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*  

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!

Split Personality: Graphics & Portraits

I have gone back and forth over the last few years:

Keep graphics on my menu of services vs. concentrate on portraiture.  

On the one hand, I want to grow and develop my skills and career as a fine artist, which argues for being exclusive to the non-commercial work.  On the other hand, sometimes (like all winter long) I'm just not there, but I still need to make a living, which argues for continuing with the graphics.  

Okay, well, I guess I'll do both.  Still.  Again.  Okay, I never actually stopped, but I did sort of quietly take any mention of commercial art off my website.

So now it's back, but it's kind of its own thing.  It's over here.  Let me know what you think of the look and feel of the new site!

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!

Warning! Graphic Pictures! ;)

Belling Hamster
© Xan Blackburn 2012

That's pretty graphic, wouldn't you say?  Well, it's a graphic, anyway.

Projects all have gaps in them, some longer than others, so I like to keep a few going at a time.  Keeps me fresh and working if I hit a block wall in one area, too.  As fate would have it, and despite my intention to concentrate on portraits, graphics work has really been the theme for the last few weeks. 

The Belling Hamster was drawn for an awareness campaign in Bellingham, WA, letting folks know that plastic bags are now banned in that city.  (The unofficial citizen nick-name is Bellinghamster, you see.)

Plastic Bag Ban, Bellingham
infographic
© Xan Blackburn 2012

The  graphic had to contain a lot of information, yet still fit in a small newspaper ad space.  Luckily, I was able to use color to help off-set the objects more, and give eye-appeal.  It also needed to include Spanish and Russian as well as English (thanks, google translate! I hope it's not too far off!)  

Real Estate Logo
by Xan Blackburn, © Brian Southwick 2012

The original concept for the ad was repetitive photos of bag types with the various language messages all in a grid. I thought it would be more fun to make the Hamster a character in his own right, a mascot.  If he has more work to do, it will be fun to continue his adventures.

Just as the Heronswood logo was wrapping up, I got an email from a realtor who is partnering with my friend and client from the Heronswood project, asking about a logo for himself.  He had a concept of a guy on a unicycle, with his name, and maybe the motto.  He even sent a picture of himself on a unicycle!  Loved that.  Guy in a suit, with a golf club in one hand, and a briefcase in the other, at a rakish tilt, on a unicycle!  After a bit of backing and forthing, including the first sketch being a total flop, prompting him to give up his idea altogether, we worked up to this version, which we're all happy with.  It was a lesson in communication, really.  He didn't like my first take, and I had to talk him back towards getting his heart's desire rather than scrap the idea.  Graphics are invariably a process, a collaboration between the client and the artist.  Well, I guess that's true with the portraits, too.

This last logo actually started almost a year ago, when I first met the client at a tiny dog show in Placerville, CA (where I was trolling for work, of course).  She had a cute poodle-like dog she informed me was a Lagotto Romagnolo, a truffle-hunter, and not a poodle at all.  He was deep chocolate from nose to tail, and a real love-muffin.  Her breed club needed a logo, so I gave her my card, and work began some time after that.

The group had a photo they liked of a dog's head.  They wanted an image that looked like a pencil drawing, very detailed, of this dog.  I did my best to dissuade them, as that effect can have a very hard time being re-sized, either very large (it goes all to bits) or very small (it just becomes a smudge), but they had their hearts set, so I set out to make it work the best I could.  

Lagotto Romagnolo Club of America Logo: dog head
© LRCA 2012, by Xan Blackburn

Here's the drawing itself.  I created it mostly in Photoshop, in the usual way: a variety of brushes, varying opacity, etc..  There was some adjustment needed to the facial proportions and eye placement along the way, as the original photo wasn't very clear and the far eye was hidden in fur, and I'm not familiar enough with the breed to see the finest points of conformation.  We eventually got consensus on the dog, and moved on to various ornaments and fonts to complete the logo.  In the end, I provided them with a few variations, both in chocolate brown and black.

