Pet Portraits in Oil

Here is the seventh stage of Dennis & Bella, and I can't stress enough how much better Dennis looks here in the real painting. My camera just isn't picking up the detail or the shadows and highlights, which is a shame. The background is looking very pretty but I've tried to keep it subtle so that it doesn't overpower the two main subjects. I've painted the sides to match the background, and today I'll be leaving the whole painting to dry. Tomorrow another layer will be added, and it will hopefully be dry in time for the 14th March.

Here is Dennis & Bella's next stage. I bought new brushes last night to paint Dennis's face, but the rest of the painting is still drying, so I'll continue with it tomorrow morning. Sorry the lighting isn't very good, but I just had to take a quick picture before I leave it to dry.

Here is the next stage of Dennis & Bella, where I've neutralised the green background so it's more subtle, added a layer to the blue shirt, and added a layer to Bella, as well as painting her eyes and nose in more detail. Dennis' part of the painting is not dry enough to add another layer yet, so let's hope it dries soon so that I can complete this before March 14th!

Here is Lily's next stage, where I've been defining her curls and adding detail to her nose and eye. Next I'll be painting her collar and tag, and the sides of the canvas to match the background.

Lily was a beautiful girl, as you can see, and she has a very sad story behind her, and although I think a 'happier' photograph should have been used for her painting, there were not many photos to choose from. The reference photo for this painting was quite dark and taken indoors, so I used that one for her outline, and I used another less-detailed photograph of her outside for the fur colouring, as her 'sunshine' colour was more brown than black.

Here are the next two stages of Dennis & Bella's painting.
Next I will be painting Dennis' eyes with a detail brush, adding definition to the nose and ears, and painting the background so it's paler and not too green like it is now.

Below is the first stage of a new portrait which has to be painted in time for the 14th March ... so the next couple of layers will have to be painted today, and I will try to blog them if I have time. This will be a lovely portrait and I can't wait to see how it will look when it's finished.

Here is Suki's next layer;
Her portrait is almost finished now, just need to neaten up the grass.

Here is the next stage of Murphy & Lily's portrait - I've been working on the background, adding hints of blue and light to the cloudy sky, blending the foliage behind, and painting in more grassblades (I keep starting on Murphy's side and work my way over to Lily but never actually finish in one sitting, which is why the left side grass is a lot more 'done' than the right hand grass.)

I've really loved painting these two dogs so far, because they are both so nice and I see Murphy all the time on the canal. His owner, Roy, asked for the background to be a canal scene, which I was worried about at first because its often best to keep portrait backgrounds as neutral as possible so attention is not drawn away from the dog, but I think the canal scene looks quite nice, and the colours arn't too strong either.

Next, I'm going to add fine details to Murphy's face, and Lily needs another layer of block colours.

Here is Jack & Gingy's tiny little portrait (10x10") on its third stage. I've started to add an autumn-coloured background with a few small details like leaves and grass. I want the background to feel very light, airy and look dappled with sunlight so I'll be working on that over the next three days to see how it turns out.

Gingy's bright blue eyes are beautiful, but both cats need a new layer because I've blended the background over their ears and their outlines.

I was hoping to get this painting finished before my mom's birthday but it will have to be a little late present for her instead because I won't have enough time. Hope she likes it. : )

Here is the first stage of Murphy & Lily's background;