Life Painting

Because our daughter is in dance and has been all her life, there's a lot of dance in our house!  On occasion it comes out in my artwork, too.  This beautiful ballerina is coming to life as she moves onto the stage; in fact, if you look closely, the only place she has color is in her face and neck.  She is literally coming to life as she dances.  If you are a dancer, you understand this.

Unusual for me, this painting is done almost exclusively in gold and black.  And I mean gold!  You can see the gold reflecting on her body; it's actually reflective like that all over the painting, but the lighting that was present when I took this photograph determined the shine.

She is ABOUT 40" x 30" - and yes, I am too tired to get up and measure her.  She's been almost-sold twice and everyone that sees her absolutely loves her. So... she is for sale again!  I just need to put her with someone who:
1) loves this beautiful lady; and
2) actually has money

So there!  By the way, her name is: "Life."

Ethereal Painting - 'Joy' - for Sale!

 I just finished this one - oh my goodness, I LOVE it!  This little baby is tiny - only 9" x 12", and is for sale.

Once again, I'm using Picasso's method of painting the entire background, and then painting into the negative space, making the subject come forward.

There really are not words to describe this piece, and photos don't do it justice.  I can't get a good photo for some reason, any better than I can catch the effect of sunshine glimmering on raindrops.

 The first picture you see is the entire piece.  Each of these three are different colors - the true color is somewhere in between.  The thin layers of paint that I used over the bright colors have the effect of milk glass.  You know, that old, antique, bluish, partly opaque glass you find in the antique stores?

It has this milky, ethereal effect that kind of makes you feel peaceful and glowy at the same time.  My bottom layers include gold, which pops out where I didn't cover it, and where the golds are not over-painted, they fairly shout!

However hard this painting is to describe, it's a joy to look at.  Maybe I should name it 'Joy!'

De-Mystifying a Commission, Part Three (Final)

Here's the almost-final.  Wow.  I love it.

I'm going to talk you through a few choices I made.

First, you can still see the red chalk lines - see them?  I used these to lay out the perspective lines to give the buildings the right proportions and correct angles.  I actually really like them left in and did a painting of Big Ben in which I left the chalk lines and varnished them down.  Anyway, I gave my client the choice of leaving in chalk lines or removing them, and he chose to have them removed.  Easy fix.

There is a little bit of work I have remaining in darkening slightly some parts of some buildings to make the entire painting flowing and cohesive.  Those things will be subtle and barely noticeable to anyone but ME, but it will make the viewer more comfortable.  Just little tweeks.

Also, before I began, I told the client I was planning on having the sunset showing through the buildings, so he already approved that.  However, I left a couple buildings really very transparent BECAUSE - with acrylics you can always ADD, but you can never REMOVE.  They're going to come over to discuss any final changes and then I'll do the final adjustments.  After that - varnish - a couple days to dry - and voila!  Beautiful piece!  This one is big and bright, so it's going to make a STATEMENT! :)

De-Mystifying a Commission, Part Two

Well, this is part two of my post, but an exceedingly great amount of work has transpired!  I missed downloading the pictures of the sunset.  Once the design was approved, I set about doing the background, or sunset, first.  It actually consisted of about five layers of color laydown, which took me about a week.

Once that was finished, it was time for the buildings.  The Bridge ties everything together and is in the foreground, so that was one of the first things I laid down.  Once I had that in, I set up this triangle of buildings (it must always be a nice shape; a nice composition, first and foremost.  If it's not, no amount of work will make it look good.)

Although I want this painting to look as if it was easy and just slapped down, I have to do some serious left-brained work to make that happen.  Much of that includes my t-square, my straightedge, a plumb line and my good old chalk lines - yep - the ones builders use.  I grew up tha-wunking those chalk lines as my dad's able assistant and chief builder's gopher!

By the way, this one is being painted outside because it's four feet by six feet.  The previous commission was five feet by seven feet.  They come in various sizes, however, whatever people want.  Actually, I sold nine or ten watercolor bird paintings this Christmas, and they were only 9" x 12"!

De-Mystifying an Art Commission, Part One

 I'm almost finished with a commission of the New York City skyline, and am terribly pleased with the results.  But to begin, I want to lead you through the journey of hiring an artist to do a commission for you.  Trust me - it's really not as terrifying and mysterious as it may seem; it's actually pretty fun!