Lagotto Romagnolo Club of America
Logo: arched
© LRCA 2012, by Xan Blackburn

Lagotto Romagnolo Club of America Logo: horizontal
© LRCA 2012, by Xan Blackburn

I tried to make the drawing big enough in the original that it will size up without getting too bitty.  The smaller versions will hopefully have enough contrast to have some form, if not a lot of detail.  

Okay, so, now that all my graphics are done for the time being, I still have my painting of Dad and Lilly to work on, as well as my soft sculpture portrait.  That one has me in fits, I must admit.  I have my drawings all over the place, trying to work out the best way to get some dimension without getting too far beyond my rudimentary sewing skills.  I think I'm going to do a trial version in some material I've had sitting around for years.  If it works at all, it will be fun: a greyhound in retro geranium floral print!  If not, I will have at least learned what NOT to do.  

Onward!

Return of Logos!

Heronswood Logo: Blue

Just when I decided to take graphics and illustration off my website to concentrate on my fine art, a few logo jobs have fallen in my lap!

Heron element in blue

This one was pretty efficient, which is always nice.  A friend and neighbor who is a contractor needed a logo for his new development.  He had a pretty good idea what he wanted, and this came together quickly.  I loved drawing the heron!  I gave him several variations to use for different things, and I look forward to seeing it carved into a large wooden sign soon.

Greyscale

One-color (black)

This client's real estate agent just contacted me today for a logo, as well.  The concept he sent me is hilarious!  When we get a little further along, I'll share it with you.


I'm going to be helping out a local Plastic Bag Ordinance activist with some graphics, too.  She just wrote to me today also!  I'm hoping ... ah!  She just responded to my idea for a character to personify the message.  Heh.  This is going to be fun.  Bellingham, WA residents sometimes refer to themselves as 'Hamsters.  See where I'm going with this?

I still have to final out a logo I started working on last fall for a dog breed club.  That one is dragging out, but mostly with long pauses between communications, as the board decides on aspects of the design.  The basic idea is like this though.

Isn't he cute?  They're a truffle-hunting hound from Italy that looks a lot like a medium size poodle, with a deep chocolate-colored coat, and dark brown eyes.

Meanwhile, yes, I'm also working on my painting of Dad and Lilly.  Slowly.

Other Irons in the Fire

I thought I'd let you all peek behind the curtain a little more into what else goes on in my studio.  No worries!  I'll be getting back to Nikki's painting as soon as I finish writing this post.

I've been working on a trade show display for my husband.  His water treatment business has been a major client of mine for about 12 years now.  Of course, the pay has always been negotiable, but I'm happy with the return on investment.

Last year, we developed a large (6'h x 4'w), re-usable, adhesive vinyl graphic, which he'll be re-using this year.  It was part of a set of three such graphics which made a very impressive and sophisticated display for his booth.  All together, they looked like this:

total dimensions: 8'w x 4'h

Developing these pushed my aging Mac's resources because of the large file sizes, but they really look great!  He has them on his office walls now.
This year's set up will come together like this:

You can't get a good look at the two smaller graphics on either side at this size, I'm afraid.  Suffice it to say, a fair amount of work went into each element of both of them!  They're being printed on vinyl banner material, with grommets, to fix them to whatever clever support H gets worked out on the pop-up display  wall.  Exact placement isn't set in stone yet.  We are hoping to get some overlap, with some curving of the side panels, and some horizontal popping-out, which will take some engineering ingenuity, which I will defer to my hubby.  I hope to get a good picture of it all set up in the exhibition hall.

I've also been putting some energy into developing some art and products to bring to a Silken Windhound event in July.  Such pretty little dogs!  I've never been to an event with coursing or racing of any kind, or conformation or obedience or any of that, so this should be interesting.  Since these little ones are not competing to win money for their owners (at least directly, although showing well will benefit breeders of those dogs), the attitude seems much more about the fun the dogs have than profit-based racing (of which I strenuously disapprove!)  Although I find breeding any animals for human amusement, consumption or profit to be wrong, the animals produced are innocent, and lovable, as we all know!

 Watch this blog for upcoming requests for 

  silken windhound reference photos,  

  from which I can make some art!!  

Now, as I promised, back to work on Nikki!