This latest commission is of a Boxer called Rosie. Her owners sent through a lovely professional photo so I didn't need anything else apart from permission from the photographer. The painting is 12 x 16" on canvas board in acrylics. As you can see from the steps below in the gallery I started by painting the background and left it to dry overnight. Then I drew the main features of the dog over the top and proceeded to block in the main areas of colour starting with the orangey browns, then white and black. I mixed up a variety of mid-tone browns and applied them with an old flat hog hair brush that has seen better days but is perfect for fur. Layers of orange, yellow, cream, white, grey, ochre, umber and black were painted in the direction of the fur firstly in large blocks and then using a much smaller brush to pick out the finer hairs and build more texture into the coat. Finally, attention was paid to the overall texture of the coat, checking the tonal values were dark or light enough and little details like whiskers!
