Finishing The Oil Portrait Of The Dog

Today I completed my oil portrait for the client and I will say I'm pleased. Here is the rest of the process.

Started with putting in the eyes. Once those are in and he's staring back at me, lol, I know I'm ready to finish the painting.

I'm very particular about the eyes since as you know, that's where you see the dog's soul. I first put in a bit of color then add the pupil. The next step I make sure the outline of the eye itself is right.

I keep to my style of painting so my next step is to add a bit of Pthalo blue to the pupil which signifies the sky light hitting the eye itself. After that I add white or warm white with a mixture of either Alizarin Crimson or Burnt sienna from the eyeball color adding highlights. The strongest being pure white.

I feather in facial hairs now start thinking of a background. Rule of thumb, light against dark.

I choose a Burnt Sienna with a Warm White and let some of the canvas show through in parts. At the final stage I feather around his ears and top of head to soften then again at the bottom around his neck. I want that face to standout completely.

The finished and signed painting!

Hope you enjoyed seeing the process. Thank you. @originalwork

Warmly,
Sheila