Barley is drying...but will work on him again on Wednesday!

So much has to dry before I can work on him more...his nose, his muzzle, his paws, his hair, the grass...whew!  His eyes are okay for now, but I plan on reworking them to make them more soulful.  How?  Detail.  Concentrating on detail.  

The last thing to go in is the grass that falls on top of his coat.  

I will also give this a coat of varnish for shine.  

Heard from the owner and she said Marley's color is better and I've caught his soulfulness.  

And I smile...feels so good to know that.  

Two posts in one on Barley's progression.

Here is Barley shown from the front and from the side.  

He is not done yet, but I always like to show the owner the progress as I'm working on their animal's portrait.  It assures the owner I am working, and shows the customers waiting for a portrait why I haven't started theirs yet.  I like to concentrate on one at a time.   I give full devotion.

Here is a collage I made of Barley's progression so far along with a simplified description. I've been getting told that people who follow my blog like to see the way a portrait forms, and they are grateful of how I share my knowledge.  I just find it FUN!  

Additional coats on Barley and grass layered in!

Barley is progressing!

I layered in more layers of his coloring, starting to have the strokes go in the direction of his hair, and as you can see, layered in the initial layer of grass.  Long way to go on him!  

Another coat on Barley!

Barley got another coat of Yellow Ochre on his overall coat, and some Raw Sienna as well.  It looks a little orange, but that is just a step in the painting progress.  I also added in some lights and darks.  

I asked the owner if she would mind if I put Barley in a grassy area setting because I feel he's just "floating' on the canvas.  Waiting to hear back from her.  Sure I could have placed Barley lower on the canvas but he would have looked too low then.  So putting him in a grassy setting sounds pretty.  

Barley is taking form!

Starting to work on Barley.  First draw him!

I sent this photo to the customer to show her it is just the beginning and in the background is my former dog done the same size, same way...fun to see it at the beginning, and how it will develop.  

I wanted the dog to pop right away, it helps give placement to the animal, so I painted the background in acrylic which dries quickly.  I also wanted to give placement to the eyes so I gave them some quick color as well.

Now I'm starting to work in oils defining the eye and nose more.  There's so many colors on that nose, it will take a while to make it look perfect.  (I'm patient.)

I worked on the eyes a bit more, the nose a little more, started on the dog's nails, and laid in a wash of yellow ochre on the dog.  It's kind of hard to tell but I worked on this in art class.  Many people ask me why do you still take art classes?  Because I continually learn!  Besides that, it allows me three hours of being with people who like doing the same thing, the phone doesn't ring, housework doesn't call my name, it's uninterrupted time without hearing "Can you make me something to eat?", and other distractions.    

I worked on the dog's bone a little as well.  I outlined the dog a bit to show the ears and where the dog's body turns.  LONG WAY TO GO!  This needs to dry now.  During this drying time though, I study it, and look at where I can improve, what has to be done next, and other factors, like I'd like to place "Barley" in a setting perhaps in the grass with a sky background...so I'll ask the owner what she thinks.  It would make him look like he's lying on something other than floating on the canvas.  You never know what you will come up against when you start or how the painting will change.  I think having Barley lying in grass is a good idea.  

Here is a closeup of the eyes.  I think they're taking shape!   

Barley...the beginning.

I received this photo for a commissioned portrait, his name is Barley.

(Is that a cute name or what?)

The owner told me he had a "butterscotch" coloring, so immediately a red flag went up, because this photo above looked like a fawn color, and butterscotch colors can go from this color to more of an orange color, so I sent the owner a quick collage as shown below.

Sure enough, the owner assured me the photo on the right was closer to the true color of her dog.  

So yesterday I began to draw Barley on a 12" X 12" canvas which is 1" thick and is gallery wrapped since the owner didn't want to get into framing it.  

Once the owner received the picture of the drawing I did, I was told that I would be praised on Facebook for the work when it's completed and given to the recipient.

I also sent this photo of a painting I did of my former dog who was a cute little miniature English Bulldog.  His name was Cody.

Today I started my underpainting of Barley.  This is done in acrylic.  It fills in the canvas nooks and crannies a bit before oils go down, serving as a compass to see the dog better.  This is NOT the final color of the background, I plan on painting it more of a sky blue, very light, powdery blue.  

I put in some color to the eyes for placement.  I also did the dog's bone a little.  

Most customers enjoy watching the process of how I create their fur baby.  It gives them greater enjoyment of the final product too knowing all the work put into it.  I've always felt one must truly love people to do human portraits and love dogs to do dog portraits, and trust me, I've had some cute dogs to do!  This one's eyes, when you see it finished will melt your heart.  I just know it.  I can look at a dog's picture and know what will be it's best feature, and also which is the best picture from which to work.  

More tomorrow!  Oh, and I don't have to have this finished and shipped by Valentine's day, so I can enjoy the process more so and do a better job...like anything else, a job done too quickly only gets done as well as you can in the time allotted.  Nice thing is the two other portraits I have to do can now be done while I'm waiting for paint layers to dry!  It all works out in the end!!!  

Diesel...another memory portrait!

A lady contacted me on Facebook by the name of Brittney, and she's desiring a portrait in memory of her dog, "Diesel"...this is the dog...now, is this an adorable shot or what???  This will be a joy to do!  I just had to share this photo, SO cute!