Karissa – Almost Finished

This is coming along.

I still have some details and finishing to do.

I'm also deciding about adding the cute, if less than accurately applied, nail polish.  Check it out in the photo.


What do you think?

Karissa Beginnings

This is an unfinished portrait of my niece Karissa that I started some years ago.  I've pulled it out of the archives to finally finish it.

If you compare it to the reference photo below, you'll notice that I did some clean up to the original. That's the magic of portraiture!

Here is the reference photo.

My sister Pat is the photographer and will be the recipient of the finished painting.

Ziva Progress

Next installment of Ziva's underpainting.

I'm liking the look of this as a monochromatic piece and have decided to make a print of it before completing the color portrait.

This is almost there, just a wee bit more polish.



Notice what's missing? Ziva's training collar! (See photo reference.)

Much better, don't you think?

Ziva Beginnings

Hold on tight, here we go!

This is a good start on the underpainting, the first step after transferring my drawing to the painting surface. I used Light Umber Prismacolor® pencil on white Rising Stonehenge® paper.

There is still a lot of work to do before this is ready for color, but I wanted you to get a preview of this step.

The Vote Is In!

You voted and we listened!

There's something about Ziva's eyes in photo #2 that just captures your heart!

#2

We toyed with the idea of doing her full body, because it shows her great form and obedience, but decided the eyes have it all, the rest is extraneous.

Full body Pose

Vote on Ziva Photos

You are invited to join me on the journey of creating a beautiful legacy portrait...

This is Ziva, Lorraine's awesome American Bulldog, not quite a year old. She is such a sweetheart!

We got together for a fun photo shoot and Ziva was such a ham for the camera—or maybe she just enjoyed all the extra attention!

These are the selections we have narrowed down to for an "up close and personal" portrait.

Which one is your fav?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Ollie Bear Story Board

Some initial storyboard sketches for Christmas on Grandpa's Farm

Our Bear Family!

More Bear Concept Drawings

Papa Bear and Ollie Bear

The Bear Family

Brook – A New Composition

The photo of Brook just isn't working with the parade background. (See here and here.)

Time to get creative! I found these two photos of Brook's brother, Zack, from a previous photo shoot.

Now, this is a portrait idea!

This photo got me thinking. What if Brook is sitting on a bale of hay instead of watching a parade? However, the background in this particular photo won't really work with Brook. I browsed one of my favorite stock photo sites and found the perfect backdrop.

I did some Photoshop magic and made a mock-up of a possible direction.

Let's see what Mom thinks.

Ollie Bear

You are cordially invited to join us, as we begin our journey into the world of little Ollie Bear!  His adventures will begin with the release of his first children's book this Fall, Christmas on Grandpa's Farm.

Following are some early concept character sketches.  Feel free to vote for your favs in the comment section ! 

And here are some concepts for the adult bears...