I was commissioned to paint this Cockapoo a few years back. I used Pan Pastels on Pastel Paper. The client was local so I arranged framing too.
Painting curly haired dogs are always a bit of a challenge because you have to look for shapes and colours, this is because that's how we see hair, fur, faces - most subjects really. Our eyes don't actually see lines in hair and fur so painting every single hair isn't an approach I use.
Clemi had quite a bit of brown fur and white on her front and on her face. She was sitting in a car so I put the background in to hint at that and was quite pleased with the way it worked out. I always see a lot of colours in any fur - there are always reflected colours so brown fur will never just be brown, if you do that it will look flat and unrealistic.
You can browse more of my dog portraits on my website
The client commissioned the portrait of Clemi as a gift to her owner who was delighted to receive it - which is always nice to hear!
For more information about me and my work please visit my website