Sally Dog: Oil painting step by step
This is an oil painting I did recently of my awesome dog Sally. It was painted onto wood which I had prepped with white gesso.
Using a photo I took as a reference I sketched out a drawing and then did an under-painting of burnt umber and ivory black to determine the values.
I then began trying to define the shapes and lighting with hard edged brush strokes in black and some white for the highlights.
I added some more browns in at this point, painted in her collar and the background and called it done when I feel like her personality came through. I was pleased with how using a more hard edged angular brush stroke worked on this piece since I usually do a softer more blended approach.
TOO MUCH?
I sometimes struggle with feeling like I'm overworking my pieces and wishing I could go back a step or two.
With no ctrl-z in real life, it can be useful to seek outside opinions around the time you feel done but also feel the urge to keep tweaking and tweaking. Or to just step away for a while and see how you feel later.
This comic by Alex Norris AKA Webcomic Name sums it up quite nicely.
Some of my other step by step posts
Evil Eye Skull: Oil painting step by step
The Ritual Master: Ink drawing step by step
Green Skull on Wood: Oil painting step by step
Its so true that it can be hard to know when to stop and it sucks so badly that there is no undo in real life, there are so many times that I have gone a step too far on an art piece and regretted it, I think that's part of the process of developing as artists and it shows that we are always trying to do better.
Your dog is so beautiful!! I think this painting is awesome and I really like the soulfulness of the eyes. I definitely learned something from seeing your technique broken down into stages. Thank you so much for sharing and I am definitely following. :-)
Thank so much! And thanks for the discussion, I think you are right and it's just part of finding your way. Glad my step by step post could teach someone something! I need to set a timer to remind me to take more photos though!
I know what you mean!! I always forget that I am meant to be taking photos because I get too engrossed in the work I am creating. A timer is a great idea.
A very realist portrait of your dog. You have a lot of talent.
Thank you!
Aww, she looks so cute.
Thanks! she is : )