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Showing posts from December, 2012
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  Well I am glad no one is having problems seeing the blog.  I have been getting hit with a group of different stat groups so I am trying different security settings to see if I can screen them out.  All I see is they hit my site and are supposedly improving their ratings, but it makes me nervous and after much study I can't find any way to get rid of them. Two things today, wasn't going to post as I only have done  a little bit, it was finally was nice enough to go out and run (no rain and almost 50) but U gevraagd, krijg je, hier zijn de ogen so here you are.  Hope this close up is what you were looking for.  Tomorow am going to have to get busy again and try to actually do more housework -Ugh - and cleaning.  Hope you enjoy and Happy New Year to you all.
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Well I think I made some good progress today on this leopard.  Decided to do a background this time and wanted it soft and only an impression, will add more recognizable grasses in the foreground.  Since this is the Africian velt it is pretty sparse of vegetation.  Used pastels for the background and am doing the cat in pencil.  This hind quarter is going pretty fast since it is not as focused as the face and front paws will be so I am not really having to show hair texture, but trying to get the coloration.  The mid portion of haunches will probably show some texture but once I get to the head then I need to really draw it more in focus for the face and particularly front paw. Hope everyone is having a good weekend and thanks for stopping by.
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Well she has taken me three days of drawing to get to this point.  In my work up I draw her pretty detailed in the sketch book, the I transfer to the tracing paper, making corrections after each time.  Then she goes onto the the final support and working with acetate now to try to keep this paper clean, it seems to pick up a lot of stuff.  Ok, after our call Renate, I had to kick it into motion, get over the fear of the white paper and starting.  So here we go, got my eyes in, they always get me started and then will work from the tip of the tail down.  Since this is paper and not Bristol Board, even on the smooth side it takes the pencil differently, so guess I am going to figure out a new fur technique.  Good thing I am starting at the tail so hope to figure it out as I get closer and into more detail. I think before I get too far into this I am going to add in some very light background, and think I am going to do it in pastel. This paper is a light golden beige/yellow, so I am
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Wishing you all on this Christmas Eve the best time you can spend with friends and family.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
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Hunting MERRY CHRISTMAS AND BLESSINGS TO ALL!! Isn't it interesting how the mind works.  All work week all I think about is sleeping in, and come the first day of the holiday weekend I am too excited and jump up before the dawn.  For whatever reason I haven't really figured out how to transfer pictures from Picasa to my picture file to upload so wasted a bit of time, wish I had some small amount of techie blood in me - oh to be intuitive.  So any of you smarties, if you got tips, please share. I have taken a bit of a mental rest after finishing my tiger and been floundering as to what the next thing I wanted to do should be.  Well friends, you are in this one truly from the beginning as here is the result of my light bulb going off.  You can see my ambitious project on the left.  A few things:     1)  this for me is big - 19"x27", actual picture size will be 18"x26"    2)  I am going to do the whole body.  As someone who shall remain nameless, bu
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I think he is saying the title "I know you are there" Yippee, finally I am done and on paper - sure took her long enough to make me come alive.  I think I am pretty much completed and I am grateful, this was quite a challenge; think I've learned to do more luminescent eyes, a fur technique and whiskers.  Had lot of scary moments, but he is done and I am amazed at what he looks like - didn't know I had that inside of me.  After 39 pencils, white gelly roll, black gel pens and a couple of pastel colors he looks pretty much like I imagine. I remember reading something one of the best wildlife artists said, "It is important to feel the animal, be the animal"  I have that taped to my drawing table, my husband just laughs, but I believe there is something to it. Well I felt this one.  Am going to let him hang around for a while and maybe putter on him, still need to do some spraying on the background for the wax bloom, then he is definitely going to get fra
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Well good Saturday morning all, just getting ready to go for my run and thought I'd post what I have done this week.  This is lucky 13 picture of this cat.  I am getting really close, have most of the base work in.  Hoping to get the rest of the muzzle in so then I can go to the detail.  Might get it there today.  Also I am pretty happy with my disaster area, I think I didn't detract too much, got the color in but the focus is still the eye area.  Not sure what I am going to call this guy - he looks like he is getting your scent and deciding whether or not you would be a tasty morsel.  Oh the roller coaster of artistic emotions, up one minute and devastated the next - do you all experience that as well or is it just because I am so slow and live with the pictures I work on so long.  In some ways I will be sad to draw him to conclusion now, as well, we have grown together. Hope all are having a great weekend and hope to get a pretty completed pic out tomorrow. Thanks for sto
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Thank you so much for Renate, Rita and Danielle for your messages of support.  I took your advice, while I must admist I tinkered somewhat, but tried to stay away and regain objectivity.  The world didn't really end, it just felt like it did.  I will put in the final portion of the muzzle and then adjust again, ry to do the final touches with black and white pens.  To date I have worked with pastel and color pencil to try to adjust the situation, haven't gone to adding gouache yet - but still an option.  I guess the good news is at this point I don't totally hate him.  Hoping when I get the rest of his muzzle in that will be such a focal point you won't linger on the mange - oh one can only hope. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week painting.
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Ok, I am having a meltdown.  Here is the tiger with a few more hours on him.  I put in the coarse facial fringe on the right side, but think I built up too much black underneath it.  I am hoping that once I get the front leg in and finish the cheek and muzzle there will be enough color in it to make the fringe pop.  Right now I might try to scrape out some of the black or maybe add in a little bit of the orange yellow so it looks like his neck and upper chest just glimpsing through the mane.  Man, I hate this, to come this far and now to have a blow up and of course it's in the most prominent part of the picture - dumb dumb dumb.  Will try not to panic and get everything else in before I make a decision on how to fix.