Moma - Another Digital Portrait Painting

Moma
Digital painting (Artrage Pro)
© Xan Blackburn

Wow.  Well, I'm pretty happy with that, though it did take a lot of hours to get it there.

This detail shows a little bit more how much detail I squeezed into this 5 x 7 painting:

Moma (detail)
Digital painting (Artrage Pro)
© Xan Blackburn

Yes, those are all individual strokes, and yes, I really did do them alllll by hand, using a Wacom Intuos 5 Touch and stylus in Artrage Pro.  (I got the tablet in a trade!  Nice, huh?)

Since I'm bushed, and it's Friday evening, I'll just cut straight to the progress animation.  

Moma (Progress)
Digital painting (Artrage Pro)
© Xan Blackburn

So, what do you think?

Have a great weekend, one and all!

Bud - Digital Pet Portrait, and my Other Job

Bud
Digital painting (Artrage 4)
5" x 7" @300dpi
© Xan Blackburn 2014

My series of paintings of Ellen's dogs continues with handsome Bud.  I loved his gentle, relaxed smile, his soft hair and wonderful markings, but who could resist those bluuuuuuue eyes!

Working on paintings in a digital way allows a lot of freedom to experiment without committing irreversible damage to a painting.  That's hard to resist, and I had a lot of fun trying out backgrounds, experimenting with various brush techniques for the fur, and zoooooming in waaaaay too close to get tiny details that no one else will ever be able to see.  That's the potential down-side!  I had to keep stepping back out and lecturing myself about not re-creating reality, but enjoying a more painterly approach in this small format.

Here's a quick step-through of the painting's progress:

Bud in progress
Digital painting
© Xan Blackburn 2014

I kind of like that second step, too, where it's the sketch with the first whacks of color laid in.

My OTHER Job

As I have mentioned, my OTHER job is all about rescue and animal welfare work.  

Team Inch:  Right now, Team Inch is having our first online Auction, and I invite you all to be part of helping us rescue and find forever homes for sighthounds by bidding on some really pretty fabulous items.  

Team Inch coalesced last fall, out of a nebula of folks already rescuing dogs from S. Korea.  In just a few months, we've been through so much, bringing over 8 sighthounds, partnering with established adoption groups in N. America to find adoptive homes for them, establishing a Facebook and static website presence, and having some heart-breaking losses.  The risks and veterinary costs for these dogs is comparable to some of the worst-case scenarios we see anywhere in the world, and transporting these mostly larger dogs to N. America where they have a better chance at life is expensive.  But many hands make light work, and in this way YOU can be part of Team Inch.  See you over there!

Kindred Hearts Transport Connection: 

I'm also doing a top-secret fundraiser for this group which I can barely keep to myself.  Believe me, you'll know about it as soon as I can tell you!  Great bunch of hard-working volunteers.  Maybe you can be part of the network!

Greyhounds in Gettysburg:

Nittany Greyhounds runs this very popular event for greyhound families every year.  While I can't go in person, I will be sending a painting to their Special Art Auction - a first this year, I'm told.  This painting is very personal to me, and I'm proud to be able to send it out into the world for this.

This painting is a more experimental piece for me, using various media (paper, acrylic, graphite, pastel on Claybord panel) in one piece.  I love the layered depth, the complex feel, the moody emotional possibilities that arose from both my own emotions and the materials working together.  I'm going to title this one "Memories".

Memories
multi-media on panel, 8" x 10"
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Here's a detail, so you can get a little better idea of the complexity:

Memories (detail)
multi-media painting
 © Xan Blackburn 2014

Now it's on to Ellen's Moma.  

Radar - Digital Portrait of a Golden Retriever

Radar
5" x 7" Digital painting (ArtRage Pro + Photoshop)
© Xan Blackburn 2014

Radar's portrait is one of 5 small paintings of my client Ellen's dogs, a series to add to two I'd done for her in the past.  This painting was a rich, and rewarding experience, but definitely time-consuming!  There are advantages and disadvantages to being able to zoom in very very VERY CLOSE.  

