Joey w/bird WIP
Painting Animals
The animal fur painted with pastel can be very soft looking and that’s why I choose to use this medium.
I’m working on a painting of my golden retriever, Joey who will be 15 ½ years old in a couple of weeks. The idea in my head is a senior golden with white face retrieving a bird. Joey is ideal as he has that white face and he loves the birds.
Could not find the perfect photo as I had in mind, even tried to recreate but still had problems. I took the closest representation and worked from that.
Underpainting
- Drew out the dog on tracing paper then transferred to a 20 x 16 sheet of Uart paper and sprayed the pencil marks with workable fixative to keep the marks from smearing. You could also draw with a pastel pencil w/o the fixative.
- Next I added hard pastel (NuPastels or Polychromos) to use as my underpainting and 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Use a cheap bristle brush. Note, I did not cover all the paper (let some of the paper show through) as the alcohol will blend or melt it into the surface.
- What colors and values to use in your underpainting?
First I put in the dark values and use this as a guide throughout the painting so they must be in the correct place. Next I use a little darker color than I would use on the finished painting. I worked my way through the painting being sure to not use a heavy pastel layer
- If you use too much pastel or softer pastel, it will get gummy and fill the tooth of the paper. Try a light layer first as you can always add more if needed.
- Brush in the alcohol – don’t worry about drips or staying in the lines.
More to come in next post.