Kevin Roeckl
Aug 23, 202423 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...
39 views
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 21, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 18, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 15, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 10, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 8, 20241 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...
6 views
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 6, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 2, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Aug 2, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 27, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 22, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 20, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 17, 20243 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 17, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 11, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 8, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jul 5, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 29, 20241 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 26, 20242 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
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 25, 20241 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