I love painting with ArtRage.  The ability it gives me to control every aspect is such fun.  I can make translucent colors layer up forever.  I can make minute strokes with all the personality of a brush.  I can add and take away layer after layer, and adjust each one's opacity and intensity 'til I get just the right depth, value, color interaction, texture.  I can blend as if painting with watercolors (not really well) or oils, or even markers.  I can lay on thick gobs of paint with a palette knife or brush.  I can airbrush, sketch, ink, dissolve and erase.  And, of course, if I make a mistake, I can un-do it!  Wish I could do that with regular paints sometimes!

I really thought I'd shared with you the progress I was making on this one, but I see I didn't.  Here's a screen shot of what the piece looked like in the program, as I was working on it.  You can see a couple of the layers in the small palette on the right edge of the window.  You can see the reference photo on the left of the painting.  I can zoom in on the reference, or shrink it down, or close it altogether.  The painting I can zoom (of course), tilt around to allow me to work at different angles like you do with a piece of paper, and also flip it with one keystroke, which is very helpful to get a fresh perspective on it, and to see areas that still need work.

Radar - work in progress
ArtRage4
© Xan Blackburn 2014

And then I can take the whole thing, with all the various layers, into Photoshop for some final tweaking.  Then I can take that into ImageReady, and do an animated gif to show you how it comes together.  Like this:

Radar
5" x 7" Digital painting (ArtRage Pro + Photoshop)
© Xan Blackburn 2014

Next up is Ellen's border collie, Bud.  He's a cutie!  Don't miss that one.

Greyhound Katie's Portrait: Done

Katie
8" x 10", Acrylic on Aquabord
© Xan Blackburn 2014

The differences between this and the previous stage may seem small, but they are the difference between not-done and done.  Or thinking I'm done.  I thought I was done last night, but apparently, that was not the case, as I saw some things I wanted to work on some more after I had started this post!  

I'm always disappointed with how well these translucent layers show up here.  :(  The subtleties in the layers of colors is flattened and dulled, no matter how I try to approach reality in Photoshop.  In this case, especially in the background, which is jewel-like in person.  Still, you will get the general idea.  I hope Gayle and Steve enjoy the original, when it gets to them.  Working on this was terrifying in a whole new way because they are both artists, and Steve actually did the original photograph, which was gorgeous just as it was.  

Okay, so NOW I'm done.  I hope.  Here's how that went, in review:

Katie in progress
© Xan Blackburn 2014

Rescue: My other job

I'm maybe not the best at dividing my time between rescue-related work and actual money-making work, considering that we are not independently wealthy.  I believe my hard-working (but always supportive!) husband concurs.  

Meanwhile, what I do in "my other job" is also often artwork.

Team Inch is a collection of volunteers that have been working together in various arrangements over the last several years to rescue dogs in S. Korea.  As part of my contribution, I've developed the website, logo, Facebook pages and fundraisers (Virtual Bake Sale, Total Fantasy Dog Accessories Shoppe {with the help of a classroom full of kids doing illustrations}, and New Years Resolution Special Dispensations).   I also gotten to give a few dogs rides, and even got to foster one for a whole 5 days we're not likely to forget (although the bruises are finally gone  ;) ).  

We're having another fundraiser in March, and I would be remiss if I didn't invite you all for your shot at the goods.  This one will be an online auction, and I swear all the stuff is real this time.  If you'd like to donate any items, let me know, and I'll get you all squared away.  Everyone else, mark your calendars!

And some other rescue-art things

Another aspect of my rescue-art work is donating to various other groups' fundraisers.  I donated a small portrait recently, which was won by a very nice lady, and will let you know how that goes once we get started.  I'm also going to be donating a piece to a new Special Art Auction at an event called Greyhounds in Gettysburg.  I've been bemoaning (privately - poor husband!) about my lack of opportunity to play around and experiment with my art, so I can continue to grow and explore new techniques.  It occurred to me in a classic light-bulb moment that donations offer that opportunity.  So, I'm going to try out an idea I have been incubating, and I'll show you that as it develops as well.  I still have no idea what I'll be donating to our own Team Inch auction!  