My very first step is making sure a client likes my artwork.  Generally this is why people first approach me, because they've seen it!

 The second step involves an interview as to subject, size, colors, overall desires and price and timeline.  After that, an agreement is struck and we begin our work!

Here we have three sketches; once I laid it out the way I thought looked best, I presented this sketch to my client.  The second picture shows some questions and decisions we made, so I highlighted them in various ways so we were certain to be on the same page.  For instance, the red dot - flag or no flag on top of the Brooklyn Bridge?  

Or... just a little silhouette of the flag? These are customer decisions.

Here is a little color sketch on the same drawing.  This helps give an idea of the final outcome.  Once all is approved, I'm off and running!  Check my next post to see the next steps!

Back on Track - Lots of Catching Up!

Hello Wonderful People,
This is notice that I'll be posting again; pretty much took a couple-month sabbatical because for the entire time I was pretty much too busy to think.  Today I'm painting all day on a commission that's due.  Tonight when I can't lift a brush anymore, I'll switch to electronics.  See ya then!

The Continuing Saga of... The Artist's Desk

Yeah.  My desk.  Usually I keep my studio door shut when I'm not operating, but I must have  left it cracked this time.

I also am pretty fastidious about NOT setting drinks anywhere near the spill-zone of electronics, art or books, but, alas... I did it.  It was an oversized, lidded Chic fil A cup containing water.  Water, thank goodness!

One of our cats apparently decided to explore and knocked it over, spilling water all over my desk and down into the slightly cracked drawer.  Here's my drawer insert pulled out to let the drawer itself dry, and wet contents spilled all over my (nice pristine) carpet to dry.  Yep.  The artist's desk.

We have officially become 'those cat people,' logging in at four cats.  Each has a different personality, and although I was sleeping, I KNOW who did this.  Old Man.  Old Man, called Bones by my husband, really pretty much loves knocking things over.  And he's clumsy.  Imagine, a clumsy cat.  And although he does knock a lot of stuff down by accident, we've witnessed on-purpose meanderings, too.  Pretty sure he did this one on purpose.

Dance Production/Art Show/Concert at Frenetic Theater

Reconstructing Alice has three more shows - next weekend.  It has really turned out to be an 'event.'  First an incredible and very edgy dance production.  After that I am having a solo art show with 38 pieces on exhibit and for sale.  I've posted here a few from my animal series.  The band, Carthy is playing on a covered outdoor stage after the show, and there are drinks and snacks.  People have been hanging around and it's been really fun.  Come and join us!  We have three more shows, November 13, 14 and 15.  See my previous post for ticket ordering information and details.

My first painting, Green Cat, is 18 x 24 on a nice cradled birch panel.  My gorgeous animals giving you a wild front-on look are 24 x 30s, and my giant horse at the bottom is 30" square.  Pretty sure you need paintings!

Reconstructing Alice - Three Down, Three to Go

Wow!  We have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to even THINK about my blog, much less find time to do somewhat basic things like eating and sleeping.

We just finished tech week for Melody's show, Reconstructing Alice, and had our first three shows this weekend.  Here's information she put on her posters.  And LOOK!  Eureka!  There are still three shows, next weekend, November 13, 14 and 15.  Cool!  Come on out and join us!

Poem for the Day - Sleep-In Day, by Yours Truly

Yes.  I write poetry.  I love poetry.  Actually, I've written a nice
 book's-worth of poetry in my lifetime, to the tune of one or two
 a year.  Most of them are serious, springing from deep emotion. 
 This one isn't particularly serious, but in the midst of trying to
 sleep, I'm sure you'll understand that it CAN be!  Enjoy.

This poem took me an hour to write.  Wide awake on my one 
sleep-in day, I composed it in about 15 minutes in bed before I
knew I had to get up and put pen to paper. If I didn’t get up,
I knew I would either stay awake continually thinking about it or
lose the poem.I wrote it in the back of my Art Teachers’ Book of 
Lists in about 45 minutes with only minor corrections.   

Never did get back to sleep.  I call it -

"Sleep-In Day"

Gotta pee gotta pee - Hot, hot, hot!

…must…sleep…

One side of me is flat.

Have I moved all night?

Ow ow ow ow.

Sleep.

These bites on my hip…         so… itchy…

Why do I go outside?

MUST… SLEEP

pee… hot… itchy itchy itchy

… it’s raining… thirsty… dry lips…

Do I have bites on my elbow too?

