Work In Progress Miniature schnauzer
Buster WIP part 4

Moving right along on this portrait of Buster.  Pretty happy with his eyes and the reflection….although I’m sure I will come back and do some final tweaking once the portrait is further along.  Still working on the left ear and eye brow area, but needed to leave it ‘rest’ a bit so I jumped down to work a bit more on the nose.  Noses are such a challenge.  It is so easy for them to ‘grow’ like pinocchio’s!  Then there is all that texture….reminds me of little pebbles.  I usually start soft….dabbling in a wash of color in a random fashion.  Next I like to deepen the color in the nostril as that is usually your darkest value.  Then it is just a matter of building up the values….again paying attention to shapes.  Once the darker values are in place I will begin adding the lighter values.  Sometimes it is just a matter of ‘back-n-forth’ working with dark then light until things start to pull together.  Doodling and noodling to try and keep the texture of those little pebbles.  Remember that ‘tracing’ I made from my original sketch.  I keep it handy…..placing it over the painting from time to time checking placement and overall size and shape.  That’s one thing I love about acrylics…so easy to make corrections….just paint it out and start again!

 

8 Comments

  1. How wonderful to see Buster coming to life! I’m so excited. I had never thought about painting the lifelike texture of a dog’s nose before, so I’d never realized how painstaking it can be. You are a model of patience and artistic intuition!

    1. Thanks Harmony! That’s one of the amazing things that happens as you develop your painting skills. You begin to notice…..all the little things that make this world such a miraculous and wondrous place. Like beautiful little wet, bumpy puppy noses!

  2. Debbie, Each time I lo0k at the progress I cry. I’m so thrilled that we met and I had you do this. I’m always excited to see the next step. You are fabulous. Can’t hardly wait for the steps to come.

    1. Ah…thanks Fran. I know how much this means to you and how loved that little guy is! It is a pleasure to do this for you guys. Can’t wait to see you next winter and get some “kisses” from my Buster Boy!

  3. Thanks so much for sharing your work. It is such a pleasure to watc the process and your tips/techniques. You really capture not only the fur but most amazing is how you seem to capture their personalities. The people you are commissioned by to must be thrilled! It is art they will treasure for many years to come.

    1. Hi Debbie! So nice to hear from you! Thank you so much for the beautiful compliments on my work…..means so much coming from a fellow Artist! Yes, it does give me great joy to see the owner’s faces light up when they see the final portrait. I know then I’ve done my job well!

  4. Thanks Susan…..yes, sometimes I think I have too much patience! It takes me forever to finish a portrait for that very reason…I just get so caught up and lost in the details! That is the first thing most folks do when they see my paintings is to reach out touch the ‘fur’. When that happens….I smile….cause I know I have done my work well!

  5. Love the way this is heading, Debbie. I swear I can feel the texture of those ears and the other ‘done’ parts. You have way more patience for detail than I ever will 🙂

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