Pet Paintings

Sorry for the lack of contact, between facebook and twitter my attention span seems fixed at around 140 characters. I'm going to try to get back to writing entries so please accept this as a catch up entry that will be followed on a more regular basis with regular notes on my progress.

Pet Paintings

  The initial four are finished to the best of my capabilities, each has its own strengths and weaknesses but all I've learned from. With these works I seem to repeat the works texture every two minutes, and they do seem to be the key to a successful painting. I think the best marks are made with certainty, and certainty can only be obtained with experimentation and practice.

German Shepherd

Oil on Canvas

This was initially the worst but one early morning session seems to have made all the difference. By simplifying the background it lent focus to the subject, it also helped unify the colours in the painting. A major thing which I did in the morning session was ignore the photograph completely, paint in the eyes and focus on what would make a good painting rather than conveying the dog's likeness.
  The last point I learned from this painting is the importance of the eyes. I got the eyes right finally and the rest of the painting developed from there.

 

Patient Collie

Oil on Canvas

   Here the background was fixed very early on, I loved the perspective and light.  The problem here was the fur and the back paws. I mostly corrected these but there is still no shine to his coast, when you look at it your not drawn to touch it.

 

Patience 

Oil on Canvas

  This was a fun painting, I enjoyed trying to capture the fluidity of the tank compared to the heavier feel of the cat and the smoothness of his fur. 

   In the painting my problem lies on when to stop. Should the paintings be ultra defined so be left indistinct? I wasn't sure, and therefore have left it for now. In a few weeks I might look at it again.

Usual Suspect

Oil on Canvas

  This is the most conventional dog painting, verging of cutey but still appealing- I hope. Its also my first attempt at painting grass, a complex annoyance which seems to impede my every attempt. There's too much of it! Do you try for the texture of the individual blades of the lawn as a whole? How? Argh. 

  Here I've gone for the impression of grass which seems to work well enough but its something I'm really going to have to focus on in the next few months.