FPM: Kasey is DONE!

Kasey - work in progress
acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
© Xan Blackburn, 2011

 Fall Portrait Marathon, Painting #6: Kasey 


The Holiday Hiatus, if I may so name it retroactively, has passed, and work has resumed.  Kasey, whom we last saw smiling brightly as you see him on the right, has moved through the last few stages to completitude.

Kasey - work in progress
acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
© Xan Blackburn, 2011

I like this stage.  It has some of the feel of the illustrations influenced by Japanese woodblocks, done around the turn of the last century, by Rackham and his contemporaries (what a neat site that is!  Glad I stumbled on it!)  Uh, I know I'm putting myself in pretty exalted company there, but I'm referring to technique or approach without presuming to come close to their talent!  This is much more sunny in tone, but if you look at the other artists' work, I think you'll see what I'm referring to.






You can see that I went darker in the background, particularly in the areas to either side of his eyes.  This will help to set his light face off by contrast, and keep that higher contrast area where we want to focus: his eyes.  I layered in a lot more detail in Kasey himself, as well.  You can see that the simpler, almost water-color illustration-look above has gained some depth and realism in this next phase.  Whites of varying warm and cool tints were washed  over much of his face, and even into his neck, helping to smooth and unite the whole.  Individual hairs were also built up, both with shadows and highlights, in the appropriate colors.  You can even see whiskers, which is an almost-done, very nearly final step.  The eyes have sparkle and shine now.  The lip and gums have been modeled more, as has the tongue.  I had almost lost the shadow at the top of the tongue, and had to regain it, as well as developing the mouth in general with shadows and highlights in purply pinks tones, Payne's gray and whites.  

Kasey
acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
© Xan Blackburn, 2011

Here's the final look.  His owner asked me to put his name in the corner in a simple script, so there it is.  There are more little hairs picked out and other small details bumped up, though it's hard to see the difference in these two scans.  I glazed in another layer of golden brown in his eyes and bumped the color back up over his eye (on our right), which had gotten a little too washed out.  


I may yet do one more glaze over the background, bringing it yet further into shadow, so Kasey can really pop out at us, but this is basically it.  










I want to take this opportunity to thank you all again for participating.  Because of your contributions, I've already been able to make the full donation portion over to the benefit of Lois' cats at Creature's Comfort feral cat rescue, via WeSnip, who will use the money to alter cats brought to them by Lois.  This is huge, people!  The feral cat issue is familiar to everyone, in the city or countryside.  Their lives can be "nasty, brutish and short", and all the more so if they are fighting, breeding, bearing and raising kittens.  With your help, countless fewer litters will be born, to misery, disease, and worse. Better still, this will allow Lois and her crew to help find more cats homes, and to keep the cats whom no one wants to adopt safe, fed and healthy.  

Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year to you all!

Now, on to Christine's handsome blonde guy, Matt.