Happy Birthday Margret!


John, hope you & Margret enjoy your time away!

Ann, I'm glad you & yours weren't hurt in the eathquake!

Bonnie, I'm very sorry about your Llama. I hope things
with the bank will work out in your favor!

Ingrid, I'd love to try painting your photo, with your
permission of course.

Pat 

Excellent Eta. Ann

What a beauty, I can't wait to see this develop John.  I agree with Ann ... listen to Gilly! 

Very nice tree, Eta.  I like the leaves.  I tried again...and again the trunk seems to look okay, but the leaves!  They look good while I am painting but when I set it down and take a look from a further distance...they look horrible!  I'm trying again.  I'm going to try to paint with LESS detail...maybe that will help from a distance!

Actually, if I put it at the end of our lane....LOL.  arg!

Happy Birthday Margaret!  Have a wonderful week of exploring!

Nice photo, Ingrid!  Wish I could paint it!  I have had a couple goes at the tree...even watched a video.  My tree looks much better up close and then when I set it down and move back it looks like a big blob!  I remember a friend in high school that did water color.  Up close her paintings were blurry, but when you put them on the wall and backed up...they looked like photographs!  I was in awe of her talent...still am!

No news on the mortgage...and my little llama girl that was at another farm to be bred has died.  When it rains it pours.  Daughter having difficulty as well with medical issues that may not let her ship out....but it WILL work out...it always does!  Time to let go and rest in God's hands....he'll take care of us!

Blessings and wellness to you all.  Hugs!

Dark background would be a must I think, or at least a coloured one. Really make it stand out. What about just a chunk of shading ( technical term  ) all around a head shot? it would make a beautiful picture.

She is indeed a beauty, and she has the most wonderful bushy tail you could ever imagine. I have looked at a few photo's in greyscale and I haven't decided whether to do head & shoulders or full body. I take your point about the goose project and for that reason I'm thinking a darkish background is going to emphasise the whiteness but I have concerns about shading in the entire background. Thanks Gilly.

That's a fine tree eta.

Thanks John. The pencils don't mix like paints. I use light layers to help them blend together. You can use a blender. Derwent do one ( other companies probably do them too) Really it's just a clear, hard wax type of pencil that smoothes out the pencils. In my opinion it doesn't actually blend them, it's more a softening of the edges. You can use a product like 'Zest it' I think it's called. It's a type of solvent that breaks down the pencil and blends it more. I've not tried using this, I'm happy for the pencil to remain looking like pencil.

John what a gorgeous dog, I almost envy you having that portrait to do.
Firstly forgive me taking the liberty but I converted Spooks to B&W so we get to see the greyscale. You'll see he's not white but a lovely mix of shades. I wouldn't think of him as 'white' I would look at the shapes of the shading and work on them, leaving the whitest whites alone. Go for negative shading to make the white stand out. A little edge of shadow below the white edge of the fur. Think of how you tackled the light on the Goose project. To me it's a similar principle. Can't wait to see this one develop.