New/Old things I'm learning about drawing:

Some things you need to hear or discover for yourself a thousand times before it finally sinks in.  These are some portraits I did on toned paper that brought some old lessons to the surface and made it painfully clear that I still have so much to learn!

1)  For the love of God get the drawing right before you start rendering!  It is difficult to impossible to fix the drawing after rendering.

2)  Get the gesture right...the slightest angle of an eyelid or tilt of the head speaks a million words.

3)  Establish clear boundaries between light and dark early on.  Nothing in the dark should be as light as your lights, and nothing in the light should be as dark as your darks.  Seems like common sense but it's harder than you think!

I'm happy to announce that my recent piece "Good Boy Guinness" has been accepted into the artUnleashed event here in Jacksonville.  Many thanks to Guinness who posed for me many years ago and provided me with a great photo reference!  All proceeds from the sale of the art at this event go to First Coast no more Homeless Pets.  I'm very excited about the event and hope to meet other local artists and make some connections!  

http://www.jaxartunleashed.com/

Daisy at the beach

Newest pet portrait! A co-worker was kind enough to let me use her cell phone pic she snapped of her dog at the beach. Loved the pose, color, and composition too much not to paint it.