          …quit pulling weeds…

          … thanks, Adam and Eve…

Sleep. Sleep… SLEEP!

No.  PEE!

OKAY!

Up.  Stumble.  Pee.. A/C… drink… bites…

Back to bed.  Aahhhhh.

Purring kitty, fluffy pillows, rain… comfy.

(how much rain?)

Soft kitty, fluffy kitty, heavy kitty…

          VERY heavy kitty!

Purrrrrr………

HEAVY!  Ow ow ow ow!

Move!

(How much rain is there?)  Must… look…

NO!  SLEEP!

Rain, rain, rain… sleep… NO!

Okay.  OKAY!  Up!

Wow!  Steady!  Hard!  Rushing!  Inches!  A foot?                          

Glad I finished that castle yesterday.                                              

Do you think the paint dried before the deluge?

Dripping castle stones, paint puddling in the rain.

Do… not… think…

Rain.  Sweet pattering.

Dry comfort… thank you, Lord… darkness… eyes closed… sleep.

Nope.

Eyes POP open… Wide Awake!

Hello world!  Time to go outside!

It’s four a.m.

Cindy Johnson, October, 2015

"Bird on Fire" Sold

I know he's a hoot and there's really just no excuse for him, but I laughed the entire time I painted this fellow.  Everyone that looks at him laughs, and the lady that just purchased him will be laughing a lot, too.

Maybe it has something to do with his attitude, or maybe it's the comics I put into his feathered headdress.  Whatever it is, I like him, and he went to a good home.

I think I'm going to have to start a laughter series.

Reconstructing Alice and Solo Art Show

It's coming!  Our daughter, Melody's show!  Get your tickets now!
Reconstructing Alice is coming to the Frenetic Theater downtown.  Along with this incredible dance show will be music by the awesome band, Carthy, pictured below in all their seriousness.  Lining the walls will be  a solo art show by - myself!  It's all going to wrap up to be a delightful and mindblowing evening which will touch all your senses.

Come the first weekend.  You'll be glad you did, because you're going to want to come BACK to see it AGAIN!  Trust me on that one.  When she first created this show, many people came again and again to see it!

Paintings Sold!

Two more paintings of little birds I'm doing for Christmas sold!  Just got a commission for another little sweetie tonight.  Love doing these adorable little creatures!

'Bloom' Art Sale - Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night I'll be selling at the Bloom ladies' event at our church, Crossroads Baptist, in The Woodlands. Here are the details:

http://www.crossroadstw.org/crbctw/home

And here are a few of the MANY paintings I"ll have for sale.  We'll be selling paintings on canvases, wood and on heavy watercolor paper.  Can't WAIT!

Bird on Fire!

You've heard of 'Girl on Fire?' ... well, I've got 'Bird on Fire.'  :)

In a previous post, you saw my Pileated Woodpecker.  Well, when I was commissioned to paint one, I scrolled through lots of photos looking for just what I wanted.  On my way to my 'serious' bird, I just had to paint this as well - for myself and my own entertainment!

This is (pretty much) what a pileated woodpecker looks like!  Well, with a few exceptions.  Most pileated woodpeckers don't have comics in their bright feathered caps!  Anyway, I'm loving this guy.  Everyone has to laugh now and then, and he makes me LAUGH!

For sale - 9 x 12 heavy deckled-edged paper, $90.00.  BIRD... ON ... FIRE!!!!!

Pileated Woodpecker, SOLD!

I finished my pileated woodpecker.  Already sold, he is destined to be somebody's Christmas gift.  I'm pretty much loving him.  Textures, colors, background, tree - all of it.

Only twice in my life have I been blessed in seeing these beauties.  They are larger than life, at about 18"!  You KNOW when you see them!  And if you ever see a three foot long hole in a tree with a veritable pyramid of shavings down below, that's definitely this woodpecker!

Here he is.  I did him in pen, watercolor and acrylic on heavy deckled-edge watercolor paper.  Currently I'm taking Christmas orders for $90.00 each.  You pick your bird.

 I downloaded two photos - the bottom one shows the deckled edge.

What a handsome fellow he is!

Bird Number Two - SOLD!

Here's bird number two:

The lady wanted one similar to the first Redstart, so here we have it!  Awwww, shucks.  So cute.

Okay, now I DEFINITELY have to go upstairs to paint that Pileated Woodpecker!

