King Charles Spaniel Portrait

This is a wee portrait of Georgie commissioned on a 6 x 9" canvas board in high detail acrylic. I took this one away with me on holiday as it was easier to transport than some of my other bulkier commissions and when the rain poured (it's Wales - of course it poured!) I could tinker away with my paintbrush. I started by painting the background and decided on a natural blue/green to complement the orangey/browns of Georgie's eyebrows. I sketched the outlines on the canvas and applied texture paste to the white fur and mixed Payne's grey with texture paste for the ears. When that had set I started blocking in the main colours and spent quite a bit of time getting the eyes and nose details right. I'm not sure if it was the Welsh rain or or the canvas surface but my paints were misbehaving and just didn't want to stick. So with a bit of perseverance and a few thick paint layers later I managed to make the portrait take shape. Yellows and mauves were painted into the white areas, browns and deep blues into the blacks to bring them to life before knocking back the colours and toning them down. The top layers of paint were applied with a fine rigger for the single hairs and whiskers, and a tiny scrappy old synthetic brush whose bristles separate for great detailed strokes to the fur. With a large mount and frame surround this little portrait will look gorgeous!