Australian Shepherd Puppy Portrait
I have been hard at work finishing the oil portrait of this adorable Australian Shepherd puppy. Yesterday I did a live painting session and I will post the video as soon as I have edited the length. If you saw my previous post you saw how the person in the reference photo was removed and how I created a new background.
As with all of my paintings each new hour spend painting means that more color layers are added until the final stages, when the details are enhanced. I love that final stage, since to me it's like the icing on the cake. It makes the painting sing and truly come to life.
After the main color was placed I added more color to create depth and also worked a great deal to show all the detail in the fur. Australian Shepherd puppies have a soft wispy coat when they are young and it sticks out in little tufts. By varying brush sizes and application of paint I was able to recreate that softness.
When zooming in a lot more detail can be seen when it comes to the color and how the brush strokes were applied. By varying the spacing of the fur strands a more natural look is achieved. I like the eyes to be as expressive as possible and this is done by adding pinks and whites in small amounts around the pupil. Of course a painting is looked at from a distance so what counts is the overall effect that is achieved.