American Redstart, Sold!

Someone asked me recently about bird paintings.  He said his wife loved a bird painting I sold six months ago, and how much was it?  It was a little too steep for them so I told him I'd do some small watercolor birds and charge less.  Here is the first one, a little American Redstart, which I sold them.

Cute little feller, ain't he?

I love the colors!  After I painted it, I posted it on Facebook and got a surprising response.  Everyone liked it, so I decided that maybe I'd stumbled upon a little niche.

Next posting was 'Birds for Sale,' and reminded people that Christmas is coming, and they needed bird paintings.

I could post that here, too!  So....

Birds for Sale!  Christmas is coming!  Pen and watercolor birds, you choose your bird.  I am painting these on heavy, deckled-edge watercolor paper which is 9x12.  Let me know!

As for me, I'm going upstairs.  I'm going upstairs to paint, armed with six or eight photos of pileated woodpeckers.  Next little bird, sold already!

Birds for Sale! (At least Bird PAINTINGS!)

Small Birds for Sale!  Well, I, like Leonardo da Vinci, would probably purchase them just to let them go and give them their freedom, BUT... I can paint them!

I painted this cutie little American Redstart this week.  Just before Christmas is a good time to do small paintings for gifts. Sooo....

You look like you need a nice, original painting.  Birds for sale!

Stats:
9 x 12" heavy, deckled edge watercolor paper
Name your bird
Name your colors
$90.00.

I've got several orders already and am fitting them in between big commissions, so if you're serious about Christmas, don't wait too long!

Horse Painting - Part Three - For Sale

Here we are!  Yay!  I love it!  As you can see, I did a lot of work on the shadows and muscles in his neck, which involved a lot of back and forth with the payne's grey, cobalt blue and titanium white.  NOW he's looking good!  I'm also loving the cool colors in his mane.  As you can see, I did pop in some pinks and warm tones for highlights to bring the attention to his face.  Everything about him makes me feel yummy now.

Let's look at a couple of close-ups.

 Here's the eye area.  Now you can focus in to see how I worked the layers.  I love seeing through the layers and noting how the colors change as they overlap each other.

You can also see how rough the area around the horse is.  I wanted to give it movement, as if he was swishing his head in determination.

Here's his entire head.  One of my favorite parts is the beautiful green over the blues.  They create a magic all their own.

All he needs now is a name and a good home.

$600.00 from my home (more when he gets to the Gallery).  30" x 30", heavy gallery-wrapped canvas.

You can always contact me here, or at my email address, colorcatstudios@gmail.com

Horse Painting, Part Two

Okay, here is my fine fellow as I've been adding some cobalt blue  As I'm working I'm looking at what I did on his neck and not liking it.  At all.  Okay, second stage.

 In the second picture I'm working out what colors I'm adding in to the mane.  Pinks, peaches yellows. 

I've added a lot of greens into the horse's face and absolutely loving it.  There's chemistry going on there.  Definitely.

But the mane is not working at all.  OUT!!


The third picture shows the new colors I've decided upon.  All cool colors - greens, blues and some yellow.  THIS I like!  I'm going with that!Looking at some of the shadows in the neck which I am NOT liking.  These are going to go.  The longest part of the mane laying on the neck I'm going to cover so it looks like shadows.  Look for part three and we'll see what happens.

Horse Painting, Part One

Working on a new painting.  One of my favorite parts of horses is their majestic necks.  So.... it was time to do one!  Following in my animal series, here we go again!  I had this big, square canvas which just seemed to be begging for a horse. 

Here we are in our early stages.  I forgot to take a photo of just the background, but had loosely laid out the horse shape and simply painted around it in a scratchy, drippy style.  It doesn't exactly fit the horse, but I wanted to do it this way to give it some tension and movement.  More about the background later.

Time for the horse.  I laid him down in Paynes Grey and a nice cobalt blue I recently picked up.

This is the time consuming part, making sure I've got the proportions right.  One of my pet peeves is paintings with incorrect proportions.

Proportions - check!

Then I pulled the loose background in to the horse to make up for any inconsistencies in my lay-down.  You can see it best in the way I treated the mane falling down in front of his face (surely he is a HE!).  I simply straightened out the proportions and left the white for the mane.

Like!

More later!

The Continuing Sage of the Artist's Desktop

Hello, Wonderful People,
Here I am again at my desk.NPR can have 'Tiny Desk Concerts,' I can have a 'Tiny Desk Musing.'

