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
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 22, 20242 min read
Shasta portrait in progress 2 - In a sunlit forest
The first 3 days work on Shasta’s portrait. I’m working on a sheet of “Felt Grey” Canson paper, my favorite background color to work on....
8 views
Kevin Roeckl
Jun 17, 20244 min read
Shasta portrait in progress 1 - The foundation
I'm starting a portrait of Shasta, an Australian Shepherd. It’s a gift from Diane Barnes to her son Takeshi. Takeshi’s girlfriend Cheryl...
12 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 25, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait finished!
This portrait was a surprise gift from Maura Reilly to Diane and Michael Schurman. On Facebook Diane wrote: “You’ve made Michael and I so...
16 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 19, 20243 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 8 - Tools of the artist's life
I wanted to share a few of the photos I took while working in the studio over the course of Cooper’s portrait. With some...
7 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 15, 20242 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 7 - Color swatches help the artist
I'm working my way down Cooper's body. This photo, taken in the studio while I was working, shows his body in progress with the pencil...
12 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 12, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 6
Cooper's blue collar added. I could have made the collar any color, but blue worked well with the colors in this portrait. To make these...
2 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 12, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 5 - Emerging...
1 Now that Cooper’s face is emerging, you can see why I wanted a background color that is a bit “wild”. 2 Cooper’s face completed. It was...
2 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 9, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 4 - The perfect color
Cooper’s face beginning to emerge. This was definitely the right background color for Cooper. He is starting to pop out nicely. Colored...
4 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 6, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 3 - Starting at the top...
In my last post I shared some of the unusual paper colors I was considering for Cooper’s portrait. It was fun to read your contrasting...
12 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 5, 20241 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 2 - Some wild colors
I picked out some unusual paper colors to do Cooper’s portrait, a surprise gift from Maura Reilly to Diane and Michael Schurman. I felt...
11 views
Kevin Roeckl
Apr 5, 20244 min read
Cooper portrait in progress 1 - A surprise
I'm starting another portrait of a Doberman with a special story. Maura Reilly asked if she could get on my wait list for a portrait of...
33 views
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 31, 20241 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...
20 views
Kevin Roeckl
Mar 23, 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...
3 views