JulieAnn Allen

Not quite finished

2011-08-10T22:58:00.000-06:00

This is coming along, still have some details and finishing to do.

I'm also deciding about adding the cute, if less than accurately applied, nail polish. What do you think? Check it out in the photo.

My niece

2011-08-02T22:53:00.000-06:00

This is an unfinished portrait of my niece Karissa that I started some years ago. I've pulled it out of the archives to finally finish it!

Here is the reference photo. My sister Pat is the photographer and recipient of the finished painting.

Progress

2011-07-08T20:55:00.002-06:00

Next installment of Ziva's underpainting...I'm liking the look of this as a monochromatic piece and have decided to make a print of it before completing the color portrait. This is almost there, just a wee bit more polish.

Notice what's missing? Ziva's training collar! Much better, don't you think?

Beginnings

2011-07-01T18:44:00.001-06:00

Hold on tight, here we go! This is a good start on the underpainting, the first step after transferring my drawing to the painting surface. There is still a lot of work to do before this is ready for color, but I wanted you to get a preview of this step.

Light Umber Prismacolor pencil on white Rising Stonehenge paper

The vote is in!

2011-06-26T18:19:00.000-06:00

You voted and we listened...there's something about Ziva's eyes in #2 that just captures your heart!

We toyed with the idea of doing her full body, because it shows her great form and obedience, but decided the eyes have it all, the rest is extraneous.

Vote on Ziva pics

2011-06-20T16:25:00.000-06:00

You are invited to join me on the journey of creating a beautiful legacy portrait...

This is Ziva, Lorraine's awesome American Bulldog, not quite a year old. She is such a sweetheart!

We got together for a fun photo shoot and Ziva was such a ham for the camera...or maybe she just enjoyed all the extra attention! These are the selections we have narrowed down to for an "up close and personal" portrait. What is your fav?

"Ollie Bear's Christmas on Grandpa's Farm" storyboards

2011-06-15T20:02:00.005-06:00

Our bear family!

2011-06-15T19:50:00.002-06:00

More bear concept drawings...

2011-05-24T15:02:00.001-06:00

New Composition

2011-05-02T17:14:00.004-06:00

I ran across these two photos of Brook's brother Zack from the photo shoot for one of my previous portraits.

What if Brook is sitting on a bale of hay instead of watching a parade? So I did some photoshop magic and made a mock-up of a possible direction...

TC Bear, working title

2011-04-18T16:27:00.007-06:00

You are cordially invited to join us, as we begin our journey into the world of little TC Bear! His adventures will begin with the release of his first children's book this Fall, "Christmas on Grandpa's Farm".

Following are some early concept character sketches. Feel free to vote for your favs in the comment section ! =)

And here are some concepts for the adult bears...

Drawing

2010-10-24T20:05:00.000-06:00

Still don't like the diagonal. I've got an idea for a way better painting if we can loose the parade part. I wonder...

Face Study

2010-10-23T19:25:00.000-06:00

I decided to do a monocromatic study of Brook's sweet little face to make sure of this venture before proceeding further...mom gave a big OK, so we're going forward!

Where's the parade?

2010-10-19T19:42:00.004-06:00

Well, Brook may be watching rodeo parade, but we don't see any of it in the cell phone photo from the last post...

So I found a suitable photo to reference from!

Just wanted a bit of something parade-like to put in the street, so I flopped the image and used the horses legs.
Here are a couple photoshop versions, with some other changes to improve the composition.

I like the closer crop better, more focus on Brook. :)

Don't like the green diagonal though...will have to do something different.

Adorable photo!

2010-10-19T19:18:00.002-06:00

Brook's mom captured this absolutely adorable pic of her watching a parade, with a cell phone. I was a little concerned about being able to get a good likeness for the portrait with the low quality of this image to work from, but it's so darn cute! Can't resist, I'm giving it a try. :)

Illustration

2009-09-10T15:58:00.019-06:00

Line Drawing

2009-09-10T15:57:00.006-06:00

Character Development

2009-09-10T15:50:00.010-06:00

Character Sculpts

2009-09-10T15:42:00.008-06:00

Figure Study

2009-09-10T15:35:00.009-06:00

Graphic Design

2009-09-10T15:23:00.005-06:00

Environment Design

2009-09-10T15:18:00.006-06:00

Matte Painting

2009-09-10T15:13:00.005-06:00