So my next portrait to get sketched out are two beautiful Rottweilers named Ronnie and Lola. I love Rotties. When I grew up in Biggin Hill we used to play in a cul-de-sac opposite our house and a couple that lived there owned a Rottie. I can’t for the life of me remember his name, but he was such a gentle boy. I loved him and as a result I used to dream of owning one. I also dreamed of owning a GSD. Funny really when you think of the two dogs I have ended up with couldn’t be further from these two breed. A Jack Russell and Chihuahua x Yorkie! There you go, it’s funny how things turn out.
Anyway back to the pet portrait. My client sent me a lovely photo of the pair and I decided a square crop would work best. I am planning to remove the paving they are sitting on and replace it with grass and I will add in the tips of their ears that have been cut out.
Here is the reference photo for their portrait
The portrait is all sketched out and tomorrow I shall be transferring it to the paper tomorrow ready to start work on them. I am really looking forward to it as it’s been a fair while since I painted a Rottweiler portrait.
I have started work on this gorgeous pair today and it’s going well so far. I have started the usual blocking in process and I look for shapes in the outlines. Everything is made up of shapes and negative space
Rather than looking at is a whole breaking it down this way and where the shapes created by the fur, muscle and shadow and highlights, and how the relate to each other helps break the portrait down to manageable sections. Look at the size of the shapes in relation to each other and where one begins and another ends. Try and look at a photograph of an animal and see if you can see them.
First part of the blocking in process
I only had this morning to work, but even so I am made good progress with these gorgeous duo! I have made a start on the detail.. I love the detail part. It’s like the icing on the cake. As their heads are actually quite small it takes a lot of pencil sharpening! It’s lovely when you have a beautifully sharp pencil but annoying when they wear down as I hate sharpening. I am getting down to some real stubs now so need to make a pencil order soon!
I think you can see where I have started filling in the details, always making the pencil marks in the direction of the fur. It. Looks wrong if you make.the marks in a different direction. Almost unnatural.
Gosh I have been so lax with this blog haven’t I? I think this is about the beginning of my mini personal crisis.
I am sure I have a scan of the finished portrait somewhere and I will try and find it for you. In the mean time, I have managed to get a photo of it framed for you to see. It is, again, one of my favourite frames, the dark wood one. I like black, but sometimes I think it can dominant a portrait unless it’s really, really dark, and although the rottweilers are black I wouldnt class it as a dark portrait overall.
Anyway enough of my waffle. Here it is.
Not too much glare. I couldn’t take the photo in my usual spot as I had a house full of children this afternoon! Maybe I try and get a better one in the morning if I have time.