Horse Tutorial Cont. - Adding the Bridle and Blue Accents of Color

Still working along on this Horse Head tutorial offered by Carrie L. Lewis.
Today I added the Blue Accents, increased the contrast and started on the bridle.
Wow does that Blue make this piece POP!

What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by!

Adding the Cast Shadows and Form Shadows

WIP Still ongoing with this fabulous tutorial provided by Carrie L. Lewis 
Now I'm starting to add the layer of Indigo Blue to darken the darks and cast shadows. This is where I ended last night.

Thanks for stopping by!
Starting to layer the Dark Brown to establish base values

Now adding in some Indigo Blue to increase the contrast

First Time with CP on Toned Paper

First time with Colored Pencils (CP) on Toned paper!
Here is the start of my next project. It is actually an emailed tutorial I got just before Dad passed away last June.
It is/was offered by Carrie L. Lewis and for those that don't know her, she is an Equestrian Artist and Teacher. This piece is on Canson Mi Teintes Grey Pastel Paper. My First challenge was how to get the image transferred. I've never drawn on toned paper with CP before. You can't erase on this paper very well without damaging it so the first thing I tried was to coat the back of my line drawing with a light colored Pan Pastel layer. Then transfer the image. While I've had great success with that technique for other drawings, it didn't work so well on this paper. I happened to have Saral waxfree transfer paper. So, I tried that next. That worked fairly well but I find I have to remove it before I can apply the CP because the CP doesn't cover it up.
So here is the image all transferred.
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Craftsy Class - WIP 3

Slowly but surely when I have time and more to the point...take the time to work on this.
Working on the tufts of hair and also the top of the head.
Prismacolor on SuedeMatBoard

Craftsy Class - WIP 2

I also worked a little more on my Cat for the Craftsy class.

Fun, fun!

Hope you like it so far!

Thanks for stopping by for a look :)

Coby and Miya

Here is what was keeping me so busy and was a secret until after Christmas.  Introducing Coby and Miya!  This was done with Prismacolor Colored Pencils on 9 x 12 Stonehenge.
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda - Final

I finally got the last whiskers painted on this.  So, for better or worse, this one is now finished :)

I  had a lot of fun and learned a lot while painting this one.
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda WIP Update 6

Had another first today.  I decided to do a combination with the whiskers and use both colored pencil and then finish them with acrylic paint.  I was using a really small 18/0 liner brush.  Maybe to small? I don't know.  I've never used one this small before even with my watercolor painting.  I've also never used acrylic before and so I set about yesterday practicing and practicing and practicing.  When I was consistent and fairly happy with the results I was getting on my practice paper, it was time to tackle the original.  So, I started doing the whiskers today.  They aren't done yet but I needed to take a break and feed my horse and dog.  I will probably finish this painting tomorrow and then it will be entered in the contest :)  First contest I've ever entered.
Hope you like it so far!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda WIP Update 5

I am all done except for some tweaking and figuring out how to put in the whiskers!  Any ideas?
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda WIP Update 4

I had another first today!  How many of you choose to draw and paint the animal without his tongue showing LOL!  Up until now, I've never painted a tongue that I can remember. Definitely NOT with Colored Pencils.  This tongue was a challenge to get the tone, color and shape right.  I'm a little unconventional in my approach with the colored pencils as well.  I don't do color swatches, I do all my testing and mixing on the painting.  I get some interesting results that way and so far, lucky accidents LOL!
I also darkened the dark side of the face and added more definition.
Hope you are enjoying this process with the colored pencil painting as much as I am painting it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda WIP Update 3

Well, I got some new experience today trying to remove colored pencil without damaging the paper.  I somehow messed up lastnight on the viewers right side.  After much sweat and tears LOL.... I think it's OK now! I hope you think so too!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda WIP Update 2

I got a little more accomplished with the Red Panda today.  I still have a ways to go but it's moving right along :)
I hope you like this little guy or is it a girl :)

starting to tone the nose

Added the tree and continuing with the nose and starting to work more on the viewer right side.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red Panda _ WIP

I'm going to be entering a contest offered by Sandra Angelo.  Here is a link to explain it, http://www.discoverartwithsandra.com/pages.php?pageid=140
From the offered photos, I've chosen a really cute Red Panda photo and cropped it to fit my needs.
The reason I chose this photo was because of the awesome reflections in his eyes.  I wanted to challenge myself to not only get something like that in a set of eyes but also to get the look of long fur.  This is only my seventh Colored Pencil painting and the first animal that's not a cat. Out of the six I've painted so far, three are cats LOL! Yes, I'm an animal lover and proud of it :)
So here is the WIP up to where I'm at right now.
I've spent approx. five hours on this so far. This is being done on Stonehenge paper using Prismacolor Colored Pencils.  The image is 9 x 12
Hope you like it!

Attempting the first eye!

On to the second eye!

Start defining facial structure and nose

Working on the fur

More fur, tone etc...

More tone, color and structure

 Thanks for stopping by :)

African Grey Parrot -- FINISHED

I decided to darken the background just a titch and also burnish it.
Here is the completed piece.  I hope you like it!

African Grey Parrot - WIP Day 12

Here's another two hours of progress to show on this.
I worked on darkening some of the darker areas on the parrot and also darkened the background.
I will now put it aside for a couple days to a week and then pull it out and see if I should add anymore or if it's done.

Colors used on the background:
Prismacolor verithin
Dark Brown
Goldenrod
Terra Cotta
Apple Green
Grass Green
Olive Green
Peacock Green
True Green
Canary Yellow
Grass Green
Ultramarine Blue

PrismaColor premier:
True Blue
Tuscan Red
Celadon Green
Henna
Dark green
olive green
terra cotta
Indigo blue
Golden rod

Color for Parrot:
Dark green
Tuscan Red

African Grey Parrot - WIP Day 9

I've been able to work on this one about an hour and a half so far today but thought I would post an update in case I don't get back to it today. I worked a lot on bringing the light into this picture.  Refined a lot of the feathers darker areas.
Colors used so far:
Cloud blue, Light Peach
Periwinkle, Pumpkin Orange
Celadon Green, Henna
slight touch of blue violet
Tuscan Red, Dark green
Indigo blue

African Grey Parrot -- WIP Day 8

Since the weather is really cold and snowy/rainy right now, I was able to work on my African Grey Parrot some more. Today's colors were again the same as previous sessions but started bringing more of the darker combinations into the mix.
Colors used so far:
Cloud blue, Light Peach
Periwinkle, Pumpkin Orange
Celadon Green, Henna
slight touch of blue violet
Tuscan Red, Dark green
Indigo blue

African Grey Parrot -- WIP Day 7

I lost the plot more than once LOL but here is another two hours of progress.
Added Periwinkle and Celdon green to the color combinations today.  Also used a little bit of Blue Violet.

African Grey Parrot - WIP Day 6

I only got about two hours more into this but starting to define and refine the larger feathers.
Used Prismacolors:
Cloud Blue and Light Peach
Periwinkle and Pumpkin Orange

I'm Here and Grey Heron Revealed

Yesterday I was able to reveal my Grey Heron painting challenge so now you get to see it as well.  I used Prismacolor Colored Pencils and Stonehenge paper.  The paper size is 4 x 5 and I wished I would have made it bigger but it was fun to do.  I also practiced getting believable water.