Portrait of Belgian Malinois Painting in Pastel

As promised, here is the finished and client approved version of the Belgian Malinois dog portrait using pastels.

After sketching the outline and major features of the dog, I worked the top half of the background first.  Then I started with the ears and worked my way down the dog's face. The last part was adding the darker green on the lower half of the background.

You can follow the work in progress on my website

"Zorro"

Belgian Malinois

pastel

9" x 12"

COMMISSION

Progress of Belgian Malinois Portrait

I took the following photo, which shows the next step of the dog portrait, with my phone and so the colors are way off. It will have to do for now, I suppose...until I scan a final version of the completed artwork and make any necessary color adjustments.

On this step, I'm almost finished the fur on the neck/shoulder and then I will move on to finishing off the background (which should be a breeze)!

Stay tuned for the conclusion to this painting...

Painting the smiley dog mouth...

I've completed the Malinois' nose and the rest of the cheeks and muzzle on this step. I've also begun defining the mouth and  adding the tongue and shadows along the jawline. Next I will complete fur of the ruff and collar and probably move on to complete the rest of the dog's mouth.

The actual painting is a bit darker than shown and the green background is more on the bluish side...

Malinois portrait progress

In this step, I've painted more of the very short muzzle fur and the nose (which still needs some tweaking). So far, I have layered up to 6 different pastel colors in order to render this dog's fur. 

 

Below you can see the fur details up close (larger than actual size).  Since the small precise strokes require a very sharp and crisp point there is a need for constant sharpening. Concentration and a steady hand is essential to lay the fur correctly. This process is quite time consuming and there is still much more work to be done...

Malinois portrait painting progress...layering of fur!

For this dog portrait, there is much layering of the pastel to get the fur just right! It is essential for the color, length and direction of the fur to be accurate in order to render a realistic portrait.

You will notice that the dark facial mask characteristic of the malinois breed has faded due to the appearance of grey/white flecking that naturally comes with aging.

To view more of my work, visit www.colettetheriault.com

Dog portrait progress of a painting...

I don't know why uploading images to blogger alters the color and fuzzes out the detail but the green background on this painting is totally off (it should be more forest green, toward the blue spectrum)! Oh well, regardless, I wanted to share an update now that I've added the eyes and started layering the facial fur. It is a tedious process of layering and blending the pastels directly on the suede but well worth the results.
He still looks sort of funny at this stage with his nose and open smiley mouth only sketched in.

Commissioned painting of a dog in pastel

After completing a dog drawing commission, I am busy with this new painting of a handsome malinois.

Some of you might wonder how come I haven't started with the eyes?  I felt that I'd rather begin laying in the messy background first (from the top) then working my way down the ears.  I'll most likely tackle the eyes next only because I hate looking at a ghostly figure for too long. 

Police K-9 Robbi drawing update

After much sketching, I have now been working on adding color to the first dog featured on the US Pentagon Artwork. I'm quite pleased at how the colors are layering on this paper however, there is not much room for error as erasing is virtually impossible! I am taking my sweet time with this one so as not to mess it up part way through...that would be a disaster.