Today I completed the little pastel portrait of Penny  and scanned it in two parts. I just can’t get the colors exactly right on the digital image and it’s a pity since the colors are really nice on the original painting. Still, it looks quite nice if you aren’t aware of the exact hues of the original. Penny is a beautiful Shih tzu, portrayed in full-body with soft background colors. The commission is from a returning customer and the first portrait she commissioned was of the pastel portrait of Fie. That portrait was for her self, but this time she commissioned a portrait to give a way for Christmas. The dog portrait in pastel will go to the framers ASAP and it’s already packed and ready to go. I promise to take some photos and blog them, once I collect it from the framer. I will soon add my two latest detailed pastel portraits to my gallery, of Harley and Penny…

Shih tzu pet portraits in pastel

This is the last Christmas portrait for 2011. It’s of two beautiful Shiba Inu; Aiko and Zuki in oil. The painting will dry for one day, and I will continue with it in Wednesday. In mean while I will continue with the pastel portrait of Penny. It’s not much work left on the pastel and it feels good to know that it will be completed in time for Christmas. Below you can view some progress images of Aiko and Zuki.

Painting on stage one

Stage one of Aiko and Zuki

Painting on stage two

Painting on stage two

Painting on stage two

Completed Stage two of Aiko and Zuki

I have been painting Penny’s portrait for two more days and took allot more photos while I was working for the tutorial. Rest of the photos for the tutorial will be created after I have the text. This is going to be a great portrait and of course a great tutorial too.

Painting on Stage 2

Painting on Stage 3

Working on Stage 4

Stage four of Penny completed

Today I started to paint the portrait of Penny in Pastel since the oils I’m currently working on are in a drying stage. I also must complete this portrait as soon as possible as it’s going to be a christmas gift, just like the doberman Harley. The painting of Harley will be on it’s way to USA tomorrow already. I’m taking many photographs of this progress because it’s going to be a tutorial, one simple tutorial for my website which is free for everyone to read and one extended tutorial which is going to be available to purchase after New Year. More information about this will be available later on. Anyway, the portrait of Penny is progressing very well and here is the first stage. Hope you all like it so far…

Starting up a new pastel portrait

pet portrait artist painting

pastel painting in progress

So I have painted another layer on the oil portrait of Rolf. I have only used large brushes so far and there is plenty of work left to do before I can call this portrait completed. I will try to use as large brushes as I can the entire painting process. I have not yet decided what the background will look like, but I sure want his face to be the lightest part of the painting. Let’s see what I will decide to do at the end. Now it hangs on my wall and it’s in drying stage.

Oil Portrait in Progress - Third stage of Rolf

Yesterday I drove my car to the framers to collect the framed portrait of doberman Harley. I’m very happy with the outcome and it’s above my expectations! I can’t thank my framer enough for taking so much of his time to chat about each and every framing. Pastels are very delicate and the people in that company have become experts in framing them. The only artist who paints in soft pastel and frame the paintings there is me and they have been in the framing business for over 50 years. I think that’s very funny!

We chose a light mount which has a blue center, so it’s not a double mount as it might look like. It’s beveled cut with an engraved square around the painting. This kind of mount gives the framing a more luxurious look without any additional costs. The moulding we chose is wood-textured with a rustic feel. It also suits Harley’s colors perfectly. I think we made the perfect match for this framing and it will probably match the clients home decor too.

Framed Dog Portraits - Doberman Portraits

Framed Pet Portraits - Doberman Harley

Yesterday I started to block in the oil painting of American Bulldog Tigerbull and I’m pretty sure this painting will be one of my best so far. The linen canvas I’m painting on is in such a good quality that I probably could complete the entire painting in one session if I wanted. The surface absorbs the thin paint mixed with Turpentine so much that it’s dry enough to add extra layers of paint. Even though this canvas is more expensive, I don’t need to add as much paint as I usually do and that’s a money saver right there. The oil paint I use is not very affordable, but worth every penny spent. Got to love the Winsor & Newton Artists!

Tomorrow I will continue to paint the portrait of Rolf, so make sure to visit again in order to view the next stage.

American Bullgos Portrait - First Stages

Pet Portraits in Oil - First Stages

Dog Painting - First Stages

American Bulldog Painting - First Stages

Yesterday I made a little update to my website by adding two new portraits to my gallery with detailed oil portraits. It’s a Pitbull terrier pet portrait of Ripper I recently completed and Borzoi pet portraits of Tara and Harry, which I completed before my vacation in August. I added the reference photos on the pages and both portraits can be seen through the zoom glass too.

New Pet Portraits

Today I continued to paint the portrait of Rolf in oil. I added some undertones and blocked in all big areas of the canvas. Some undertones will be less visible at a later stage, but will shine through in some places. I’m using a very limited palette for this painting, will reveal which colors I’m using at a later stage. This canvas is such a pleasure to paint on, can’t wait to continue.

Oil portrait in progress

So I have finally completed the pastel portrait of Harley. It was completed yesterday and I scanned it immediately after. It’s a small portrait (30 x 25 cm) so it was only needed to scan in two parts. Some color adjustments were needed too, it’s hard to match the original colors because my scanner makes them either too vibrant or the other way around. It’s good to tape the paper on a cardboard when you scan a pastel, just to make sure nothing happens to the surface. A little mistake can ruin everything, or at least parts of the painting.

Doberman pet portraits in pastel

Dog portrait in pastel - Doberman