Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Portrait Marathon update: Phoenix is Done!

Whew!!  Phoenix is finished, and I'm quite pleased with how he turned out.  I'm impatiently waiting for it to dry enough so I can scan it to show you.

*drumming fingers*
*checking dryness, checking time, adding 3 hours for the east coast*
*drumming fingers some more*
*checking dryness, huffing in frustration, and going to get a beer*
*squinting at it at an angle to check dryness, dabbing on more paint, and huffing in frustration again*

H just came in, and he said, "It's better than the photograph."  *doing small victory dance*

Well, while I'm killing time (yours as well as mine!), I'll talk about it a little bit.  After the last update, I needed to work on the background a lot, and keep detailing Phoenix himself.  I dabbed in some red and purple-y colors, like my sketch, and almost died.  Augh!  Ick!  Well, I wasn't too committed to those colors anyway.  More blues!  Layering in cool and warm blues, lighter and darker, then adjusting the lighting in the figure to reflect the blue light, I kept playing back and forth between Phene and the background.

Yeay!  It's dry enough.  Scanning now ...

Meanwhile, I was really liking the blues, layered onto the other purple-y reds and some browns I'd also washed in there.  Then I remembered Robin's comment here that Phene's color is blue.  Bonus!  :D

Okay, you've waited with me, and ....

heeeeee---eeeeeeeeere's

Phoenix!
*Grrr!  Waiting for the picture to upload!!*
Oh, for pete's sake!  What's the hold-up??  :P
Uploading elsewhere ....
Honestly.  Sheesh.

Okay, let's try this again.

Heeeeeeee-eeeeere's PHOENIX!!


What do you think?  It's okay, right?

10 comments:

  1. He is looking very soulful with the almost midnight blues velvety background :) I love how the light shines through his ears and his eyes look right at you! Beautiful! (way more than okay!)

    Christine & Hamilton

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  2. That's definitely Phoenix! You really captured him!

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  3. stunned! again! somehow the combination of quality and speed and complexity just blow me away. I can't (that's can NOT) get my mind around how it can be. Yet, you do it. so fun to be involved--thanks very much for the great blog. love you!!

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  4. Thanks! :) I'm really pleased with this one. It really did go through a scary phase, but I'm glad it worked out in the end. For me, artwork is a lot of high wire work without a net! Exhilarating once it's all over, though. LOL

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  5. Oh, that's gorgeous, Xan! Just gorgeous.

    I treasure the one you did of Renie, and it gets a lot of admiring comments, too! Funnily enough, it's one of the few pictures I have of her that don't make me cry, even though you captured her soul so well. Must be because she looks so mischievous and happy!

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  6. Ah, Renie! The Odalisque. I have a print of that on my studio wall. It's one of my faves. I'm so glad you like it. :) Thanks!

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  7. Handsome, delicious and undeniably precious Phoenix! Well done Xan! Now get a wiggle on cuz my beautiful bluebrindle grandbaby is coming up soon.....

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  8. I think that is Phene, totally.
    Amazing work Xan.

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  9. Absolutely beautiful! That's my Phoenix! You perfectly captured his expression and his colouring. And that lovely nose :) Thank you!

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