My desk is never clean.  Nor unused.  It's always covered with something, though when I finish one task I clean off all the supplies before beginning another.

This is my next job:

Here you see a board with color swatches that I'm working on for a commission for one of my clients.  This is for the background of a painting I'll be doing for them.  Once finished, I'll take it over and we'll see how it looks in the room with both the northern lighting and the colors they already have in place. 

It's going to be a lovely 7' x about 3' painting to go over their bed, and will feature a leaping ballerina!  I'm excited to get to that stage as I've already worked on a number of other ballerinas in preparation for this one.

It won't be long  before you see the good stuff...

Honoring Cecil the Lion

Honoring Cecil the Lion today with one of the paintings I created this summer.  An atrocity that never should have happened to that beautiful creature.

Ballerina in Gold, 'Life' Painting, Finished and For Sale

I just finished this one!  It's varnished and will soon be ready to sell. She's a dancer coming alive as she moves onstage.  It was a little hard to photograph because of the reflective gold, but if you could see it in person, the flesh tones and blush are coming to her face and working down her neck to her body.  I entitled it 'Life,' and really, really love her.

Right now I've got a commission for a similar painting, except that this one is 30" x 24" and that one will be, I forget right now, but about seven feet by four feet.  This beautiful dancer is destined for downtown.  Our daughter, Melody, whose business is Refine Arts, wrote, choreographed and directed an amazing show which she entitled 'Reconstructing Alice.'  It was so good that she was advised to take it downtown!

She has already rented a theatre, set the show dates, and is now taking audition signups.

Anyway, to synopsize, we found that the theatre has an exhibit hall for art, so we're going to hold a simultaneous dance and art show.  Excited!  This is one of the paintings I'm going to display down there.

Just today I had two people interested in purchase, so we'll see what happens with that. One found her on Facebook, and one came to our home.  When she saw her, it took her breath away.  It's difficult to explain my feelings when a painting that takes MY breath away has the same effect on someone else.

 Melody wants it to hang, so the sale will have to be conditional upon it hanging during her shows.  It's $800.00.  Let me know if you're interested.

I'll post a couple closeups of her in a few days. :)

Tom Brady Courtroom Sketch

I'm only going to say one phrase - Tom Brady artist's sketch.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Part 4 - Wolf - Fifth Painting in Animal Series

Here he is in all his glory.  I love him.  I think I'm going to call him 'Wolfe.'

For sale: 24" x 30" - $800.00

 I left him on my table so you could have a reference on size.  This is really close to its true colors.

A word on black.  Most artists, myself included, do not use straight black in a painting.  You have to be really careful with it or it will look like a big, black hole.  I almost always mix another color into my blacks, or use a nice Payne's Grey.

This painting, however, seemed to beg for black.  The strong blacks and golds work together to make it really dynamic.  This is not a subtle, over the couch painting.  It's a take over the room painting.  Good color choice.

You can find the other animals in this series in my previous posts through the past few months.  The first one was a lion.  I took my dad to the doctor and they wouldn't let me go in with him.  So... I did a lion sketch from a magazine.  When I got home, I thought... "I could paint a lion..." and the rest is history.

In the series:
My first lion, which I named 'King.'  He's up for sale in the DaVinci Gallery in Tomball.
I did another lion, which I call 'Paradise,' as a commission.  Done, beautiful, and sold.
Next was a wildly colored tiger which I named 'Circus.'  He's a handsome fellow I can't let out of my studio just yet.
Then ... well... lions and tigers and bears!  A huge, colorful bear with a simple and thoughtful expression... kind of like he has Alzheimer's.  I call this one 'Oh, My!'

Last, my friend shown above, 'Wolfe.'  A regular menagerie. :)  Satisfied.

Wolf Painting in Process, Part 3 (5th Painting in Animal Series)

Okay, background done.  Now it's time for wolfie.  This photo will show my next step.  You can see the laydown of black paint getting everything in place.  Once I've got things established, it's a matter of going around and adding values.  

I work the entire painting at once, which makes it more cohesive when it's finished.

Most of the 'abstract' brushstrokes from my previous session I'm trying to leave untouched and uncovered.  I like the way the abstract strokes and drips show through his features.

