Horse Fleming

Can we say I like a challenge?  I believe we can LOL!
My next painting is a challenging pose to try and capture in a painting.  Contrary to popular belief, this is not a smiling horse or a laughing horse, it is called "fleming:.  The horse does this when they are trying to get a better "taste" of the scent that has caught their fancy.
Here is my preliminary sketchings with the grid and without.
I'm just about ready to transfer it to my working paper.

Longhaired Tabby -- Final

Sweet Huia is now for better or worse, finished.  This is my third Pastel painting and I am thoroughly enjoying the exploration of this medium.  My next piece is going to be a horse.  Surprised?  Probably not if you know anything about me LOL!

Longhaired Tabby -- WIP Day 2

Here is today's progress with the pretty long haired tabby cat (Sweet Huia).
This is my third pastel painting and my second one on Mi-Teintes paper.
First one on colored paper!

Longhaired Tabby -- WIP

This painting is using the Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper in a light brownish color.
I'm really liking how this one is turning out but have a ways to go.
Using Faber-Castell PITT Pastel pencils.
image size 9x12

Pastel Tiger Finished

I couldn't leave it alone so this is how I finished it LOL!

Update on Tiger -- Pastel

Here's what I did with the Tiger face I was working on.  I really like how it turned out but also found out a few more things about these pastels.  This is definitely a learning in progress LOL! 
I probably shouldn't have tried something so small for my second piece LOL! To give you an idea of the size, the paper is 5 x 7 and of course the drawing is smaller than that!

More Pastels - Tiger WIP

I really debated posting this.  It's not on my other pastel paper and I'm really not sure what kind of paper it is.  I have a 5x7 sketch book that says it's suitable for all dry media.  It's a 110 gsm so I decided to try doing something smaller with my pastel pencils.
Let's just say, I'm still learning LOL!
 

First Pastel

OK, I couldn't leave that cat looking like a martian with that funny mouth LOL!
So, I tried to get the mouth better.
Here is what I came up with.

 

Adding whiskers and signing!
It's finished!

Pastels

So, lets talk Pastels.  I've never used them before, never even seen them before but I ordered a set and decided to play with them today LOL!  Talk about jumping in with both feet and not knowing how deep it is LOL!

OH Well, I really like the feel of them.  I used  Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils on the smooth side of Canson Mi-Teintes paper.  That paper is specifically for pastels.  My first pastel drawing was something sorta simple.  It started out with just doing the eyes but morphed from there.  The problem with that though, I didn't even have a photo to go by. LOL....Sorta got the proportions "slightly" off LOL!
Didn't have and still don't have a clue what I'm doing with these but they seemed to just draw by themselves.  Well, almost LOL! I also learned how to remove the pastel from the paper to try again LOL!
Oh My, I'm going to have so much fun with these. I definitely need more colors.  I bought the 24 set.
 So, here it is.... Starting with the eyes..then decided to try the far side fur to see how it would go. Then continued on from there.  As you can see by the last picture, I also took off pastel just to see how that would work.  Overall, not a bad experience and now I'll do it for real LOL!

Watercolor Horse - Finished Again

I know, I know LOL!
I really have that rule for a reason and this is why!  I fixed a few more areas that didn't quite work!  So, here it is again LOL!

Watercolor Horse - Finished

Ok, I know, I signed this and "normally" that means I'm done with it and don't touch it again BUT, a few things were pointed out and have been bugging me SO..... I fixed the mane so it doesn't look incomplete or cut off and I also corrected the Zygomatic (Facial crest) so it wasn't so shadowed under the eye which was slightly incorrect. 
So..... did I fix it or ruin it?  HAHAHAAAHA

Watercolor Horse - Done

Well, it's done!  I still really don't know what I'm doing and it's going to take a few more before I figure it out (I'm sure) but here it is.

Watercolor Horse - Day 3

I worked more on my watercolor horse painting now that the Bull Mastiff is finished!
I still don't have a clue what I'm doing but it seems to be coming out pretty good!  I'm happy with the structure except right below the ear.  I will fix that later.

Nobody wants to play - WIP -- Finished!!

After a little more tweaking I'm calling this one done!
This is a Bullmastiff.  Aren't his wrinkles and fat rolls adorable!!

Nobody wants to play - WIP -- Finished?

Worked on this today and am mostly finished except maybe some fine tuning.  I'll put it out of my sight for the rest of the night and tomorrow I'll work on my watercolor horse.  Then I'll go back and look at this again.

Nobody wants to play - WIP -- Continued..

Completed a little more on this poochy today.  Bless all his fat rolls but what a challenge I gave myself when I decided to draw this!! It's fun but also tedious to get all the fat and bulges in their proper places LOL! I have now spent almost 11 hours on this drawing.  Not sure how much more I have to go but will continue to enjoy the process!
Hope you enjoy it too!!

Nobody wants to play - WIP -- more Progress

I got a little more done on my pooch today.  Started bringing in the nose and the right (our right) ear and leg.

Nobody wants to play - WIP -- Progress

Continuing on with this portrait.  I've started the far eye area now. 
I really think I'm capturing his expression and I'm liking how his fat rolls are looking.  This was a slight challenge because I've never done fat rolls before.  I still have a long way to go with this one but as always, I'm enjoying the process :)

Nobody wants to play - WIP

Back to my Graphite pencils.
This is a Bullmastiff that has the saddest expression in his eyes.  I think he's saying,  "Nobody wants to play with me"

What's That? - Final

Well, it's finished!  Can you see the subtle shadows from their feet :)
I don't think I'll do this many subjects on this small of paper again!  At least not for awhile LOL!

I really enjoyed this composition.  Capturing the kitties expressions and body positions was fun and also challenging.

Grey Feather

This was a little interesting tutorial I followed on Wetcanvas.com.  If you're not familiar with that site, I have an analogy to explain it.  It's a State with many cities and in each city is a lot subdivisions.
Anyways, this was creating the color wanted without using the actual color by using the complements of the color.  Did that even make sense LOL!
I Created this Grey Feather by using all the complement colors that make a grey color when combined.  For example, To start the first layer I used a cloud blue and orange.  The tutorial said, Deco Orange and I didn't have that color.  Found out later, I should have used a light peach instead.  It would have come out to a truer grey but without further chatter on my part.....
My Grey Feather without using Grey.

What's That? - WIP Day Eight

I have added contours to all three kitties and added more depth to the overall image.  I also corrected the right kitty(our right) a little more.  I think I'm going to add a faint shadow and then I'll be done but this is it for today.