Dog Daze

Critters, critters everywhere.  The next entrant in our creature parade is Payton, the beloved dog of a friend.

As photo references go, this one isn't going to be easy.  It's a head on shot of a black dog, with no discernible light source.  Another photo taken in late afternoon light was provided, so I'm going to try to recreate those colors on this reference

Here's the sketch on a black gessoed panel, complete with annoying glare.

The first layer of underpainting.

Additional underpainting....

There's going to have to be a lot of subtle coloration done in those darks, otherwise he's going to look as flat as a blackboard.  

More work will be done on him a bit later...Woe is me, I have to spend this absolutely gorgeous day outside catching up on gardening chores (picture me with the back of one hand pressed against my forehead, the other patting my heart)  It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.  :-D

The Finish of the Last Bear in the Challenge. #100 - Depth

Here it is my friends.  The last of the light values were added, and now the challenge is complete.

Depth Bear

I can't thank you all enough for following this for the last one hundred and some odd days, for your words of critique, support, encouragement, and just plain making me laugh out loud.  All of it played an integral part in the completion of this challenge, and you have my gratitude.

Another project looms on the horizon in the immediate future, but until that one gets started...

...I need a nap.

Artistic Polar Bea......Oh, You Know.

A quick update from the easel -

A layer of wax and a layer of paint later...

Another layer of wax (a little too thick) and paint...

He's looking very mosaic-y because I'm trying not to completely cover the layers below.  I'm thinking one more thin layer and a satin top coat, and we can bid a fond farewell to our ursine friend.

Artistic Polar Bear Challenge: 100 Ways In 100 Days. #90 - Acrylic Skins

Are we really at #90 already?!  I feel as if we've just begun. :-P

One of the things I love about acrylics is their versatility.  There are almost countless oodles of things you can do with them, which makes my inner Mad Scientist cackle with glee.  Today we're going to play with acrylic skins, which are sheets of dried acrylic paint.

Yesterday, I applied paint in various colors to two tempered glass cutting boards that I use as palettes.   The paint was left overnight to dry.

Today, the paint patches were peeled up off of the glass intact.  One of the myriad of things these skins can be used for is collage.

 Acrylics by their very nature lose volume when drying, and thicker skins are much easier to work with.  When I applied the paint to the cutting boards, I thought I applied it thickly enough.  Oh...not so.  When dry, these skins were almost paper thin.  The skins also retain a bit of stickiness until they're fully cured, which means they stick to themselves, to you, and to almost anything else they come in contact with.  The only place they weren't sticking is where I wanted them to.  So the whole exercise was akin to trying to tear sheets of Saran Wrap into little pieces, and glue them to a board.  The words that were flying out of the studio today were not words that you would find in any dictionary.

 Acrylic Skins Bear

Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I'm stuck to my keyboard, and need to go wash up. 

Artistic Polar Bear Challenge: 100 Ways In 100 Days. #86 - Molding Paste

Today was a day to fiddle with substrates again.  Coarse molding paste was fairly roughly applied to a piece of illustration board.  Once dried, dilute fluid acrylics were washed over it.

Molding Paste Bear

The paste absorbed the paints fairly quickly, making multiple passes necessary to create any kind of chroma.  But the paint also crept, creating interesting blends and passages.  The roughness of the paste wasn't evident when fluid washes were used, a drybrush technique would have shown this in a better light.  Once again, more stuff to experiment with later.