See what I mean about balancing non-paid work and paid work?  *sigh*  

More Katie ...

Katie - work in progress
acrylic on Aquabord panel
© Xan Blackburn

Some good work on this, today.  Building up more layers of color in the background, approaching the values (light/dark) I want around the portrait in general, and pretty close to done in some areas.

I had the idea today to make the shadows warm, and the highlights cool, which is the opposite of my general rule (very general), and I like how it's working.  My idea is to make the shadows, which is where all the detail is in this portrait, reveal the life, the blood under the skin and fur, the translucence of a living being by allowing that warmth to glow through.  The highlighted side of her face is almost featureless, a silhouette in reverse, but making that side glow with an almost blue light will give a sense of reflected sky, and really make the warm shadow areas pop.  In the end, the background will suggest a leafy background on a sun-filled day, and Katie will be emerging from that like the bright spirit she was.  Her lower body will fade gently back, so all our attention will be on her face, her expression, the gesture of her tilted head and half-raised ears.

It's really hard to show you what's going on in some areas.  My scanner can't capture the layers of color bouncing around in the background.  This just mostly looks like green, but there are blues, greens and gold-greens all laying on top of each other like leaves in the sun.  The eyes are too dark to scan well, but there is more subtle color going on there, too.

Katie (detail) - work in progress

This shows a little bit more.  There's a sketchy quality to this that I like right now, but it will get a bit more smoothing out before it's done, with more glazes pulling it all together.

So, that's where we are tonight.

Katie the Greyhound, Portrait

Katie - work in progress, detail
graphite on Aquabord panel
copyright Xan Blackburn 2013

Now, here's a challenge.  Katie the greyhound was a lovely girl, much loved by her humans.  Okay, that's not unusual for my clients and subjects.  Katie was mostly white, which presents the challenges of subtlety in shading, particularly where there is no strong light source to cast deep shadows.  Still, okay, not too impossible.  Katie's humans are both fine artists in their own right: okay, now it's gotten tricky!  The photo references are by Katie's human dad, and they are lovely just the way they are.  Katie's human mom is an accomplished artist, using pencils and watercolor.  Argh.  How to do justice in my own fairly realistic style to a photographic portrait that stands on its own?

I decided to try something a little different, this time.  Starting with a graphite drawing as the "under-painting" stage, and layering on glazes of translucent color after.  Working on Aquabord, an archival panel with a toothy texture which you can see in the detail above, means that detail will be slightly compromised by the bumpy texture.  Not a lot, but enough that it will keep me from getting lost down the rabbit-hole of every-single-hair, and so I can rely on the color glazes to build an atmosphere.

Katie - work in progress, stage 1
drawing well begun
© Xan Blackburn 2013

Katie - work in progress, stage 2
drawing done
© Xan Blackburn 2013

Once I had the drawing about where I wanted it, I sprayed it with a workable fixative, so that painting over it wouldn't smear the drawing.  I did this with my heart in my throat, since you just never know how that's going to go.  Luckily, it worked fine, and I didn't have to start over.

Now to start the glazing!  The background in the reference photo is dark, which is exactly right, to make her dazzling whiteness pop out.

Katie reference photo
 © Steve Uyehara

I plan to take a similar approach, keeping it vague, dark, with the lively greens kept to a suggestion of simple leaves, not to compete with Katie, herself.  Building up layers means you can achieve luminous, glowing dimensions of color.  The first go at the background, I'm laying in a clear yellow, to pull the background together, and begin achieving the final green tones.  Katie's shadier side is washed in a warm pinkish tone, to give her the glow of life that shows through her pale fur, and is clearly visible in her ears, and spotting the top of her muzzle.

Katie - work in progress, stage 3
first color glazes

 That yellow seems really strong right now, but it will become just a glowing member of the color team when all is completed.

