Searching for the Sun

This is a new miniature I just completed. I have always wanted to try a still life and this little watering can really attracted my eye. Last year I was visiting with my sister and brother-in-law and we stopped at this little roadside stand that had all sorts of farm implements. I immediately grabbed my camera and went to work. This was a little arrangement they had in their shop and I just loved the way the light caught the cans. I have had this picture in my mind ever since waiting for the moment to begin.
I do plan to try it again as I used purples for my darks and although I like it I was reading about a different pallet using blues for the darks and I want to give it a try. Also I put my darks over my yellows on the watering can and I wanted to try laying in the darks first and glazing over it. I am really not very good at drawing and painting the same picture over again so I will also change the format to horizontal. That already has me trying to figure out a new composition.

Sheba is ready to go home

She is ready to go home. She is finished and ready for viewing by her owners. I always like to have them view the piece before I spray it in case there is something they want to change. Of course things are pretty well fixed for now but minor changes can be made. I am really pleased with how the highlights define her features, she has is a very good looking dog. It has been a lot of fun working on her.

Sheba is looking good

Sheba is coming together well. I have been building up the layers of color and she is really coming alive on my paper. As I work now I am always studying things and making changes. I wasn't happy with her nose so I did some extra work on that area and I am much happier with it. I am still not completely satisfied with the highlight areas in the eyes so I have not made them too pronounced yet. The top of her head is laid out but I can see it needs more shading. Just seeing my picture here on the screen also gives me a better idea at where I am going.
One thing I am finding very useful is my paint brush. It is very helpful in giving me a subtle layer of graphite where I need it. I can see I am going to be using it a lot. Well back to work.

Sheba is Underway

The excitement begins, it is always exciting when the planning is done and I can dig in and work. Time disappears and graphite flows. At this point Sheba doesn’t look like much as I am just starting to build the values. But I know that once I get a few darks in there the lights will bring her to life.
At this stage I am just feeling my way around, discovering how I will create different effects and learning things about my subject. It is often hard to step back at this point as I want to do one more thing before I leave it for the day: fix a spot, put another layer on, lighten something or study it to see how things are going. I often get into real trouble with the family as my two minutes more can turn into lots of time!!

Great News

I just got notified that my picture "Is the Snow Gone" (see Feb. 17 posting) has been accepted into a juried show called "The Celebration of Spring". I think that my little dog will be very happy in the show, he certainly looks ready to celebrate spring. (For local followers that would like to see the show, see my web site for further information.)

Sheba

I was very pleased with my cat and so I felt ready to attack my new picture. It is a commission piece of a black lab, he is a very good looking dog but being all black makes him a real challenge. I looked through my reference pictures carefully and tried to find one with interesting highlights and also enough highlights to tell the story. He will be 7.5 by 9.5 in. Shown here is my outline drawing with some shading so I can see if my highlights will give me the information I need to develop his portrait. So far things look good. Now it is time to get to work.