Jazzy (alt. ver.) Early Stage

Okay, this is the block-in stage or what I call the "Best Guess" stage. Here all I'm concerned with is establishing a sense of the lights and darks (or values) and the color relationships (warm colors or cool colors). In the initial reference photo I was really taken by the contrast between Jazzy's light fur and the dark of the blue blazer behind her so I used that to establish what tone I was going to use for the background. You can also see an orange-ish color peeking through some of the whites, that's from the burnt sienna I laid down on the entire surface before I started painting the subject. It's much easier to judge values if you're not working on a stark white ground and burnt sienna is my default color, although sometimes I'll use a green or purple. That's it for now. Stay tuned for the refinements.

Jazzy (alternate version)

In the winter of 2008 I donated my portrait services to Labrador Life Line's "Heart Dog Auction". The resulting portrait was this painting of Jazzy. There were a couple of poses to choose from and Cecilie (the dog's owner) thought the profile version the best. The painting turned out to be one of my best, but I thought I'd do an alternate version based on the other proposed pose. What you see above is the photo reference and the drawing I did for it. I am currently working on a full color painting of this pose. Check back in a few to see how it's progressing.

Olive and Jazzy On Display

These two drawings are a part of Gallery 225's show "Gallery 225 Has Gone To The Dogs". The one of the labrador was done as a preliminary sketch for a painting and the Boston Terrier, Olive, belongs to a friend of mine from art school. This is my first time exhibiting in New York so I'm pretty excited. The show will be up until March 15th.