That's where we're at today.  More as I go along!

Speaking of updates, I've added several projects to my Commercial Art page for your viewing pleasure.  Go take a look!

Truman

Truman
11" x 14", Acrylic on Canvas
copyright 2014 Xan Blackburn

Truman ... I loved this big boy.  He was my first big greyhound crush who was not my own dog. 

I rarely get to meet the subjects of my artwork, but Truman and his family are friends I've visited with all up and down the west coast.  When he passed last year, it was a blow to everyone who loved him (which is the same group as everyone who ever met him).  Lori asked me to do his portrait, and I jumped at the chance to share this tribute with her.  But wow.  It was tough.  I was choked with emotion, the need to do him justice, and got stuck a lot along the way.  There are only a few progress pictures, because when I finally got going, I didn't stop to take pictures.

Truman - work in progress, stage 1
starting the under-painting

Truman - work in progress, stage 2
crawling forward on the underpainting

Truman - work in progress, stage 3
getting a handle, developing the underpainting

Truman - work in progress, stage 4
most of color is laid in, developing detail

If you look at them closely, you can see how I had to re-adjust his eye focus as I went along.  Other than that, everything went forward pretty much as planned from the start.  

I will miss gazing into those almond-colored eyes, as I know Lori is also missing her blue-brindle coyote hound ever-puppy.

What I did on my "Summer Vacation"

So, "vacation" might not be the right word for when you've been too sick to work much, but let's just gloss over that for the time being (except to say, if you're old enough for the shingles vaccine, go get it!!)  (NOW!)  (If you want to be seriously grossed out by my shingles story, click here.)

I actually have several graphics I've gotten wrapped up and haven't told you about along the way, and have a portrait of one of my favorite dogs EVER on my table at the moment.  Sadly, it's a memorial portrait, which I still cannot believe.  *sigh*  Truman was one of the few of my portrait clients that I've actually had the honor and joy to know in person.

Let's start with the graphics and illustrations, shall we?  

After completing two logos for Brian Southwick (the his real estate logo here, and this real estate development logo here), Brian's wife got in touch with me to work up a logo for her. Also a real estate agent - broker, actually - she wanted something to reflect her own interests in gardening as well as to give a sense of the sophisticated homes she sells, with colors that would work with the identity colors of the company she works for. We kept this very clean and the symbology clear.

Kiens Logo
©Xan Blackburn 2014

SilkenFest 2014 (primary logo)
©Xan Blackburn 2014

I have had a lot of fun working with Iola and Penny on this next one.  An earlier project they were involved with resulted in some graphics that ended up on the cutting room floor, but which had a lot of support.  We recycled part of that un-used imagery to create a logo for the 2014 SilkenFest; the big annual event for fanciers of the Silken Windhound.  This one has three versions, so far, which can be used in various settings, including a backdrop for photographs of the winners of the various events.

SilkenFest 2014 (variant)
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Awhile back, we took a jaunt down to California and stopped in at a tiny dog show in the Sierra foothills.  I met a woman who was showing her Lagotto Romagnolos, a breed I'd never run across before.  We got to talking, I gave her my card, and we've worked on three projects so far. The first was a logo for the Lagotto Club of America,  which I talked about here.  These two are for the Lagotto club specialty; one for the specialty logo, and the other for a custom wine label.  I really enjoyed building up a watercolory effect with these two.  I tried doing actual watercolors for the wine label, but the learning curve was too steep to get the effects I wanted with the editability we need for logos, so back to Photoshop we went!

Lagotto Specialty Logo
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Larcan Lagotto Wine label
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Starfyre Silken Windhound Kennel Logo
©Xan Blackburn 2014

This one was fun!  (I have such nice clients!!)  Working from a photo of one of my client's gorgeous hounds, we played with the wonderful silky fur, and the kennel name (Starfyre), for this treatment.  They thought they might even want a black line version as a tattoo (now that's a lot of like!), so we also have this version.

