Portrait Marathon: Grover begins

Grover!  Just the name makes me think goofy thoughts.  But, Tena refers to him as "Gentleman G", and the reference photo is very subdued, so settle down, Xan!

Here's what I'll be working from:
His eyes are not so light or yellow, Tena tells me, so I'll change that.  Also, I think I'll throw in a rather darker shadow on the left side of his face (our left, his right) for some dimension and drama.

I've already done my drawing, sanded and re-primed the canvas, transfered the drawing, cleaned it up, and gessoed over it.  It's drying while I write this post.

On a somewhat different subject, I've begun to be aware that my work keeps me pretty isolated on a day to day basis.  So, I've joined a local MeetUp group called Creative in Bellingham.  It's not a very active group yet, so I figured I'd help get the ball rolling by offering a workshop (I called it a "skill swap") at my house.  I'm going to teach the technique I've been using to paint these portraits you've seen me do here.  I have some ideas for making a visual aid, a demo board, where I'll have a whole painting, that progresses across the surface, so that on one side it will be just the sketch, then a section with the underpainting, then another section with the first layers of color, etc., 'til it's finished and detailed on the far edge.  Should be interesting to look at!  Not sure what I'll paint, yet.  Probably one of my own 6 pets (for a change!)

The group and the event are open to anyone, so if you're interested, join the group and sign up!  :)