Here’s Caesar’s underpainting. If you’re curious, I don’t use any black in my paintings at all. I haven’t in quite some time. Since there is no “black” in nature, my black consists of various combinations of indigo with raw umber, sap green and/or magenta. I think this produces a much more natural portrait with true earth tones.
You can see that my reference photos aren’t really “perfect”, but I wanted you to see that sometimes, if it’s all you have, it can still work. A few photos that show me personality, coat length and color and a bit of eye color, and I can usually fill in the rest. I know how important it is that the end result replace those photos with a clear, lifelike memory of a pet.
That said, I’ve got Caesar speed drying and I’m going to try to finish his portrait tomorrow afternoon.
{9 Comments}
I didn’t know that about black! You really do learn something new every day… :flower:
I love that you explain the process and show the work in progress. Particularly interesting is how the painting goes from an almost cartoon look to one of great depth and realism. You, Leanne, are a genius.
looks like he’s about to lick me. 😉
All I know is that when Leanne painted my 4 black cats, they all were spectacular. Chelsea (if you can check out her portrait in particular, you will be amazed) at how beautiful she came out. Her portrait is an EXACT likeness… And I am such a proud mom. Thanks to Leanne.
It seems to be coming along really nicely.
I have a black lab and boxer mix myself and can certainly see why someone would commission you to a portrait of their beloved doggy.
Caesar is such a cutie pie! I know it’s going to be another wonderful painting that will make his owner very proud!
That sounds perfectly logical to me. Great thinking since the results seems to come out sooo good. He is already looking even more alive than in the photos!
Well you’ve already captured Caesar’s personality and it’s not even done yet! :yahoo:
didn’t know that about “black” in nature. Makes sense, though. 🙂
I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind.
1. Switching to wordpress. Is it pricy?
2. How much would you charge a starving author to do a blog design around an illustration?
🙂
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