Starfyre Logo/tattoo design
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Illustration for water field guide
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Work continues on my husband's field guide for water use.  I mentioned the cover design here.  It's been enjoyable doing this pen and ink-style drawing.  I'm doing the drawings digitally, but they still feel very old-school to me.

Illustration for water field guide
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Now, on to Truman's Portrait

Truman - work in progress
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Truman was a big, beautiful greyhound, a blue brindle, which is a coloring that never fails to just make my heart go pitter-pat.  Besides being a knock out physically, he was a knock out personality, too.  Huge.  This portrait captures an especially quiet moment, I expect after so much throwing himself around that he was exhausted.  Lying in the grass in the cool shade of summery trees, I want to focus in on his pale amber eyes, that resting-but-ready attentiveness, and of course the classically long greyhound schnozzle.  

On the left you can see the beginnings of the under painting.  I've transferred my drawing to the canvas, and have basically nailed down the main elements using my old pal, Payne's gray.  The next steps show the building up of the underpainting, establishing the darker tones, building up what will be almost a full grey-tone painting, to which I will then add the colors.  

Truman - work in progress
©Xan Blackburn 2014

Note that the pupils are a little out of control, and that I have reclaimed them in the next phase below.  His spare brindling is also becoming more noticeable, as well as the overall light/dark focus.  His face will have the most light, the most contrast, while his body will recede into the shadow a bit, and the background will hold atmospheric light to allow us to feel the sunny day surrounding this quiet moment.

Truman - work in progress
©Xan Blackburn 2014

So, that's where I'm at as of today.  Always plenty to do, right?

The idea got tossed out that I might do a graphic novel/comic book using sighthounds ...

(and other breeds, probably) as the characters, maybe some super-hero action, maybe serialized, maybe digital and/or print-on-demand ....  Anyone have any thoughts on that?  Would you actually buy something like that?  What kind of story-line would be more compelling, to you?  I'd love to hear from you!  Drop me a comment!

Shawn's portrait progressing

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

As I mentioned before, Shawn's portrait has been a long time coming.  I made good progress on him today, and will probably work a bit more this afternoon.  

I started this one by covering the entire canvas with a pale coat of cobalt, to get a unifying tone, and to contrast the warmer colors in the dog and sand.  After that had time to dry, I transferred the drawing to the re-dampened canvas, using conte crayon, cleaned up the dusty mess that always makes, and sealed it in by going over the drawing strategically with Payne's Gray diluted with acrylic polymer (clear glaze; I use it a LOT).  I went ahead and started to lay in some of the darker tones, bringing us to this point

I continued building up the darker tones, but couldn't resist playing up some of the lighter areas as well.  The starting tone of the blue background made me crave those lighter areas for dimension.

I'm pretty sure I had also washed in a very dilute cad yellow in the ocean at this point, as well.

That brought us to this point. 

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

 

I'm already re-thinking all that blue!  It's going to be a real bother to overcome in the sandy area.  Maybe.  Or maybe it will do just what I want.  Remains to be seen.

So, on we go.  

Brindles!  Argh!  They're so beautiful, and Shawn has this gorgeous tiger-red coat under his very busy brindling, but they always make me wish I was more impressionistic than I am, and I could just toss some random stripes in and call it good.  So, since I'm not that impressionistic, out comes the tiny brush, and in with the brindling.  

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

Working on that for awhile (longer than you might think) brought me to this point.  Note the tiny brush.

So, back to work ....

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

Now I'm really ready to start seeing some color in here.

I started with some very pale glazes of raw sienna, to begin to build up that gorgeous red coat.

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

That got me to the point you see here on the right.  Already, you can see him popping out and taking some form, just from that one watery glaze of the sienna!

Now to explore some of the pink showing on his underside, and into his ears.  Reds can get away from you, so choosing a cad red medium, and thinning it way down with glazing, I washed in those first pinks.  Always shocking!  I toned them warmer with more of the raw sienna in places, dabbed around with more red in the eyes, throat, a hint at the muzzle, around the toes, deepening that pink shadow from his chest down his midline.  

