German Shepherd Portrait 701

This is a portrait of a German Shepherd with the soccer ball he loved to play with. I have created variation in the dark fur through alternating thick and thin texture and a variety of colors. This resulted in dark fur that seems to reflect back the light and thereby looks much more natural than if everything would have been painted in a flat solid color.

The brushwork details are better visible when I show a close-up of the 12x18in painting. Here is a close-up of the well used soccer ball.