Britt - WIP Graphite

While I'm doing the cute little otter, I'm also working on a Graphite portrait of a gorgeous Brittany Spaniel Dog.
I start with laying in the lighter shading then slowly layer more graphite unless it's the darkest area, then I just go in with the darks.
Currently, 2B, 3B, 4B, and Prismacolor Ebony are on this portrait.

Hope you like it so far!

I also have Youtube Videos of this drawing in progress mostly in real-time but some time-lapse footage as well.
Where I'm sharing tricks and tips for creating realistic drawings in graphite.
Go check out my Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/NoweesMom


Thanks for stopping by :)

Otter Watercolor - WIP

I'm now doing a cute little watercolor painting of this Otter.
Isn't he the cutest!
This is actually a tutorial that I'm following "loosely" from Paul Hopkinson.
I started by laying in the wash for the water.
I don't have any frisket or masking fluid of any kind so I had to go around the areas instead of just be able to mask them off and paint right over the top.
That made it a little more challenging.
I also don't have a large mop brush or a Hake brush either.
Once I got the water laid down and dried, then I went for the eye.
Paul uses Lamp Black but I prefer to use my own mixture for Black.
So I used Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber, and Ultramarine Blue.
He also uses Acrylic White which I don't have.

For the Shadow areas on the fur, Paul's direction were to paint the hair in first then do a lamp black wash over them after they are completely dry.
I chose to paint the darker shadows first as a wash then add details over the wash.
I did try his technique on one of the leaf shadows.  Can you tell which one?

I still have a ways to go with this one but really liking the results I'm getting so far.


Hope you like it so far.
Thanks for stopping by!

Digital Painting Horse Eye - Final

Hello Everybody!

I finished my 1st ever Digital Painting.
Reference Image used with permission from Jess Hannah :)

I did this entire Digital Painting on my IPAD Pro using ProCreate.
I really like the portability of being able to take it anywhere and work on painting. Oh and the cleanup was a snap ;)
It was a great learning experience and I'm sure it will not be my last piece to do.
I learned how to use a brush, I even learned how to create a custom brush.
I did almost this entire painting on one layer just like if using Colored Pencils on paper or Watercolor paining on paper with a brush.

I finally did create a single layer to finish off the horses hair because I was afraid I was going to mess up what I was already happy with creating.
So then I learned how to merge layers.
Don't get me wrong, this painting was not without a lot of mistakes.
So, I also learned how valuable the undo button is.

I hope you like it!
Thanks for stopping by!

Digital Painting - Horse Eye WIP

Hello Everybody!

So, I've started to explore the world of Digital Art.
I have ProCreate on my IPAD PRO and decided to play with it.
I'm probably not using it the way most digital artists do since I'm not making layers, using stamp tools, etc.  I'm just treating it as a piece of paper and I'm using a brush and blending brush to accomplish what I have done so far.  A lot of layers with different colors, just like what I do with my watercolor paintings or my colored pencils drawings/paintings.

This is a WallEye horse with this gorgeous blue eye.  Photo is used with permission from Jess Hannah. This is a screen shot of my drawing in Procreate so far.
I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Casino - PastelMat - FINISHED

Hello Everybody!
Here is Casino's portrait completed.
I learned so much working on this portrait.
Really looking forward to my next piece on PastelMat.
Hope you like it!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Casino WIP PastelMat 4

Hello Everybody!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here is the rest of Casino's WIP progress, I actually finished this before 2019 started.

Hope you find this helpful!
Worked on his chest and shoulder quite a bit. Can you see the difference between these two images?
Hope you like it so far!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Casino WIP PastelMat 3

Wow, I am way behind on posting here.
Here is where I'm at with this portrait.
Really enjoying the process of learning how to use pastelmat and polychromos together.
I've also been experimenting with Zest-it.
For those of you that don't know, Zest-it is a liquid that dissolves the binder in the colored pencils when applied.
You need to have a few layers before using it to get the benefit of using it but I really like what it does and it also speeds up getting the pigment into the paper.

