Meet Black Jack! Black Jack is a friend that I have known for some time, his person being a neighbor who has an office in my building. He is a sweet fellow whose bark is certainly worse than his bite! His person asked me to paint his portrait, which was a wonderful experience for me!

First, I took some photos of Jack in the studio. He was very excited, and moved around quite a bit, stopping only for a second to pose.

Next, I played around with his photo in Photoshop, using digital filters to abstract the image into an interesting composition. Then I started painting.

All of my paintings begin with a simple line drawing on a dark background. Sometimes I freehand the drawings, but with Black Jack, I traced the image from the digitally altered photograph onto a canvas using an overhead transparency. After the drawing is drawn onto the canvas with a light colored pencil, I begin blocking in colors with acrylic paint.

Several layers of color are added, with essences of previously applied layers showing through in subtle ways. A border is masked off around the edge to allow for a faux frame to be painted in later.

It looks a little bizarre at this point…

As much as I enjoyed the tail in the previous stages, it just didn’t seem to work right for the overall composition, so I took it out.

Eventually, it all comes together. Black Jack’s portrait is finished!

Allowing others to see my step by step process like this is a courageous new step for me. Although I am not at all nervous about sharing my process or having others look over my shoulder, so to speak, there are times that I do not know exactly where a painting is going. It is a bit unnerving to allow others to watch as you venture into uncertain territory.

I was brave enough with this piece to actually allow “live” updates to Twitter (@BZTAT) as I was working on the piece. My followers on Twitter seemed to enjoy that, so I plan to post future endeavors “in process” as I work. Search #bztatptg if you are interested in following these updates on Twitter.

Life is an Adventure!

Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OHnear Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.

I have known the people of my new canine friend Harvey for a year or two since they bought one of my artworks at a benefit auction. I only recently met Harvey, but we got acquainted very quickly. What a fun and sweet fellow he is! His person brought him over to see me for a “sitting” (the term is used loosely) so that I could paint his portrait. I thought I would share the process of painting his portrait from start to finish.

The first step was to get to know Harvey and to take some photos. As much as I love painting, I must say, this was the most fun step in the process!

Next, I drew a line drawing on a canvas with a red oil pastel crayon, and then I painted over it and the entire background with a dark blue color (photo is enhanced a bit so that the drawing is visible). I always start my paintings with a dark background, because this gives me a unique color effect as the painting develops. I used a red crayon for the line drawing, because red contrasts with the blue, and it gives me a darker, bolder line.

Next, I started filling in shapes with a layer of color.

I tend to have several layers of color in my paintings by the time they are finished. I start with certain colors for the base layers, generally darker and highly contrasting colors, and then add colors on top of existing layers.

Essences of previous layers are evident, although in subtle ways. This adds texture, rich color effects, and character to the lines and shapes.

Many times when I am in the early stages of creating a painting, I feel somewhat fearful that I am going to fail at my lofty aspirations for making a masterpiece…Other times, I completely surprise myself with the way that a painting just sorta paints itself. The latter was the case with “Harvey”. I kept going, “Wow! I really think I’ve got him!”

Invariably, though, regardless of my early confidence, I reach a stage where I think, “Ah, Geez. something just isn’t right. That’s not what I wanted at all.”

I reached that stage here with Harvey.

Although I was liking the way the color was developing, and I liked the overall structure and design, something wasn’t right. I stepped away from it for awhile, then came back with fresh eyes. The outlines were too wavy and too strong…The rectangle shape needed some interest…The eyes were all wrong…The color needed to come more alive…

I looked around at some of my other paintings to get ideas. I added interest to the background, turning the rectangle into a window scene, and changing the color interactions. I “roughened up” the line edges by blocking in color around them and making them less uniform. And I added more layers of color to give a rich and solid color “feel” to the whole painting. Eventually it all came together.

Harvey was done!
My paintings are usually whimsical and abstracted portraits of my subjects. Although I stray from realism, I do like to “know” the animals that I paint, so that I can be true to their character, if not to the realistic details of their image. My colors tend to be derivatives of, yet not exact replicas of, the “real” color of the subject. I believe that adds a sense of fun and imagination, allowing us to see new potential in a beloved creature!

Although Harvey’s person has not seen the finished product as of this writing, she has seen a photo of the painting, and she seems very happy with the end product. I understand that this is her Christmas present, which makes the process even more special for all of us.

To Harvey, and his people, I wish you a Merry Christmas! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this special gift!

BZTAT