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Small nuances in the expression are what make a facial expression and capture character. I know that Titan is a funny dog, who loves to make people laugh. The line in the middle of this tongue is not a straight line. Anybody who knows dogs really well can see that Titan is being as happy and silly as he can be. You can see it in the way he is holding his tongue. 1 I created the line in the center of Titan's tongue with four different colors. 2 This is the reference photo I’m

I often hear Colored Pencil artists say they won't use Prismacolor pencils because they are not lightfast. But that’s not true. Prismacolors have lightfast ratings 1 through 5. 1 is “Excellent”, 2 is “Very Good”, 3 is “Good”. That compares to other premium colored pencil brands that are known to be lightfast. 4 and 5 are “Fair” and “Poor”. Some artists just remove those colors from their Prismacolor collection. Still, Prismacolor makes 150 colors, more than other premium bran

This is the incredible story, both heartbreaking and heartwarming, that Alicia told me about the reference photo we’re using for Titan’s portrait. It’s the reason we switched direction with how to capture the essence of him. 1 This is Titan’s portrait in progress. There’s a reason for the decision to use this particular image. Titan passed away unexpectedly last year while I was starting on a memorial portrait of Wishes for Alicia. Alicia and husband Joe considered adding Ti

Working on a portrait of Titan for Alicia McCarthy. You may remember when I worked on the beautiful memorial portrait of Wishes for Alicia last year. While we were still in the beginning design stages, Titan passed away unexpectedly. For a while Alicia asked me to switch direction and we began looking for photos to include Titan in the same portrait. But Alicia and Joe made the decision that Titan deserved his own portrait. His personality is completely different than the sof

I'm starting a new portrait, of Titan for Alicia McCarthy. This portrait has a very touching story to it. I’ll share that with you soon. Titan’s portrait will be more than just a head study, as you will see. I’m working on “Sky Grey” Canson paper. A beautiful paper that has little flecks and fibers in it. I like using that for a portrait on a plain-color background, it lends interest to an otherwise plain, flat background color. ❤️ Portrait of “Titan”, 16 x 20 inches. Comm