Raven portrait in progress - start to finish
June 20 I’m starting a new portrait, of Raven. This is the 4th Border Collie portrait I’ve done for Cathy Nearman. Soon I’ll share more...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 28, 202514 min read
Raven portrait - more to the story
The portrait arrived in Hawaii! Handsome Raven, 10 years old, with his portrait not yet opened, along with “little sister” Wynter, the...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 24, 20251 min read
Raven portrait finished!
I always love what clients write when we start working together and I ask them to tell me about their loved one. People who say they...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 22, 20252 min read
Raven portrait in progress 10 - Life in a mirror
When I finish a portrait I tape it up on the wall of my studio, stand back and look at it, make an adjustment, stand back and look again,...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 18, 20252 min read
Raven portrait in progress 9 - a symmetrical fade-out
In a previous post I showed how I created a center-line with white chalk pencil (easy to erase later) up the center of Raven’s muzzle, so...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 16, 20251 min read
Raven portrait in progress 8 - Raven has a wrinkly tongue!
Every dog is an individual, even down to the characteristics of their tongue. I noticed in Raven’s reference photo that his tongue has...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 12, 20251 min read
Raven portrait in progress 7 - Seeing with the heart
Raven's pink tongue is finished. Every time I share “in progress” pics with Cathy, she tells me a bit more about Raven. When I first...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 11, 20251 min read
Raven portrait in progress 6 - A difficult passage
This was a difficult passage: Raven’s nose and the muzzle around the nose. It required careful attention to the reference photo because...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 10, 20251 min read
Raven portrait in progress 5 - The importance of multiple reference photos
Raven has such a beautifully symmetrical face, and I have been portraying him symmetrical – with a lot of attention on getting that...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 9, 20252 min read
Raven portrait in progress 4 - The importance of landmarks
1 Raven's forehead and around the eye-socket on the left side are finished. I’ve put in Raven’s center white stripe down his nose as a...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 3, 20252 min read
Raven portrait in progress 3 - The centerline
An artist should always improve upon their reference photo. Artists: Don't be a slave to what you see in your reference photo. I've...
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 1, 20253 min read
Raven portrait in progress 2 - What color are these eyes, really?
1 Working on Raven’s eyes - so important in a portrait. It’s particularly important to get the colors and values accurate in this one,...
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 24, 20252 min read
Raven portrait in progress 1 - Oh those big puppy ears!
I’m starting a new portrait, of Raven. This is the 4th Border Collie portrait I’ve done for Cathy Nearman. Soon I’ll share more of what...
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 23, 20251 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress - start to finish
March 10 Starting a portrait of Briscoe, a Border Collie and the heart dog of Gloria K. The first thing I saw when I began working on...
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 14, 20242 min read
Briscoe portrait finished!
This is the 10th portrait I’ve done for this household since 1996. Two Border Collies, five Dobermans, two Old English Sheepdogs, and a...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 31, 20241 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress 7 - Portrait addiction
Continuing work on Briscoe’s portrait. His face finished and now adding the fringes of hair at the sides with about a dozen shades of...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 23, 20241 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress 6 - The surprising colors of a tongue
With the mouth and chin finished, Briscoe’s smiling face has really come to life. There were some tricky colors in the tongue. You might...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 22, 20241 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress 5 - Smile emerging...
Briscoe's smile emerging out of the grey. This photo taken in the studio with my colored pencils gives a sense of how large Briscoe is in...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 20, 20241 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress 4
The next thing to emerge is Briscoe’s nose…. Then I continue filling in his white muzzle around it - lots of little white hairs on the...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 19, 20241 min read
Briscoe portrait in progress 3 - How to make an eye
People are always amazed at how lifelike the eyes look in my artwork... They are just shapes and colors. If an artist can copy those...
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 18, 20241 min read
