This is Charlie, a beautiful palamino pony I photographed some time ago (so I can't complain about the quality of the reference).
Its his owner's birthday in a couple of weeks so I thought I'd better get cracking on it. I'm using pastels on sand coloured velour (a paper I loved initially but abandoned in favour of sanded papers like Fisher 400) and I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly the portrait is progressing. The portrait is a little larger than A3 and this is the result of just a couple of hours work - the pony has been outlined, the background is in place and a base coat of colour laid down.
Maybe I'll have to eat my words about not liking velour!! I have a piebald (coloured) horse next on the agenda and had planned to use pastels on Fisher 400 paper (my favourite combination) but I'll see if I continue to be happy with this velour portrait before making the final decision.
The photo isn't good - it was taken in artificial light but as there will be lots more work done on it I won't try adjusting the colours at this stage - you'll get the idea I hope.
At my client's request I darkened Coco's cheeks/neck and she has now been approved and finished. I'll 'fix' the pastel lightly tomorrow and she'll be ready to go later in the week.
Sorry - you're probably bored with seeing her picture by now, but this is the final version I promise :o)
We will be hospital visiting again tomorrow so may not do any posting but I'm certain to be back at the computer in the evening catching up on all your posts. See you then :o)
Ooooh! I think your horse is coming along beautifully. I still like velour for pet portraits and I'm beginning to like the PastelMat also. I like the sanded surfaces but I can't get sharp enough detail with them sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHope you can get into the garden soon - I'll gladly send you some of our sun and the heat that comes with it! We're supposed to have temps at about 100 degrees F with a heat index of over 105 degrees!