My next portrait up is a German Short Haired Pointer called Bella. I have done a couple of GSP’s in the past and I am certainly looking forward to painting this gorgeous lady, as you all know I have a passion for working gun dog breeds. She won’t be in your typical gun dog setting however, she is standing on the beach with a lovely out of focus seascape behind.
I sketched out her portrait today and she is all ready for me to start work tomorrow.
I photographed the sketch of Bella today and ordered the frame to go with her portrait. I think the frame chosen will look lovely, but I will wait until it is framed to show you.
Below is the outline of Bella, ready to start work tomorrow
I feel Bella’s pet portrait has been a bit neglected recently and that is because she has. I am so sorry Bella. With my horrid week she has been shelve and there hasn’t been an awful lot of artwork going on at all sadly. I did manage to finish Mischief and Tinker though and you can see their pet portraits here.
Anyway back to beautiful Bella! I decided the neglect needed to end and I actually managed to get started on her. This is going to be a tricky portrait and I am not 100% sure how I am going to approach it as she has many flecks and marks being that she is a GSP. I was also unsure whether to do the background with soft pastel sticks or pencils. So far I have used pencils. It is most likely it will stay like that and the painting will be finished with them now, but you can never say never!
I have also started blocking in her shadows and the basic shapes so I can start getting a feel for her proportions and where all her intricate markings go. I think I might start adding some in soon, just so if feel like I am not going astray. I guess in a weird way it is a bit like joining all the dots!
I am also getting a feel for the colours that will be used. A lot of dark browns and some venitian red, my good old friend Derwent chocolate and I am not 100% sure yet of the rest, I will be sure to let you know. For the sea, I have so far used a cool grey and of course some blues. However I don’t have the range of lightfast blues I need, I don’t think, in pencils, so this is where I may end up resorting to some soft pastel sticks. We shall see. Of course I will keep you updated with the progress on her pet portrait. For now you can see my basic blocking in!
So I have the lurgy, it’s not the worst I have had, but it’s made me a tad slower today! However I was awake early an working on Bella’s portrait which I have finally finished. I am really pleased with how she has turned out and the result of her many speckles has delighted me! I was a tad apprehensive about those and how they would look!
The sea is lovely and the depth of field in the photo has worked and translated well to her pet portrait. You may recognise it, if you look closely I used part of it for Coopers portrait as it was just what I was looking for! I nipped upstairs and scanned her in and got the approval from my client. Just to frame and pack her up tomorrow. The frame is lovely and I can’t wait to show you the framed article!
Despite having a lousy cold I managed to frame beautiful Bellas portrait today. I think you will agree the frame looks fantastic with her pet portrait.
Hahaha look I got my feet in the photo! Excuse my black toe nail if you can see that much detail!