Baxter, trickier than he looks...

Meet Baxter. 

He is the puppy brother of one of my original pet portraits I did back at the beginning of lockdown. 

His owner reached out to me and wanted another portrait so she would have of pair to display.

I thought it might be fun to share my process with you.

Marisela sent a collection of photos to capture his "old man" face and his striking markings.

She wanted the same size and a similar background so that they would be a pair.

That was a great idea but I must confess I was freaking out a little that I would not be able to recall the colors I used. Lucky me, got it right on the first try!

I then did a composite sketch of Baxter and used charcoal to transfer the image onto the pre-painted stretch canvas.

The next step was to do some quick outlining with black and white. I like to get the eyes in first because if they aren't right, it is going to look like someone else's dog! 

The funny thing is that a lot of times their eyes end up being covered with fur but I like to get the whole shape in before adding the top coats.

The next step is building in some layers. I played with this for awhile and then realized I was getting distracted by the skin spots from his close cropped hair do versus when his fur was growing out. 

I conferred with Marisela and she assured me I am heading in the right direction. I am fighting the temptation to get overly detailed because the portrait of his brother Cooper (the white dog peeking out in the photo below) is very graphic and loose and I want the styles to match so they will read as a pair.

To accomplish this I will use the same size brush as I used on Cooper's portrait so the paint strokes are approximately the same size and I will revisit the sizing and spacing on the canvas to make sure they are a good pair. I fell like I am in good shape now. One more session should finish him up.

I started doing these little pet paintings during lockdown when my shows were cancelled. 

They really are a bright spot!

 People love their pets and it's fun to delight clients with reminders of their furry friends.

Today is Day 6 of my efforts toward #the100dayproject . I am trying to get some words down everyday for 100 days to get me back in the habit of writing again. Stamina has been something I have been struggling with so I am pretty pleased I have made it at least this far. 

Thanks for following along. :)