how I paint

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I'm finished my portrait of Mocha Bear (Mokie) and Monte from Dogster. You can see the original photos and sketch here.



Their mom suggested a field of dandelions as a background for them, and I think it set the perfect mood for the painting. I painted the dandelions in greater detail in the foreground, and approximated the further away dandelions with little dots of paint to show perspective.

Here are some detail shots:

Mokie



Monte

Related Posts:

• Jesse the Black Lab (finished)
• Chilli, Finished (finished)
• Mocha Bear (chow)
• Mokie and Monte's Portrait, Sketch (chow)
• Malamute Painting, Finished (background)

I'm painting a portrait of Jesse, a black lab. I don't have a scanned copy of his photos, so I'll just show the finished portrait:



Black smooth haired dogs can be difficult to paint because of the low contrast of the fur. Jesse has a nice shiny coat so I was able to see his features well.

The steps of the portrait are after the jump.

» Read the rest of this post...

Related Posts:

• Painting in Progress - Three Labs (black lab)
• Painting in Progress, Black Labs, Part 2 (black lab)
• Chilli, Finished (lab)
• Chilli (lab)
• Star the Pit Bull (sketch)
• Mocha and Monte, Finished (background)
• Malamute Painting, Finished (background)

I'm working on my painting of Mocha Bear and Monte. Mocha Bear is a rescued Chow mix.

Here's my most recent progress on Mocha so far.


You can see the steps leading up to this point after the jump.

» Read the rest of this post...

Related Posts:

• Mocha and Monte, Finished (chow)
• Mokie and Monte's Portrait, Sketch (chow)
• Monte the Saint Bernard (fur)
• Malamute Painting, Part 1 (fur)

I've been working on my portrait of Star, the lovely Pitbull from last week. Here's my most recent progress on her painting:



You can see the steps leading up to this point after the jump.

» Read the rest of this post...

Related Posts:

• Monte the Saint Bernard (underpainting)
• English Bulldog Portrait, Part 1 (underpainting)

I've started my portrait of Monte, the rescued St. Bernard from Dogster.

Here's a detail shot of his portrait so far:


The progress up to this point is after the jump.

» Read the rest of this post...

Related Posts:

• Pitbull, Part 2 (underpainting)
• English Bulldog Portrait, Part 1 (underpainting)
• Mocha Bear (fur)
• Malamute Painting, Part 1 (fur)

This is Star, the lovely Pit Bull that won the Amstaff Photo Contest:



Here's her sketch:



I'm going to paint a head shot portrait of Star but I haven't chosen the background yet.

Related Posts:

• Dogs from the Milo Foundation (pit bull)
• Jesse the Black Lab (sketch)
• Chilli (sketch)

I'm finished my portrait of Chilli, a beautiful Labrador Boxer.

Here she is:



I made some subtle adjustments from the original photo to make her look calm and relaxed. I gave her a sky background since she loves to play outdoors.

Related Posts:

• Jesse the Black Lab (lab)
• Chilli (lab)
• Mocha and Monte, Finished (finished)

I'm starting a portrait of Mocha Bear (Mokie) and Monte from Dogster:





I'm going to combine their two photos to make a portrait of them sitting in a field of dandelions. Here's the sketch:



I really like the happy, casual poses in both photos. They both have such great smiles.

Related Posts:

• Italian Greyhound Painting, Part 1 (dogster)
• Yorkshire Terrier Painting, Part 1 (dogster)
• Mocha and Monte, Finished (chow)
• Mocha Bear (chow)

I took detailed photos of the little girl's painting progress in the new human portrait from yesterday's post.




I used a lot of layering to create the rosy glow in her face. For most of these steps, I thinned out my paint with retarder medium to keep it from drying too fast, giving me time to blend.

» Read the rest of this post...

Related Posts:

• Children and a Yellow Lab (girl)
• Painting from Stories: Jim's Glider (people)

It's been a long time since I last posted but I'm proud to show my new human portrait:



I used this original photo, and added the family dog using supplementary photos:



I chose to simplify the colors in the background and change the color of the boy's shirt to add more emphasis on the three faces.
I really enjoy the challenge of painting people and I hope to paint more this year. Next post, I'll show a step by step progression of the girl's face.

Related Posts:

• Portrait of a Girl (girl)
• Painting from Stories: Jim's Glider (people)
• Golden Lab Portrait (yellow lab)
• Filo at the Beach, Waves (yellow lab)

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