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Octavia’s face finished. Have you wondered who this young woman is who was such an integral part of “Team Penny”? Octavia Stensen is Assistant to Andy Linton, Penny’s handler. Before I started on Octavia’s face I asked the Chans to tell me about her. (The portrait was to be a surprise so I couldn’t talk to Octavia.) They described her as a vibrant and amazing young woman. “She’s got good energy”, Greg said. I think that comes across in her face in this pic. Octavia traveled w

Colored pencil details on the wooden moldings on each step really brought them to life. At the very beginning I made an underpainting for the basic shapes of the staircase on pale grey paper: the sides of the stairs with grey watercolor, the shadow under each stair tread with grey wash, and brown for the wooden molding on the front of each step. The moldings were just flat brown, as you see on the left (BEFORE). Then I added highlights and shadow along the length of each mold

In a previous post you heard me wondering about the wisdom of choosing a paper color that is the exact color of Octavia's skin. Which is why I chose it. It helps me capture that creamy "peaches and cream" look of her fair skin. But would I be able to make Octavia stand out on paper the same color as Octavia? Her skin colors are very delicate. The highlights of Octavia's face are barely lighter than the paper color, and the shadowed areas that form her features are barely dark

Tools of the trade Some tools I use often when laying out my pieces, but rarely while I'm working on the artwork: a “T-square” and a triangle. This T-square has a story. My first job, when I was out on my own at 18, was a trainee graphic artist working for a design firm in southern California. There was a commercial printer next door. A good quality T-square this size is expensive. The printer who purchased it said it was out of square 1/8 of an inch in 6 feet. That was 1/8 i

I've finished the stair cushions under the cats. They were custom-designed using photos of Tammy’s bedspread to see the colors in her decor, and the fabric pattern as inspiration. These captions give a detailed description of my thought process and what I did to make the colors and pattern work with the composition of three black-and-white cats and a staircase. 1 I’m using Tammy’s bedspread as reference for the colors she wanted. Mauves and purples are the main colors in her