Old Friend

This is a dog who has pasted away.  His owner is really feeling the loss.  A friend of mine knows me and ask asked to hire me to paint a picture of this dog for his friend.  The photo he sent me gave me pause.  I have to have a good enough photo to get a good painting. 

I gave the image a little tilt to horizontal and the dog looked a little perkier.  Once I started painting I realized that there were many shapes and value changes in his coat and face.  This would work out well.  My initial drawing of the face was a little off.  I think I got the adjustments right. 

The fur on this dog is dark.  My job is to give him life, and not end up with a mass of dark paint.  No brown pigments were the right color.  Blue, and violet and sometimes green became the the under painting or was mixed directly on the paper. 

This was more work than I expected, but I think this is a success