I’ve completed Moggie’s portrait! Her whiskers, and suitcase have all been revisited with a couple more layers with very fine brushes and I think she’s just stunning. I am pleased as punch with how she turned out!

Things have definitely picked up around my house so the past few days have been busy busy busy, go go go – and I have not had the chance to get her portrait uploaded here for you to see. I’ve sent the photo to my client for review and approval as well so I’ll be varnishing and scanning and shipping the beginning of next week.

Thanks for popping in for a visit! I’ll post the scan next week some time and hope to find a few moments in the next few days to catch you up on all the other day to day things I’ve been up to. See you soon!

I’ve got a couple more progress shots for you of Moggie’s portrait! The top photo shows how I began working in her stripes first and what the portrait looked like when I began filling in her coat. I thought it was a neat comparison shot to the final under painting beneath, so you can get a better idea how I work through a portrait.

The first thing I work in is the background and foreground, if there is one, and then I paint in the facial features – eyes, nose & ears – then stripes and solids. The only part of the painting that is completely finished at this stage is the gorgeous mustard background. I’ll paint in each hair on her coat again individually – under painting it like this just covers the canvas in the darkest color so I can start laying actual fur over the top.

I might not finish this piece until next week. I don’t use black, since it’s not a natural color found in nature. What appears to be black in my paintings never is – it is a combination of indigo and other dark values found in the painting. For example, Moggie’s “black” is indigo and raw umber, with a touch of burnt umber and yellow ochre where the light is bouncing off of her coat. Indigo seems to be the once color that takes the absolute longest to dry, even when using a medium to speed drying time! Neat little tidbit for you artists who are following along! I quit using black a long, long time ago – doing it this way makes the color so much more real, and rich.

Moggie and I will see you again soon!

Both of my girls are back to school and that means I’m back at the easel! I’ve kicked off my week with Moggie’s portrait, working in the background and the under painting of the blue suitcase that Moggie is lying on in this portrait. This is an 8×10 oil painting on a linen panel, in case you’re wondering! I’ll be finishing this painting by the end of the week, so stay tuned for those updates.

I’ll also be working on another cat portrait, that one is a graphite drawing – as well as a few site designs and updates for clients, so I’m diving right in!

Summer is coming to an end and the kids are getting ready to go back to school. I’ve cleaned and organized the studio so that I can paint/draw and photograph more efficiently, and now it’s time for me to get back to work!

It’s always tough to work on projects through the summer months with the girls home – I would much rather soak up all that time with them – before I know it they’ll be gone all summer and I’ll have studio time year-round!

The kitty above is Moggie, I’ve drawn her portrait several times already but this one will be a full color oil painting. The sketch is done and I’m ready to work on the background color, which will be a nice creamy golden mustard to match her tabbiness (sitting in a blue suitcase, holding a blue NY Giants drink cozy). It’s going to be a really sweet portrait and I’m excited to get back to the easel!

Hope you’ve enjoyed your summer!

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!