Bear Painting in Progress Stage 2

Work on Bear has continued and as promised the fur is getting darker . I tried a couple of different shots, but can’t seem to get one today that does have that funky haze on it. I suppose it’s because the paint is too wet and reflects the light off the surface. Anyhow, I am incorporating the blues found in the background and use them to punch up the painting. Note how it’s used in the nose to form the nostrils. I have a lot of catching up to do, so today I will keep the post very short. Feel free to leave a comment and et me know what you think so far.

Reference Photo of Bear

In a perfect world, I would only paint living pets, but unfortunately our four-legged friends leave us and create a void that is deeply felt. I have been commissioned to paint a posthumous portrait of a dog by the name of  ”Bear”.  I love the beautiful color of this dog’s fur and his pretty eyes and it saddens me that he has gone to doggy heaven.  While going through the photo selection process my client and I settled on this photo of bear. It’s a different type of composition than usual, but I really liked how the focus is on his gaze. I also asked my  client  how she has found me and this is what she said:

“I found you through etsy! I have been searching for someone since Bear passed away last May. I’ve done tons of google searches and have looked at etsy almost daily for someone who does custom pet portraits. It’s taken me a while to finally find you! So many good artists out there but was difficult to find the one who captured the personalities too. I had a few of my favorites, but kept being drawn back to yours. Was finally ready to have them done when I contacted you.” – Frances W.

Since starting the painting I have come down with a nasty case of the flu, but there are several portrait commissions that need to be painted and since I feel slightly better today, I figured I better get working again and make up for lost time.  Bear is in place and I  have laid the foundation for the warm highlights in his fur. Bear is much darker than in my painting, but the idea is to build layers of paint with the warm oranges shimmering through. The painting will undergo many changes, but that’s the beauty of it all. Paintings evolve and have a life of their own, so come back and see what this one will turn into.

Bear Painting in Progress 1

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