Man’s Best Friend in Progress

For the last few years I have participated in the Lupus Foundation Charity fashion show. Last year I donated a dog portrait. The recipient cashed in so she would have a special gift for her husband, a portrait of their beloved dogs Lucy and Daisy.

I love animals so it goes without saying how much I enjoy painting them. I took some step by step shots of my process. I thought I would share that with you now.

The first thing I do, after taking photos, is to get the sketch worked out to get a pleasing composition and accurate details of the subject

Taking pictures of these dogs was a challenge. They were both very excited so to get them to sit in the exact position I needed for the format of the painting, well, just wasn’t going to happen.

The beauty of painting is the “power” I have to manipulate elements such as body parts, what’s in the painting and where things are placed. It  is totally under my control. Mwoahahaha!

Hehe! In this case I used different photos of different poses and placed the dogs as I wanted them. Lucy, the dog in the back was a bit camera shy so I only caught one or two shots of her looking my way so I used one of those heads on the body I liked.

Once my charcoal sketch is to my satisfaction, I use a color called yellow ochre to hold the sketch while I begin the painting. It’s a color easily covered and I don’t lose the drawing.

The next step is a foundation layer of paint. I often use a warm color like a yellow orange or straight

orange. In this case a red light to “glow” through the top layers emphasizing the warmth of the sun and creating and interesting vibration.

At this stage I begin to add the sunlit areas and the shadow areas. This creates atmosphere  for the day and the beginning colors to describe the dogs.

Here I continue to develop the background bringing in more details. It’s important for the animals to become a part of their surroundings but yet stand out as the focal point.

Final painting where all those magical finishing touches take place to make them come alive!

Thank you for reading this. I would so appreciate your sharing this to your facebook wall.

If you want your favorite furry friend painted, please reach out to me at julie@juliebraytonfineart.com for more information.