I have started on another dog portrait which I will call "Loyal Boots on the Ground". The owner of this dog is in the air force and the boots are hers. There are many ways to depict a pet but I have chosen to include the boots.
By having the dog's paw on the owner's military boots, we're visually linking the idea of "Boots on the Ground" with the loyalty and companionship that dogs offer to those in service.
The reference photo is very dark and the first thing that had to be done was to lighten the image and see if I can get any details out of the photo.
Although the brightened photos still leaves a lot to be desired, there is enough information to turn it into a painting. While working on the photo, I also noticed that the bum and part of the tail were missing so I added it to the preliminary sketch.
The underpainting offers me a roadmap and it helps to workout the light and dar areas of the painting.
I started to put down some color deciding weather or not to include what looks like a curtain. I found it to distracting and took cues from the colors and changed the background to something softer and more timeless looking.
Happy with the result, I continued on. The overall idea and color scheme is now in place and my client can get a feel for what the layout will look like. The painting underwent many changes until I called it finished as you can see in the video.
If you like to see my portrait rates click below...
