Salsa Dancing Dog

I came across this video on Facebook and just had to share. It's amazing what this dog can do!

Toby - Finished!

I've finished Toby's portrait and it's been sent off to Alberta.
Here is the final scan...

"Toby"

9 x 12

Coloured Pencil and Watercolour Crayon

Toby - Stage 3

"Toby"

9x12

Coloured Pencil

Work in Progress

As always, the colours are a little off when you view the drawing on the computer screen. The original isn't quite so red/orange. I wish I had a scanner that would scan the colours exactly like the original, but I'm sure I would have to pay a lot of money for one!

Toby - Stage 2

"Toby"
9x12

Coloured Pencil

Work in Progress

I think Toby's portrait is coming along well. I was having a bit of difficulty with it at the beginning, but now I'm feeling better about how things are going. Always one to try new things, I've been using solvent to do this drawing and I'm loving the effect. Solvent sort of disolves the coloured pencil, making it much easier (and faster) to blend. I'm using watercolour paper so it can handle the wet solvent, which is almost like working with watercolours. So I go back and forth between blending with solvent and putting in fine details with the pencil. And the thicker paper allows for more layers than regular paper.

This drawing appears to be cropped kind of funny, but that's only because it's 9x12 and my scanner is 8.5x11 (or something like that).

I'm still here!

Yikes! I've neglected my blog again! An aweful lot has happened since I last posted, so I have several good excuses:

1. The new puppy. For those of you who have/had a puppy, you'll know how much work they are! He's just over 6 months old now and I think I can safely say he's house broken and he's already graduated from grade 2 of his clicker training!

2. We moved...again. Yep, we moved out of our place on the water and moved back into town. We loved the location of our old house but we're quite happy to be close to things again. The new house is smaller, and fortunately still has a view of the river, but we bought it because it has an apartment in the basement. We've been here since June 14th and we're mostly unpacked and set up.

3. My sister, brother-in-law and my brand new nephew were home from Shanghai during the months of June and July. They had a house on the beach while they were here, and I was able to spend my vacation there.

Those are my major excuses for not posting lately. I'm sure I could add more to the list but I don't want to bore you!

I'm happy to say that I do actually have something to show you, even though I have been pretty busy. Here is a portrait of Mac that I did a little earlier in the year. Sadly Mac is no longer with us.

"Mac"

8x10

Pencil

And here is what I am currently working on.

"Toby"
9x12

Coloured Pencil and Watercolour Crayon

Here is a shot of my work space, which is a little crowded. The reference photo is at the top and on the right, I've got a book open that shows drawings of noses in detail. From the reference photo, it's really hard to see the detail in the nose and ears, so I've had to look at other books to get a better view.

And I thought I'd add a shot of my art/computer room since I only recently finished setting it up. You can see the river through the window.