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This is "Taleyn" a beautiful Siberian Husky. I'm painting him in pastel on warm grey Mi-Tientes paper, from one of about 16 photos I took. You can't do dog portraits from life, they don't stay still long enough. Some of them hardly stay still long enough to take the photo!
This is the initial drawing, nothing very complicated, just making sure that everything is in the right place.
I always start on the eyes. I need to establish the expression and the personality of the dog. I try not to rush this stage. There's a lot involved in getting the shape and the colour right. Reflections, mostly from the sky, and the white highlight which makes the eye look moist.
Looks great! I love huskies!
Thanks Floody. So do I.
Starting to roughly block in the shape of the head now. Getting the nose underway.
Blood vessels are very close to the surface in dogs' ears, so a hint of pink goes in there.
It's starting to look like Taleyn now but a bit flat. I need to make it more three dimensional.
I'm starting to get a feel for the shape of the head now. Adding some light and shade and rubbing back some areas to bring out the soft undercoat of the dog. I haven't made any attempt to paint any hair or fur yet. That will come next.
OK, now I'm starting to paint the hair on Taleyn's coat. I don't try to paint every single hair, just make it look as though I have. Huskies have short, thick coats so I use short strokes of pastel always in the direction the coat lies. This is quite time consuming so I play relaxing music while I paint. ( Cold Chisel or The Battlefield Band does the trick for me!)
Nearly finished this one.
Put in more detail round the eyes and those beautiful furry ears.
going over the whole painting adjusting shadows and putting in highlights.
One more session should do it.
Dear Mr Pugwash..........Boy do you have talent!!!!!!!!!!
My wife is mad about dogs (we have 3) and she loves photography. She has never been able to capture what she thinks is "the perfect picture". That's he opinion. She looked at your progress with the threads and she reckons you are tops.
Its interesting isn't it, how talent is given out individually and how we use it. I can paint.......walls and architraves, picture frames.....but definitely not what is on show on the canvas
Thanks Rod, to you and your wife. I'm mad about dogs too (you couldn't tell, could you?)
I've often wondered whether you have a talent for something because you have a love for it, or you love it because of your talent. Either way I feel blessed to be able to provide someone with a lasting memory of a cherished pet. This young dog "Taleyn" has cancer and, sadly, a very short time left with us.
I've now added the background and put in all the little furry bits that overlap it.
Put in the dark dots on the top jaw and made some of the white bits brighter on the side where the light is coming from. Knowing when to stop is the trick now. All that's left is to sign it and frame it, show it to Django. Sometimes he barks at them, I have no idea why.
Thanks for looking.
Please feel free to share with all your doggy friends!
Do I love that painting?
YES I DO!!!
Wish I could do that for my recently departed boxer.
Regards
Wolffie