I See You, Dog Art Portrait

Playing with my new Faber Castell 9000 graphite pencil set. The smooth leads stay sharp and leave rich marks, shading beautifully.

Also using a .05 Pentel hi-polymer lead in a mechanical pencil with a 4B lead helps get fine lines without sharpening. I love drawing animals. It's great to flip to drawing after the marathon mosaic mural :) Drawing is my foundation since forever.




This Aussie girl lives in Switzerland. The graphite is a study for a painting to establish the main values (lights and darks).  I was going to use it as an underpainting, but decided to let it stand on it's own.

A Grisaille underpainting is really helpful when painting.  It is a technique many of the old and new masters use.
The main work of composition and values is established in black and white. Then it's just a matter of coloring or painting over it.

I like to establish the darkest areas first in relation to the lightest. Then it's easier to find your middle values. The eyes are usually the focal point in portraits. Get them right and the rest falls into place... usually ....

Maybe StarGazer Magic

Painting in my StarGazer fantasy folk style is a new journey that I am enjoying exploring, trying new things, mixing media, letting my imagination fly.
It allows for the freedom to create a new world where there magic is everywhere. Since fantasy, sci-fi art and literature are my hobbies, it's easy to fall down these magical rabbit holes.
Oh, and my latest passion - photography by landscape night photographers who specialize in starry skies. Photographers such as Mike Taylor Photography and Ben Canales Star Photography. Both are super talented and I never get tired of gazing at the night skies.
Just subscribed to Earthsky which is where I found the talented Mike Taylor. Love to get the latest in meteor shower times, sky reports, star sightings, photos etc.
The starry night photos inspire and fuel my imagination with possibilities.

As my StarGazer style evolves I'll post them here to migrate to FB.  The style is already looser, characters less stilted, softer. Still want jewel colors and incorporate lots of color in my work.
Since my specialties are animals, folktales, myths this new style will continue developing. It's exciting to reinvent my artwork into something new, fresh (for me anyway).
This is the boxer Maybe from CA on a starry night in a magical meadow. 12" x 12" acrylic.
I'll make new headers for my FB page with starry images soon!