Another Charlie Sketch-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie looks one way when he's upside down, but I sketched this with his face right-side up, and he kept looking like he was floating. So here he is again, after I played with him in Photoshop, floating over a photo taken along a trip to southern California.

 

 © Ellen Blonder

Another Charlie Sketch-Day 1

© Ellen Blonder

I can't get enough of this cat. He's fond of lying on his back, but stay tuned to see what happens.

Charlie Cat Painting-Day 9 Final

© Ellen Blonder

This is in danger of getting overworked if I keep fussing, so I think I'm done. 

Charlie Cat Painting-Days 7 and 8

© Ellen Blonder

If it doesn't look like much progress since the last post, that's because there isn't. After a day and a half of work, I painted out the left side of the fabric. When something isn't working, sometimes it's best to paint things out and start over rather than fight it. Everything needs to be refined now, but I think I at least have the folds where I want them.

Charlie Cat Painting-Day 6

© Ellen Blonder

The fabric is turning out to be way more difficult to paint than I imagined. Because there are no hard edges, just subtle folds and shadows, the gradations are critical to get just so. So far, the right side is way more finished than the left.

Charlie Cat Painting-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie looks like he could float away right now. 

Charlie Cat Painting-Day 1

© Ellen Blonder

I'm going to paint Charlie in acrylics on this 16 x 16-inch canvas. While I'm filling in his fur details, I'll figure out whether to put him in an outdoor or indoor setting.

Charlie-Graphic

© Ellen Blonder

I'm just about done with Charlie images, but I did have this one sketch in my sketchbook that I wanted to try to convert into a silhouette.

Charlie-Study 4

© Ellen Blonder

While talking on the phone today, I idly sketched Charlie with a fine-tipped disposable pen. I've just returned from a trip to Toronto where the Art Gallery of Ontario had a show comparing etchings of Rembrandt and Lucian Freud. Made me wonder how Charlie might come off as an etching.

Charlie-Study 3

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie is one happy dog. I like this pose best so far because I'll be able to add things all around him easily and because he's looking right at you.

Charlie-Study 2

© Ellen Blonder

I didn't mean for months to go by without posting new art. Here's another pencil sketch of Charlie, I want to get a better feel for his face, shape and fur before I start in on an acrylic painting of him within a Hawaiian setting. He's all black, which makes drawing him both fun and challenging.

Charlie-Study 1

© Ellen Blonder

Winnie Lu, a friend and realtor here on Kauai, asked me to paint a portrait of her dog Charlie. He's all black, with ears that have a tendency to flip inside out. He also has boundless energy at age 2, so I'll work from a series of photographs that Winnie and I both took. This is my first pencil study; I'm trying to get a feel for what handsome Charlie's all about.