Working through the background...

The plan is to finish this ASAP! ;) Working off & on throughout the day today :D

Started this morning after drinking coffee ;) I start by adding abstract shapes to the background with a white-out pen.

Then, I add color to the area that would be the middle of the shape. From there I add the dark shadow to the highlighted side. 

After I have the texture that I am comfortable with I add different shades of brown to the top of the shapes to make them look as if they are further in the background ;)

ONE side finished...now for the other side...LOL!

Background work...

After i got sick my poor lil guy got sick & it was MISERABLE around here! Now that we are all back to true form I am ready to finish this PORTRAIT ;)

This is the larger rocks in the background....the color was so different from the rest of the background so I decided to do them first then add on top.

1st layer on the entire background

2nd & 3rd layers on the entire background

3rd & 4th layers on the entire background

Next step is to go through the whole background & add the highlights on all the little rocks that will be in the brown areas of the background. I will use a white-out pen to add the highlights then I will go through & add the shadows to each rock :) Gonna be a process, but i think it will look AMAZING ;)

Final touches...now on to the background ;)

Layer 7

Layers 8 & 9

FINISHED ;)

Hoping to have the background done after naptime...LOL!

Finally able to get some work done ;)

First 2 layers on the body

3rd layer

 Layers 4 & 5

6th layer ;) Adding depth to the body

Still working...more pics to come before the end of the day :)

I AMAZE myself....LOL!

After blending all of the layers together with my colorless blending pencil...best thing EVER made ;)

Highlights added & ears finished! YEAH!

Now time to move on to the body and the background ;)

Most recent scanned version...

I worked on her sweet face some more this morning & since I cant seem to get a good photo i went ahead and scanned it in ;) Looks really awesome this way. I love deepening the shadows on her face just makes everything work :) The white line around her snout is for when I start the highlights, which is my next hurdle. Hoping to finish soon & i will post updated photos as i complete different stages.

Busy, BUSY!

 3 layers of color

5 layers of color 

6 layers of color

7 layers of color

Stopping here for the night...not the best pic that I could have of the 8th & 9th layers but it is really looking good either way ;)