Mily: A Watercolor Pet Portrait

May was a crazy, busy kind of month. Studio time involved several portrait commissions, including a triptych pet portrait; five exhibitions to prepare for this spring and summer; and three portfolios to send out. Below is a recent completed pet portrait.

Mily is a beautiful American Bulldog with a sweet personality. She was such a pleasure to photograph and paint.

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Step 1: Small color value sketches. I do 6-12 sketches before deciding on a direction for the painting.

Step 2: Full-sized value sketch.

Here is where I get to know my subject

better and work out any value issues.

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Step 3 & 4: The painting as it progressed.

Starting with an excellent reference photo is crucial to the success of the painting. I rarely use existing photos, instead preferring to take my own. Taking over 100 photos for a portrait is not unusual. I find that even with that many photos, only about 3-4 are suitable for the portrait.

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Beautiful Milly--framed and ready to go to her permanent home.

Life Drawing: A Fine Art Exhibition

June 5 is the opening of Double Door Gallery's juried figure show. The show includes, not only a finished painting, but the original sketch that was done from a life drawing session.

At left is my submission. Joanna the Belly Dancer is one of our favorite models. The painting is titled, "The Dancer" and was done in oils.

The quick sketches below were done from our bi-monthly figure session.