It's also great because after it's been applied, the Pastelmat tooth is now able to take more layers of colored pencils with ease.
Anways, enough babble.
Here is the WIP shots since the last post.
Hope you like it!

This is what I have done so far
See the steps below that led up to this point.

Step 3
Step 1 and Step 2 are on a different Blog Post

Step 4 - Blended with Zest-it

Step 5 adding in the forelock and still working on more layers

Step 6 Blended with Zest-it again

Step 7 Working on the mane

Thanks for stopping by :)

Casino - WIP on PastelMat 2

Hello Everybody!
Have you ever started something and just weren't sure where to go from there?
I've sorta done that with this piece.
Normally when I work in my colored pencils, I have a tin that I place the current colors I'm using in and then keep them out until I'm finished. 
Well, we recently rescued a feral kitty that was born in our hay barn, weaned after 6 weeks and left on her own until we found her.  We've actually had her now for almost 6 months so she's not so feral anymore and is quite the love.
Anyways, she's quite a handful and loves taking pencils, pens and anything else that size.  So, after I worked on my piece last time, I put all my pencils away without even noticing the colors I'd pulled! I didn't even think to write down the colors I'd used so far.

So, now I have a slight dilemma.  Where do I go from here??
Here's what I've gotten done so far.
5x7 PastelMat with Polychromos

Hope you like it so far!

Casino - WIP on PastelMat

This is my own gelding Casino.
It's so hard to paint or own animals, at least I think it is.
5x7
Colored Pencils on Pastel Mat
First time using Pastel Mat and first time blending ColoredPencil.
Currently using Gamsol but just got some Zest-it in my newest order so now will be experimenting with it as well.

Hope you like it so far.

Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor Black Poodle

Hello Everybody!
I hope you are doing well on this sunny Wednesday.
What better thing to do when you are sick and coughing up a lung.
I finished my black dog challenge to myself piece.
I used some artistic license for the eyes (they are too dark in the photograph) and also the fur. 

As many of you know by now, I love animals, all kinds, probably since birth.
I remember bringing home kittens after school. "Look Mom, look what followed me home from the bus stop?"
Of course, I would pet, love and encourage them so that they would follow me home. We always had to take them back to the owners. Which broke my heart as a young child.

It wasn't until we discovered Poodles that we were able to have any pets.
Poodles have a different type of dander and my Grandma wasn't allergic to them.
The first pet I grew up with was a beautiful miniature black poodle that we named Tracy.

Painting this picture really brought back the memories of growing up with Tracy.
Here's my poodle piece on watercolor paper 5x7.
I may have to do this full picture. Image is from pixabay.

Horses Eye - My Reflection

Did this little eye study. This is my mare's eye and my reflection in her eye.
I was doing this study and using gamsol orderless blending spirits.
Can you see me?

Gum Balls - Strathmore tutorials

This is a Strathmore tutorial done by Kelly Eddington on https://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com
If you follow my work or even just look at the majority of my work, you'll see I'm mostly a pet portrait artist that paints realistic portraits.
Doing this tutorial by Kelly was completely out of my comfort zone lol.
AND Disaster struck...In many ways lol.
So this was not an easy painting. I Might actually have to try these gum balls again.
One of my disasters was I decided to tape the side of my work and the tape I grabbed I thought was my lowtack artist tape and it wasn't.
So even though I pulled it away gently and slowly it ripped the top corner of my paper.
Now I don't have a nice clean white border all the way around. So, I cropped it.
Here's the taped tear and then the cropped piece.
Thanks for looking!
I think I'll stick to mostly animals from now on lol
Except I'm starting Kelly's second tutorial on human features in watercolors :-O
As always, thank you so much for stopping by, leaving your comments and supporting my artwork!!

Poodle Tutorial

Following loosely a speeded up youtube video tutorial by Rebecca Rhodes for this dog study.

Watercolor on watercolor paper.

Thanks for stopping by!