Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Large Dog Commission

This is becoming painting of the month, instead of painting of the day!

Remember the painting I showed you a while back? Well, it has been finished and delivered, so I can now show you the steps I go through on a larger commission. After looking through the photos the the client has sent me we decide on one that would make a good painting. In this case, it is a photo of the two golden retrievers on a path. They also provide me with some additional reference photos that show the dogs' faces and coloration more clearly.


I tone my canvas, (darken it a bit with thinned down paint) This is done so that I can better judge the relative lightness & darkness and the color of the paint that I apply, as opposed to putting it on a stark white canvas.

Here is the initial freehand drawing on the canvas:


I decide to change the front dog's tail so it is less awkward looking. All my paintings are done freehand, and you'll be able to tell in the next few days when totally mess up the dog on the right, which I don't really understand because she looks just about perfect right here. Well, just wait, and you'll see how I can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory LOL . . .

Since you've already seen the step above, here is the next day's progress:


Starting to block in the dark areas and lay out the basic composition shapes of dark versus light. Tomorrow, it'll start to get fun!

As always, thank you for your interest, and your letters and support!! I truly appreciate them!

Liz

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I appreciate your taking time to comment on my paintings! Thanks for your interest and feedback. - Liz

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