Lucy ~~ by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Lucy," 10" square, commissioned portrait of a very personable Boxer, done in Golden Open Acrylics on panel, private collection (many thanks to my returning collector!)   Lucy is full of advice and not afraid to share it. She also thinks she's a lap dog (but YOU try and tell her otherwise) and loves her Daddy more than anything.   This is a Christmas gift, so if you know Lucy, please don't go and spoil anything or I'll get in big trouble.   By the way, Lucy's painting was photographed in process and updated to the studio Facebook page in the Mobile Uploads folder. Just in case you are interested in seeing all the stages between the underpainting and the finished thing.   Thank you for supporting my artwork and providing my livelihood, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Underpaintings   In my studio, underpaintings serve a couple of purposes: They immediately kill any fear of working with a blank surface (yes, I get intimidated by a clean panel and a challenging idea) They provide a value other than bright white for comparing colors/brushwork (it's way easier to judge whether I've got the right value mixed when I'm using a middle value as opposed to one of the two extremes) They are an excuse to kick the saturation up. Way, way up. Although the first two are probably the most important, the third reason is my favorite. Because I like to layer loose and messy brushwork, and when I do this, I get great "peek-a-boo-pockets" inbetween. And when I have a boldly colored underpainting, those pockets reveal surprise touches of color that delight the eye. Just like Lucy.