At that point, I really wanted to start warming up the sand.  Not a lot: this isn't a full sun day, rather more of a hazy east coast day at the shore, maybe the sand is damp, the shadows are indistinct, reflections and highlights are muted.  Even the ocean doesn't reflect a lot of sunlight today.  I laid in a first glaze of raw umber on the sand.  I added a bit of a deep turquoise glaze to the ocean, and it's too green now.  I'll have to work on that.  I also worked on all the colors already on my pallet, from Payne's gray to white, all over.  

It's coming along.  I think I'll probably finish it tomorrow.  What do you think, so far?  And, as always, sorry for the cr@ppy photos!  This last one is a scan, trimmed a tiny bit by my scanner, which isn't quite big enough.

Shawn - in progress
acrylic on canvas,  9" x 12"
© Xan Blackburn

Spring Forward

Shawn in the spotlight

Shawn on Dewey Beach

This portrait has been gestating since ... Oh my ... April, 2008!  Kelly won a portrait by me in a raffle, way back when, and we never did pin down just who was going to get the treatment.  Kelly finally decided Shawn would take center stage, we actually chose a photo, and the first layer of paint is on the canvas.  Whew!  Look at those EARS!  The painting is 9" x 12", acrylic on canvas.  I'll let you follow along as I go, as usual.  At this moment, the drawing is just about to be transferred to the canvas, which has had an underlayer of soft blue laid down already.

Nice warm graphics

While my muse has been thawing out from her winter hibernation, I've been doing a little this and that to prime the pump (that is what is known as a mixed metaphor).  I find graphic work easier in this state than portraiture, which is good, since it was time to design this year's Hope for Hounds artwork.  That was fun.  After a rough start earlier in the winter, I put it aside.  When I came back to it, I started from scratch and just blew right through it.  In case you missed my last post, that design has gone live, with a very exciting raffle for the first collar to be made!  You can still buy tickets, at $10 for one, or $25 for three, so hop on over there!  We've got some big new ideas this year, too.  You'll want to make sure you're in on them!  ;)

On a related design note, I also enjoyed designing a couple custom fabrics that will be exclusive to 2 Hounds Design.  It's always fun working with my good buddy, Alisha!

In the last few weeks, I've had three more requests for graphics.  One was a logo that both the client and I shelved last fall, one is for a dog breed club's national event (using a previously designed element from an unused graphic - recycling!), and one is for a custom wine label for a previous client (is that also recycling?)  All are in progress, so I can't unveil any of them yet, so you'll have to take my word for it for now.  I'll show you when I can.  I'm champing at the bit to show you!

My hubby has also been availing himself of the in-house design department (that would be me) to update his logo (which I designed years ago*) and his blog's banner.

Okay, it's not fancy, but it works, and it's purty.

He's also working on a book, for which I'll be doing illustrations.  I worked this up for a working cover image.

Looking forward: Feedback appreciated!

In a previous post, I talked about my plans for this year, and next winter specifically.  I've added another idea to my pile.

Last year, I created a custom greyhound art doll (aka stuffie, plushie, stuffed animal, soft sculpture, cloth portrait ...) as a fundraiser.  I've had many requests for more, and also for the pattern.  If you were following that epic saga, you'll know I really made it up as I went along, with a lot of trial and error, but I did end up with a pretty cool pattern.  So, what do you think about an e-book of instructions (lots of pictures, of course!), including a pattern that could be transferred by grid to whatever size you wanted?

If you like that, how about this added bit: the book would have a link to purchase a cut-and-sew fabric printed with the pattern, for the option to let me take some of the work out of it for you?

Liking this so far?  Okay, how about if I created several versions of the cut-and-sew patterned fabric for different color dogs (fawn, fawn and white, brindle, black, etc.)?  Once you have the instruction book, with the fabric link, you can buy as many of the fabric patterns as you like, of course: make a whole pack!  Use them as fundraisers!  Give as gifts to your houndie friends!  Sound like a good concept?

