Brook – Pencil Drawing

Before I start a color pencil painting, I do a sketch to make sure I like the composition.

I still don't like that diagonal strip of grass.

I've got an idea for a better composition, if we can lose the parade. I wonder...

Brook – Face Study

I decided to do a monocromatic study of Brook's sweet little face to make sure of this venture before proceeding further.

Mom gave a big OK, so we're going forward.

But that face is so precious, this study alone is a work of art!

But Where Are the Horses?

Well, Brook may be watching the Lehi rodeo parade, but we don't see any of it in the cell phone photo from the last post. And we really don't want the woman's legs, the other parade watchers, or the house across the street in the portrait.

I needed a bit of something parade-like to put in the street behind Brook. I found a suitable photo of the horses to use as a reference.

Using Photoshop, I cropped out the image of Brook from the original photo, then flipped the parade image and used just the horses legs as a background.

I did a few other changes to improve the composition and a closer crop to give more focus on Brook.

I don't like the green grass diagonal though. I'll  have to do something different.

It Starts with an Adorable Photo!

Brook is thoroughly engrossed in watching the Lehi parade. Her mom captured this absolutely adorable photo on her cell phone.

I was a little concerned about getting a good likeness for the portrait due to the low quality of this image, but it's so darn cute!

Can't resist. I'm giving it a try.