what's new!

well, here's what i've been working on lately. i'm getting these doggy portraits underway and am finally starting to feel a little more confident that i can, at the very least, do a decent job on these. i always feel like there's always so much more to learn so i gotta keep doin them. problem is, one of these takes 3 hours straight and at the end of one, my head is givin me a mental punch in the face so i end up only doing one in a day.
i pretty much draw over the picture on a different layer to get the important lines of the dog, then i start filling in the figure using a chalk brush set at 100% opacity and a very low flow. after the main colors are on, i use the same brush but take the opacity down really low like about 20% and the flow even lower to like 9% and brush in dark spots as well as light spots alternating from multiply to screen. eventually, after 3 hours of darkening things in and pulling lights out, i end up with the finished product! the schnauzer is my first trial of my friend's in-law's dog. the bulldog is my sister's which i did to turn into a christmas present for her. lucky for me, nobody in my family cares about my blog to look here so no surprises will be spoiled. (sniffle)
this picture below is what i'm currently working on now for my sister's husband. doing the same thing for him that i've done for my sister since they each have a dog. that way everyone's happy. balance!! yay!!
hopefully, i'll finish this one up by tomorrow so i can get the present done in time for christmas. i'm always so late with these things. but seeing as how it's past midnight and i gotta go to work tomorrow, i should go to bed. if u want one done of ur dog, contact me!