Most of his furry mane I'm going to leave to the imagination.  Everyone knows what a wolf's mane looks like, and I like the looks of the gold drips.  If I wanted it to look exactly like a wolf, I'd take a photo.




I always save the eyes for last.  For me, it's the icing on the cake.  The butter on the toast... the Bailey's in the coffee... the butter on the POPCORN...

Definitely popcorn tonight.

I digress.

Here's a nice closeup of my friend, which includes my favorite spot in the painting, that wild gold splat pointing toward his eye.

You can also see that in just a few chosen places, I added touches of a deep grey-green to unify everything.  THAT, my friend, is the powdered sugar on the doughnut!

Check Part 4 out for the final. :)  For sale.

Wolf Painting in Process - Part 2 (5th in Animal Painting Series)

Here we have the process showing how I arrived at my fine furry friend.  My first step was to paint the background.  Only two paints were used, a nice, thick gold, and black.  This is the most limited palette I've had in a very long time.  I wanted a very serious wolf, with the concentration of focus on his eyes.  That will do it.

 This first photo shows the entire canvas.  This may look like child's play, but you have no idea how many times I had to take it back down to the canvas or wash off portions to get it just right.

At this point, even before,  I knew exactly where the facial features would be and wanted a particular underlying of textures in designated places.  That's not exactly easy when you paint in this manner.

Here is a close-up of one spot in the painting.  Hopefully you can see from this how reflective that wonderful gold paint is!

I like it already!

Part One - Fifth Painting in Animal Series Finished!

Well, today I met myself coming and going.  I literally had to drive six 'legs,' leaving and coming home three times.

In the midst of all this, school has BEGUN!  I've got students everywhere, and getting them signed up, registered, getting supplies straight and figuring out where we're supposed to be every day has literally had me coming and going!

In the meantime, I needed to finish this painting, finished another one for a patron who has commissioned me, and have been brainstorming all week on my next commission piece.

And here is my new ... well, I can't exactly say pet, because he looks rather predatory... how about this... here's my new friend.  Yes.  He IS my friend.  I love his colors and his beautiful green eyes.  There is no brown in this painting, it's all gold and blacks.  The gold is very reflective and lends a really stunning effect.

The first in my animal series was a lion which I named King.  I did a second, stunningly gorgeous lion for a patron who commissioned me to do a different size, and that one looks like a glowing gem out of the Garden of Eden.  Then followed a very colorful tiger, which I named 'Circus,' and a friendly bear that I named, 'Oh, My!'  Last in the series of... how many... lion, lion, tiger, bear, wolf.  Five!

Here he is!  Another big painting.  For sale -  $800.00.

Final on Bear Painting! "Oh, My!"

Yay!  The final!  I decided to leave my eyes a little off kilter to go with the eyebrows.  It gives him, I think, a contemplative, quizzical look, and I like it.  Maybe just a little bit goofy.

One little aspect that photos can't show is that he has a beautiful glaze of thin gold from his forehead down over his nose.  You can see the blues and whites through it, but that gold glaze really catches the light and reflects beautifully. It warms him up and makes you love him.

I went around the eyes quite a few times, wiping off paint and crayon a number of times to get them just right. Although I've gone around the eyes all these times, I'm still making sure that the under painting shows through, including a gold splat on his left eye.  For me at least, perfection is boring. Although I greatly admire Bouguereau, one of my favorite artists, another of my favorite artists, Peter Max, found Bouguereau very inspiring, too.  And Peter Max's work is definitely not perfectionistic like Bouguereau's!  Little surprises like a gold splat in one eye make for much more fun viewing, at least from my viewpoint.

 Last step, the gleam.

I've decided to name this painting, 'Oh, My!'

Yes, he is for sale.  24" x 30"   $700.00 out of my home, $800.00 once I get him to the Gallery. He needs a good home!

Bear Painting, Part Three

All right, Mr. Bear is all laid down.  Proportions are all correct, most of  that left-brain work is done.  Now comes the fun part.  This is where I thin the paint, in my case today it's Payne's Grey, and lay down some gradiated values, chiaroscuro, if you will.

After that comes the fun part - adding in the colors.  I work around the painting, the entire painting at once, to lay down colors that compliment the background.  This part of the painting process is definitely the most fun part.

The differences between the two pictures I have here are subtle.  This process has taken me a few days because I want to make sure it's balanced and that there aren't any gratuitous marks.

I've left the eyes for last, so they're not done yet.  That will be the very last step.