Considering how sewing challenged I am, I'm considering recruiting a beta-tester and proof-reader who already knows how to sew (any volunteers?  :D )

______________________________________
*The leaf that brought us together!  Long story, but let's just say I threw myself at him, artistically speaking, and the rest is history!

Is it Spring, yet??

Kyle Broflovski, as seen on his 

South Park Wikia page

As they say on South Park, I've learned something today.  

Okay, not just today.

Okay, it's taken me eight years to learn this (sheesh!)

Here's the thing:  I suck at winter.  Yeah, pretty much.  Every single year, my artistic juices dry up, or freeze up, or go south for the season ... I don't know.  Anyway, no portraits get produced from at least December to March.    When I try to paint, it's ... well, it's not pretty.

So, instead of making my wonderful clients, who would no doubt like their commissions in a timely fashion, wait through the dark months with me, I'm starting a new practice.  I'm actually a little excited about it.

I intend to take commissions and work normally through the spring and summer, do my next fall portrait marathon, then shift gears:  no more commissions until I'm good and ready.  In between, I'm going to allow myself to learn, play, grow, experiment, practice, study, waste materials, and possibly (it could happen!), just maybe, produce something worth looking at along the way.

But wait!  That's not all!  I plan to visit animal rescues, refuges, sanctuaries that don't focus on dogs and cats, take a lot of pictures, talk to the staff, meet the animals, and use those encounters and my reactions to them as inspiration for all this experimentation.

Now for the really good part.  If anything gets done that I'm happy enough with not to paint over, burn, or submit to the Museum of Bad Art, I will find some way to sell it, and share the proceeds with the sanctuaries themselves.  So, that's pretty cool, huh?  I'm almost excited for next winter, now.

But not yet.  Right now, I can feel the siren song of Spring calling to my dormant muse.  I can tell things are starting to brighten up not just because the sun is up past 5pm, but because I just now managed to finish my annual Hope for Hounds design, and I pretty much like it!  (You'll see it soon enough.  Don't get pushy!  ;) )

I've spent my semi-conscious winter days seeking inspiration and energy from the gentle glow of my computer screen's offerings, searching out other artists and their work, watching tutorials, reading blogs, browsing image searches, and emailing with my artist friends.  Yesterday, something clicked over in my innards, and I had a wild urge to try something I'd found along the way.  I grabbed a panel that had been ruined with a bad painting, sanded and primed over (not good enough for a commission, but okay for experimenting).  I cast about for a subject, and my eye landed on a snapshot of my first dog, my little poodle Hobie, on the cork board over my painting table.  I grabbed some conte crayon, tossed it aside for a pastel pencil, erased most of that and fine tuned the rest of the drawing with vine charcoal.  It came together so quickly!  Just free-hand; no grids, no reference photoshopped-and-printed-actual-size, just me and the curling snapshot.  Okay, drawing down.  Should I fix it with a fixative or glaze, or just paint on into it, letting the drawing melt into the paint?  Yeah.  That.  A few hours later, I was pretty much done.  To my amazement.

Hobie
8" x 10" acrylic, pastel, vine charcoal on gessoed panel
© Xan Blackburn 2013

(Does he look guilty, or irritated?  He was!  He had this habit of wadding up blankets, and sucking on them, leaving a big wet gooey blanket-teat, and I'm pretty sure that's what he was up to when I snapped the picture.)

I really wanted to keep the brushwork loose, simple, un-refined.  I didn't succeed on that score entirely, but it's a lot looser than I usually work.  Here's a closer look, so maybe you can see what I mean.

Hobie - detail
© Xan Blackburn

I kinda like it.  It was a very liberating experiment I wasn't sure I could even manage, allowing myself to let go of expectations for a "pretty" painting, or even a likeness of Hobie himself.  Since it actually did come out looking pretty well like him (I left out the skin freckles showing through his very short fur), I pronounce myself ready to get back to work.

Whew!!