Cinder is finished - I think

Cinder is finished - I think. In this last session, I was looking at what kind of feeling her portrait conveyed. The feeling I got from her, intuitively and from her photos, was a feeling of relaxation. Yet, looking at the portrait, some of my trusted feedback-givers and I were getting the sense that, rather than being relaxed, she was about to jump up - coming out of that relaxed state into an on-alert state, watchful and ready for action. Thinking about where that feeling might be coming from, my husband suggested that her shoulders were a bit raised; I noticed, also, that I had the angle of her elbow more vertical than it should be. So I changed that angle, lowered and smoothed her topline, and shifted the stresses in her shoulders. I believe that it worked.

I also worked more on her eyes, especially that less-finished left eye (remember, to us viewers it's the right-side eye, but it's HER left), and on her face; darkened her left ear a bit and brightened the top of Foofer, behind her ear.

Finally - I signed and dated this painting. Yay! I may still see some little things that I want to tweak or bring out, but essentially, I feel like I've reached my goal.


Here's a detail of her face. I really like the way her face and head have taken shape and taken on color.

Cinder: more work on her head - WIP #14

Today's work on Cinder: more detail and filling in, on her head; a lot of work on the blanket fringe; and some refining on her right elbow (front leg) and hind knee. It's getting very close. A bit more work needed on her eyes. Her left eye is still not as developed as her right. I think the fringe needs a little more detail, too, but maybe not much. I might work some more on her hind toes; not sure about that right now.

Then it will be time to turn my back to the painting, close my eyes, and spin around fast to look at it; do some squinting; and anything else I can think of, to get a sense of what last things it needs, for balance and aliveness.


Here's a detail of her face.

Cinder: working on her head - WIP #13

Recent work has been mainly on Cinder's head, and sometimes it seems to go very slowly, and be very subtle. But I feel like her eyes are coming to life, and her nose is looking good. I did some work on the fringe, as well.

It's coming, it's coming... (Did I ever mention my - favorite - art teacher, in high school summer school, who said that to me every day for six weeks? "It's coming, it's coming..." I wanted to yell, "Yeah, but when's it going to BE there - be done???")


Here's a closeup of Cinder's head. Work on eyes, ears, nose. I have started to fill in the dark areas around her right eye (on our left, looking at it), but not much on her left eye yet.

Cinder: WIP #12

Okay. Work on Cinder's face today, as well as smoothing out her chest, shoulders and right foreleg; and some work on Foofer. Also worked some more on Cinder's hind toes, and her hind feet are approaching finished.


Here's a closer look at Cinder's face, and Foofer. When I started on her eyes, she looked like some red-eyed were-dog; now, with a little detail, they're starting to look more like sweet dog's eyes. I've been modeling the head shape, refining her muzzle, and shaping her ears. Foofer's looking pretty finished, and seems to have a velvety look. I'm not sure how that happened, though of course I'm happy about it; I just hope it's not because my photography today is not totally in focus. I added just a glimpse of Cinder's blue collar. I like the way the shape and colors of her head are looking, and I think the end is in sight. It seems to be very helpful to be able to look at photos of the painting, onscreen; it gives me a better sense of how well the painting holds up as a whole.

One of the major parts of this still to be done is the fringe of the blanket. But aside from that, it's getting close.

Cinder again, WIP #10

End of the day today. I've been smoothing out her back, doing more work on her toes - I love how those dog feet are starting to feel three-dimensional; working on the sun and shadow and the highlights on her back leg... There's starting to be a clear distinction between sunlit and shadowed areas, clearest in her back half, but still needing to make more visual sense.




Here's her hind foot, with her toes taking shape. I enjoy catching the feel of her pads...



Here's a closer look at her tail - a much better curve now, and fully rounded. Above her back, I've defined the window frame, and darkened the background a bit to bring out her sunlit back. I think this darkening also makes the window look more reflective.

So that's it for today.