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Checking In on Old Friends
Behind the scenes with the Soulmates, and some good shipping fee news
Lucia Heffernan
November 05, 2025
Before I get to the Soulmates, has anyone NOT heard about last month’s jewel heist at the Louvre? I’m not saying I know anything, but I think this rascal might be involved:
Louvre Loot - 16”x16”
Behind the Scenes with the Soulmates
I returned to one of my favorite topics last month: giraffes. Sometimes I put them in human situations:
High Society - 32”x26”
But often I find their big eyes, complex patterns and unusual stature make them fascinating subjects on their own. One of my series — Soulmate — features two giraffes just hanging out together, looking at the viewer and thinking their own thoughts. Here’s a work-in-progress of the latest:
I first create my image in Photoshop. Each part of the image is pulled from images online, or stock photos, or images I’ve stored over the years. I can mirror images, change their angle, stack them, combine them, change their colors and do all sorts of other manipulations to create the composition I want. Getting the image right can take anywhere from a few hours, to days.
Once I have my composition, I draw the image with a pastel pencil onto my canvas. The canvas has an acrylic wash, and is gridded to help me accurately lay out my image. I usually grid my canvases 8 across by 8 down, but here you’ll see I added additional small grids because the giraffes’ fur pattern greatly increased the level of detail in their faces.
Here are my friends with their background painted in. If you compare this to my digital comp, you’ll notice I decided not to include clouds in the background, in order to really emphasize the giraffes’ necks. Instead, I used a gradient where the background color gradually becomes more blue as it moves up the canvas, to give a sense of depth.
Detail of the left giraffe’s face. It’s amazing how a few initial strokes can start to flesh out a face. I think giraffes have very soulful eyes.
Left giraffe finished! Notice that the lower left part of the giraffe’s face is in shadow, which identifies the image’s light source as coming from the other side of its face. Showing the direction of light is crucial because it locates the subject in a real place and time in the world.
The right giraffe in an awkward phase. Our patient friend is very much ready for a body, thank you very much. And when you really look at an animal, you’ll notice they have little hairs sticking out in all sorts of places, especially around their mouths.
Whew! Body complete. Note the right giraffe’s lower body is in shadow while the left giraffe’s lower body isn’t, which tells you the right giraffe’s neck is slightly further back than the left giraffe’s, and the light source is coming from up and to the right of the right giraffe. Next, the painting is varnished to set and protect the colors, then it’s off to the framer for my CODA show!
Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
New Lower Shipping Fees!
Friendly Skies - 18”x18”
It’s getting rough out there folks — I hope everyone’s still keeping calm and getting their art fix on! A few months ago I introduced $6 shipping on my greeting card sets, and it’s been so popular I’m extending the lower rate to everything on my website. US orders over $200, and international orders over $300, still get free shipping.
Those greeting cards are pretty awesome, by the way! They come packaged in groups of five, and you can mix and match your favorite animals from assortments like Big and Bearly, Cow You Doin’?, Geese and Quackers, and Nobody Here But Us Chickens. Have fun!
Calendars Still Available
I still have a few 2026 calendars left. They usually run out by year end, so order soon!
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