I literally cannot tell how long I have been waiting to get a commission for these stunning dogs. I have loved them for years. They are herding dogs, similar to our border collies. I have a few breeds I have yet to do portraits of, but I am so delighted to be able to add these to the list of dogs I have painted. Another breed I am really, really keen to paint is a Saluki! Maybe one day!
Anyway back the Breaker and Bundy’s portrait. Mother and son duo. My client sent me a lovely photo to work from, he wanted them moved slightly as one was a little more set back than the other. An easy edit in photoshop, so I did that and my client was happy for me to proceed with the portrait.
Below you can see the outline drawing of them and the portrait is ready to go.
I started blocking in the darks as I usually do. I often start with the darkest areas and the eyes. These dogs have black patches on them and areas of blue roan, so I started with the black patches around their eyes and then continued to the roan areas. For these I chose the mid shade, or hue for the base and then from there I can add the dark and light flecks on top. This helps create a good sense of depth in their fur. I will often soften these first layers down and then add more detail on top again, which really creates depth and makes it look 3D.
Below you can see the progress I have made and particularly on the bodies you can see where I have laid down the mid grey and started adding the darker areas of fur. Their muzzles were done in exactly the same way, just with predominantly lighter flecks. There will be some darker ones soon.
Wow I am sorry about the quality of the photo, it didn’t look that bad on my phone. I will try and get a better one tomorrow!
I have worked out why they are bad! Finger print on the lens! Naughty me. I will definitely get a photo of the portrait and the progress tomorrow for you!
I am afraid due to unforseen circumstances the last few days I didn’t get the time to take any updated progress shots. All is fine, just I needed to focus on making sure all my pet portraits were finished in time. I am still waiting on the frame which was due in today and delayed, looking unfortunately unlikely to be in tomorrow which is exceedingly frustrating, but totally out of my control. Hopefully it will be resolved tomorrow and delivery will be Friday.
Anyway here are Breaker and Bundy finished and all scanned in!
