I’ll be painting in oil on a 12×16 linen board over the next couple of weeks.

This is my first time using linen in place of cotton canvas. Since this painting will be framed, I wanted something sturdy and classic and chose to go this route. I’m really excited to start working in the background pasture! Speaking of which, I’d better cut this short and get back out to the studio!

Thanks for checking in! I’ll post another progress update soon.

Hey there! I’ve been busy as ever over here. Between Senior portrait sessions, retouching, prints, Grad party postcard design (isn’t it cool?!) and a graphite portrait here and there – every day has been jam packed with fun stuff! And also, random stuff – like doctor and dental appointments, carpet cleaners, soccer practices, window installations – and workouts!

Did you know that working out was a part time gig? It takes almost my entire morning to get fit, showered and ready to work for the day. It’s a commitment in a big way – and no wonder why so many people can’t and don’t fit it into their schedules. I decided in January to make my health and fitness a priority again – and even dragged my tired old treadmill out of the house last month in place of a new, fancy treadmill that has a fantastic shock absorption deck. (It’s a NordicTrack) I am glad I’ve made the commitment, I feel so much better and I am not fatigued when I do a “one day” chore like painting a room including the ceiling – or doing a full day of yardwork!

In other news – I don’t think I ever updated here about my e-mail glitch. I was getting a ton of spam so went in and created a filter. For spam. Except it wasn’t for spam, it was for everything BUT spam! I’m such a dummy. It took me a week or so to figure that out. (But boy, did I get a lot done that week. lol) So if you e-mailed me and I never replied, please don’t think me rude. Think it fell off the face of my server, because I selected “does not” instead of “does”.

Once my schedule opens up a little bit – I’ll be sharing and showing a few more projects in the works but for now, I need to get started on today’s to-do’s.

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this AMAZING weather – Spring has sprung and I’ve got the fever! I’d love for you to become a Fan on Facebook – if you haven’t already – and/or send me a friend request to stay up to date with the minute by minute details of my crazy days!

I’ve just uploaded Jenna’s final senior portrait photo album! We had a lot of fun that day; she’s a gorgeous (not to mention photogenic) young lady who made everything laid back and fun! I really enjoyed taking her portraits.

One of my very first portrait sessions, I’m very proud of the resulting photos and thrilled that she and her family couldn’t narrow it down below 41 selections! I’ll be putting together a poster collage on matboard as well as an album to really maximize the use and display of all of those portraits and give them some wonderful artwork to commemorate her graduation!

You can view her entire collection by clicking here.

Enjoy!