Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Black Lab Puppy Painting

This is Ruby, a nine week old puppy. Ruby wasn't feeling too well when I snapped her picture. She was having an allergic reaction to something and had bumps around her eyes and on her belly. The miracle of paint is that I could easily ignore those bumps when I painted her portrait. I also changed her glance so she was looking toward me instead of at the fingers her owner was snapping to gain her attention. Painting puppies is similar to painting children. You have delicate unformed features and a certain softness that needs to be emphasized.

I liked the colors of the porch swing Ruby was relaxing on and her soft green blanket, so I changed the design a little and used them. The collar has an "M" on it and her owner thought that was nice because he works at a school that starts with that letter. It's good to get their input too and if it's not too difficult or doesn't interfere with the design I'll usually try to accommodate them.

Ruby
11" x 14"
commission


2 comments:

jimmie white said...

Perfect expression on a black lab puppy.......also nice painting

Unknown said...

Thanks very much. Hard to go wrong with such a cute subject.