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Shasta portrait in progress - start to finish

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 2323 min read

Shasta portrait in progress - start to finish

April 30 I'm starting a portrait of Shasta, an Australian Shepherd. It’s a gift from Diane Barnes to her son Takeshi. Takeshi’s...

32 views

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 212 min read

Shasta portrait finished!

A little background about Shasta... Shasta is 11 years old. Her portrait was commissioned by Diane Barnes as a gift to her son Takeshi,...

8 views

Shasta portrait in progress 20 - The final step

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 182 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 20 - The final step

I’m down to the final part of Shasta’s portrait: the footbridge. In a previous step I applied a wash of blue watercolor over the grey...

8 views

Shasta portrait in progress 19 - A design challenge

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 152 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 19 - A design challenge

A zillion ferns 🤣 in this portrait will soon be completed. Previously I explained about adding green underpainting on both sides of...

9 views

Shasta portrait in progress 18 - Left side finished...

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 101 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 18 - Left side finished...

I’m finally getting down to the wire with this portrait. The ferns on the left are finished. 1 Working my way down to the bottom corner....

12 views

Shasta portrait in progress 17 - Ferns, ferns, and more ferns

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 81 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 17 - Ferns, ferns, and more ferns

Putting in the ferns with colored pencil over the green underpainting ( see previous post for explanation ). And over the blue-grey...

5 views

Shasta portrait in progress 16 - More underpainting needed

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 61 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 16 - More underpainting needed

If you've been following my progress you know that I’m working on grey paper. I’ve decided to put in a green underpainting in the lower...

7 views

Shasta portrait in progress 15 - The "flow" of a composition

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 22 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 15 - The "flow" of a composition

The picture shows the whole portrait as it looks now. There is a diagonal line of bright yellows going to the right and up from Shasta’s...

3 views

Shasta portrait in progress 14 - The path through the forest

Kevin Roeckl

Aug 21 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 14 - The path through the forest

I’m working on the path now, to the left of Shasta. Here’s today’s work... 1 You can see the curved lines of the path (sketched in with...

4 views

Shasta portrait in progress 13 - Color info for artists

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 272 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 13 - Color info for artists

Filling in around Shasta’s head with a bunch of different greens. There's some good color info in this post for artists! This photo taken...

4 views

Shasta portrait in progress 12 - Slow, painstaking work

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 221 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 12 - Slow, painstaking work

Carefully working the greens of the background around the back-lit hairs of Shasta's ears. Unlike the underpainting technique on the...

7 views

Shasta portrait in progress 11 - Greens and golds

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 202 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 11 - Greens and golds

Shasta herself is finished. I always love the way it looks when the subject is “3-dimensional” on the flat grey paper! Next I’ll start on...

4 views

Shasta portrait in progress 10 - Pausing for a little blue

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 173 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 10 - Pausing for a little blue

After I finished Shasta’s head and neck, I continued working my way down her body. But I had to pause my pencilwork for a series of steps...

6 views

Shasta portrait in progress 9 - Perfect for notecards

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 171 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 9 - Perfect for notecards

Shasta’s white ruff is finished. A set of custom notecards is included with my portraits. Usually the whole portrait is on the card. But...

3 views

Shasta portrait in progress 8 - The story behind the art

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 112 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 8 - The story behind the art

Cheryl sent me the most adorable picture of Shasta “belly up” on the chaise yesterday. I’ve come to know her through Cheryl’s and Tk’s...

5 views

Shasta portrait in progress 7 - That happy smile!

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 81 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 7 - That happy smile!

Shasta’s happy smile is finished. This is how the whole portrait looks now. The background will be a detailed scene of a hiking trail in...

6 views

Shasta portrait in progress 6 - What color is a tongue?

Kevin Roeckl

Jul 52 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 6 - What color is a tongue?

Today I'm adding Shasta’s tongue. What color is a dog's tongue? Pink, you might say. Is it really? There are some colors in a dog’s...

7 views

Shasta portrait in progress 5 - The importance of eyes

Kevin Roeckl

Jun 291 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 5 - The importance of eyes

It’s the day I’m doing Shasta’s eyes. The most critical part of any portrait. A whole bunch of reference photos are on the monitor to...

4 views

Shasta portrait in progress 4 - "Value control"

Kevin Roeckl

Jun 262 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 4 - "Value control"

Started working on Shasta’s head today. When Diane saw these in-progress pics, she wrote: “Looking good! EXCITING!!!!” In my last two...

4 views

Shasta portrait in progress 3 - The forests of Vancouver

Kevin Roeckl

Jun 251 min read

Shasta portrait in progress 3 - The forests of Vancouver

The forest trees are finished. In my last post I shared an explanation of how I’m using the grey of the paper for most of the color in...

5 views

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About Kevin

I've been a professional Artist for 40 years. It's more than a job, it's my passion. I have lots of beautiful and interesting things I want to share with you! Step into my studio and I'll show you.

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I started sharing "in progress" posts of my artwork on social media, and I found that people love watching the artwork take shape day by day, with detailed explanations. So I made a blog to expand the ways I can share the process of creating art.

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