Dog Pastel Portrait

Completely finished, this portrait of Major is bound for the framers before travelling to surprise its owner on his birthday. I hope he likes it! The background proved a bit tricky as I wanted to draw the stream and trees in quite a detailed way. However the more detail I added the more Major's head seemed to disappear. I decided to smudge it right back and lighten it all before increasing the detail on Major's fur and making sure I had the right shadow and colour balance. I'm looking forward to seeing it framed and ready to hang.

See some more of my dog and pet portraits

Dog Pastel Portrait

Traditional new commission of a lovely alsation golden retriever cross called Major, a name that seems to suit him as he looks quite dignified and regal in all his photos. I like the way he sometimes sits with his paw curled around, looking straight at the camera. I'm going to place him on some ground by a stream he apparently likes to jump in but for now, here are the first few stages of the drawing. His fur is mostly black but he has an interesting coat with lots of rusty brown speckled throughout and even some blond bits. I have used a wide range of browns, reds and ochres with a lot of the black and white pastel and have added blue in contrast to make the black shine.

Loose style portrait

The finished portrait of the little girl I have painted in a slightly looser style than usual. The painting is meant to be black and white with a hint of colour so the last couple of stages I used mostly black and white acrylic to focus on the highlights and shadows and a little colour to soften the edges. I added a crimson red to the background at the last minute just to give the portrait a bit more warmth. I enjoyed painting this style and may disappear up into my studio to create a few more. Perhaps my cat will pose for me...