I painted this on an 8×8 canvas, based on a reference photo I got from a Fresh Paint lesson (by Ali Kay Studios). I mostly dry-brushed this work, and did not follow the Fresh Paint lesson at all, preferring to use the reference photo.
Update: The Fresh Paint reference photo was created from a photo by Johnny killroy on Unsplash
Okay, I’m done with this. I revised the background, modified the eyes and nose, and added whiskers, and ear fur (dry brush). I wish I hadn’t used the red for the undertone, but it is what it is.
Reference photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash
I am painting this on an 8×10 canvas which I toned in a cadmium red hue over a year ago. It’s based off a photo on Unsplash that was then enhanced (eyes yellower, shadows bluer, etc. etc.) by Ali Kay of Fresh Paint. (I’m enrolled at that virtual classroom for some of Ali Kay’s lessons.)
Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash
This was done on an 8×8 canvas panel in shades of Golden’s Burnt Umber and Liquitex Raw Sienna. The actual color of the background is not turquoise, but rather a mint green (Phthalo Green Blue Shade and Titanium White) along the lines of the green color in the Adobe “Cutouts” image below.
I cropped the original photo to focus on the face, then used the Cutouts option within Adobe Photo Essentials, and then transferred the image to the canvas panel. What is most off from the photo is the nose and mouth; I’ll have to redo that and see if I can make it more exact to the contours of the child’s face.
Photo by Zena Ghosn on Unsplash
This is painted on an 8×8 canvas panel. I found the image on Pixabay and really liked it.
Image by Peggychoucair from Pixabay
As I said in my last post, I did end up going back and modifying my painting from the 4th weekly exercise of Let’s Face It 2026 (taught by Laurie Johnson).
My goal was to blend the paint more thoroughly in the face so that there wasn’t such a harsh change from light to shadow. The new version is on the right.
I did this portrait in acrylic on an 8×8 canvas panel as a part of the 4th weekly exercise of Let’s Face It 2026. It was taught by Laurie Johnson. I modified the reference photo in Adobe’s Photo Essentials, using the “Cutout” feature (set at 4) to make the skin shading lines. (Now I need to blend better!) I am thinking of redoing the whole thing. We’ll see. (In the meantime, she looks better in miniature.)
I painted this dog on the sofa based on a reference photo by Alyssa Fleischer, part of a January 2022 “painting party” at Acrylic University. It is also viewable on YouTube here.
This was painted on an 8×8 canvas panel. The dog was done in Titanium Buff (aka Unbleached Titanium (PW 6:1) and Burnt Umber. For the window panes I used the same — but added a touch of Mars Black. (I am going to go back and redo the panes, painting with a straight-edge 🙂
The greenery base was Chromium Green with some Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Cad-free Yellow Light. The sofa I painted using Liquitex BASICS blue-gray and since it’s a “student” color, it darkened a whole lot after drying, but I think I’ll leave it as is.
I was drawn to this photo of a blue jay on a snowy branch over a year ago, and the 9×12 canvas has sat toned and drawn out waiting for me to paint it. That day was today.
The bird colors are Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, and Mars Black.
Image by Naturelady from Pixabay
