It seems to be back to the curly/wavy fog portraits. I swear portraits come in groups. It is either the same breed or the same type of fur or the same colour. This time it seems to be fur style! Curly. Molly is definitely very wavy. Almost curly, but not as curly a Nellie. Nellie is an airedale. It has been aong time since I painted and airedale portrait so I can’t wait get started on her tomorrow.
Her portrait is all sketched out ready to go as you can see below and this is the reference photograph for her portrait.
As you can see from the reference photograph, Nellie is just sat infornt of a boring brick wall and on a concrete surface. After a discussion with my client we decided to change that to some lush green fields that were slightly out of focus for the background. Orange and greens go together so nicely and the blue of the sky will really make the colours pop. If you look at the photograph of Nellie you will tell it was taken in the sunlight so the sky would have to be blue or broken cloud as we need to sun to be out and keep the authenticity of the painting.
Below you can see a couple of progress photos of the background coming together. I decided as it is a fairly small portrait that to use the pastel pencils would be better than the big soft sticks to render the background.
Been making good, if a little slow progress on Nellie’s portrait today. It can be difficult when the kids are off and it being bank holiday Monday, but I am pretty sure she will be finished sometime Wednesday. I have mainly started blocking in where the shadows and highlights go, this will be all completed before I start adding the detail. With Ozzy’s portrait I found I ended up nearly completing sections and then going on to a new one, do the same and so on, then bringing it all together at the end. I think the reason I am doing Nellie’s dog portrait slightly differently is because she has some definite areas of dark and light that makes it easier to block out first, the whole painting and then add the detail.
Well this is the wrong photo, but you can get the gist of the blocking process from this head shot. I will get a full body one tomorrow, well try to remember anyway, but this does show fairly well what I mean.
With all the chaos of half term again I really have failed to keep my promise. I am so sorry for being so useless. I finished the blocking in all over Ellie’s portrait and then went for the detail. I have to say I am more than delighted with how she has turned out and the way the greens and oranges have complimented each other. My client was also delighted with outcome, which for me is the most important thing at the end of the day.
Here is Nellie’s very own portrait finished.
I have now framed Nellie’s painting and I chose the frame for my client as he wasn’t sure what would work best. I opted for a mid oak/wooden frame that would compliment Nellie’s colouring perfectly. It was the perfect choice. I haven’t got the best photo of it, so I will reattempt a better photo tomorrow to show you.