continuation of a theme

This all started because I have a beautiful piece of glass hanging in my family room window. The shapes and lines have always intrigued me so I did a somewhat loose sketch of it - planning on using it as a springboard for a painting.
I often work on top of previous paintings that I am not fond of and that's how the first one evolved. (posted Tuesday)

the glass piece & the sketch



the second one - today

I wanted to continue working with the original layout and see what moods variations of colour
would give me. I had wanted to do warm red/browns & coppers with turquoise
accents, so to start (this was very blue underneath) I put in some of the colours very wet! I decided it was too messy - particularly since the original painting still showed - so I used watered down gesso to calm it - instead I got this muted combo and now I'm somewhat baffled!
Another issue is that I was so far into the doing of it, that it didn't occur to me to change the composition!!!



and to add to the confusion - I have 2 more set up - vertical comps this time

2 done - I think!

I think the both of these are resolved, but now I will wait to see what my critique buddys Lauren & Patty have to say about that ...... lol




I took them outside to photograph - it is really bright and sunny today - amazing how they look different in sunlight. Now the top one looks just a bit garish ........

another begining

22" square acrylic on canvas

Another square canvas that I needed to revise - I added some linear texture elements; wiped back most of the under colour with thinned gesso & nickle azo gold and added some compose blue to highlight the linear bits. Now it needs to sit for a bit while I analyze the current condition. Already the large bluish top left is bothering me.

new take on a previous start

22" square, acrylic on paper

I had started a loose macro of a double hibiscus about a year ago and pulled it out again last week - needing inspiration. I decided to add some strong linear contrasts after reading Jan Sitt's book titled "TEXTURECOLORFEELING". I had some subtle textures going on already and wanted to see what increasing the darks would do. Now I'm letting it season - I might increase the hue saturation on some of the petals eventually - but I will let it sit for a bit.

very happy client!

finished!

the client is satisfied and so Emma is done. Turns out she wanted the name off to the right side - so another scrub and change. Good thing this paper could handle it!
Finished portrait; 9 x 11 watercolour on Fabriano Artistico 140lb

chchch changes ......

After the client viewed the progress photo, she had some changes to suggest
- smaller, greyer nose - I think the grey is okay - but I couldn't get it too seem lighter and smaller
- close up the mouth & lighten it up
- no tags
- some apricot notes on the body
- add her name at the bottom
changes made - we'll see if she approves

next steps

I worked a bit more on the areas I had mention - added the dog tags; changed their positioning; added and altered the background - the client asked for beige/rose - I will need her take on this before it counts as done.

I will have to take a good look at it since it looks a lot more pink/warm then I thought ..... hmmm

the beige dog

This is Emma so far - I'm having a bit of trouble keeping her light - her mom wants a beige/rose background and I'm afraid she will disappear.
I still need to complete the nose, refine the eyes, paint her collar and tone down some of the values on the left.
I probably will mute the tags too - don't want them to be in conflict with the eyes.
So - did I get the smile?

next on the easel ....

It's time to get back to pets. I have a new commission for a cockapoo named Emma who died recently and I hope to have tomorrow to get going on her. My favorite pose is not the one the owner picked. Not surprisingly she wants an upbeat look - a smiling Emma - so I will do a composite of the different photos I have to work with.

this is Emma in my favorite pose - she looks adorable here


This is the smile I will use


and this will be the pose