Step 9 of Egret pastel painting

Now that I've completed the feathers on this bird and satisfied enough to leave them alone, I have begun working the foliage. At first, I painted the leaves a yellow green hue that went well with rest of the painting BUT just did not sit well with the frame. I then opted to try a blueish tint which was ok but perhaps a bit to saturated with blue.

After my third attempt (below), I believe this is the best color scheme that will suit both the frame and the rest of the painting. While it is nice to have frames on hand, sometimes, it can be a pain to match them to a particular color scheme in a composition and the artist has to be prepared to make changes along the way. Perhaps  I should have done a sample thumbnail composition first but I was happy experimenting and adapting the color scheme as I was working my way through this painting.

Step 4 of Egret bird painting using pastels

I am at the stage now where the bird is starting to pop out of the painting.  The light subject and a dark background creates strong contrast.  Keep watching for more updates!

New bird painting in pastel on my easel

I've been working on my newest miniature painting which will be part of a triptych. I am mostly using very sharp pastel pencils for this piece as it only measures 4"x3". It is much more difficult to render fine detail in such a tight space but I do love the challenge of creating these little pieces!

Progress on nuthatch bird painting

The pair of red-breasted nuthatches (diptych painting) is progressing well today.  
I have begun to differentiate the two birds at this stage, and you can now see that the male has a deeper rust on his chest when compared to the female on the left.  Another distinct difference is that the male sports a black crown while the female's is dark grey (although the angle of the male's head makes it a little difficult to discern).

Progress on nuthatch bird paintings

I am quite enjoying painting these adorable little fellas! This is the first time I paint two pieces at once; I work a bit on one bird and before it progresses too far, I switch to the other bird until I've reached a point similar to the first while working the corresponding area on each bird. From my last post, you can see that I started with the background, and then progressed to the birds' heads. This way, I will see both birds emerge at the same time.

Nuthatches are lively, curious little birds, akin to the black capped chickadee.

A Pair of Nuthatches-bird paintings in pastel

I've just started these two miniature paintings of red-breasted nuthatches tonight using soft pastels. Since both bird paintings share a similar background and color scheme, I've decided it would be easier and quicker to work on them simultaneously.  I also plan to frame them as a diptych...

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.

Scanning problems with update of dog drawing

I enjoy my technological tools but sometimes they make me go crazy. Intermittent scanner issues have been causing me lots of trouble lately. I had to resort to use the smaller scanner on my printer which does not give me the results I desire but it will have to do for now. So here is the portrait of the black Labrador just about done!

Portrait of Dog Drawing Work in Progress

On this step I continue to work the dog's fur, making my way down the face while ensuring each strand of hair is of the perfect length,  direction and shading. Now that the nose has been added, the dog no longer has that "ghostly" look stage.

I will now be able to take a step back and tweak any areas I see need adjusting...

The start of a new commissioned pencil drawing

Switching from pastels, I am now working with graphite/charcoal pencils to render this detailed portrait of a black Labrador dog for a client. I will be posting more work in progress images of this dog drawing so do come back and visit!

Oh, and I have not forgotten to post the six cat pastel portrait...I have to wait until the recipient opens their gift so as to not spoil the surprise!

To view more detail on the drawing, click on each image for a larger view.

The start of painting the dog face

With the background complete, I now am excited to finally start painting fur! Until all the main features of the face are added, I find that a portrait always looks ghostly at this stage. You'll see once I add the mouth, this dog's expression will undoubtedly change.

Stay tuned folks! I'm working hard at finishing this in the next few days even though I am teaching a 2-day workshop booked for this weekend.  I hope to be able to pull it off!

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Garden flowers background for dog portrait

Here are two progression shots of the background work for this dog portrait. Having the dog sitting in front of this particular garden is very important to the client since both have great sentimental value. Huge Annabelle hydrangea bushes and giant Hosta lilies make up the vegetation in this particular garden plot and will contrast well against the black coat of this cherished companion.  

The composition below is actually the combination of two different photographs combined together.

Flatcoated Retriever Pet Portrait

Here's a bit more work I've been doing on the backdrop for this wonderful garden setting.  The black dog will stand out well against the greenery and interspersed flowers.

By the way, this dog is said to be a cross from a setter/dalmatian/flat coated retriever. Quite the perfect model she is!

Landscape plein air pastel paintings from Panama

I have been absent from the virtual world but it is not because I have not been productive. After spending 16 days in Panama, I come home with a plethora of memories of adventures, encounters and excursions as well as many photographs that will inspire me to paint for years to come! The culture, the language, the people, the natural history, the weather, the fauna and wildlife and ecosystems are of course all very different from Northern Ontario. I of course tried to learn and absorb as much as I could during my short but memorable stay.

After the first week in Panama, I surprised myself and was able to complete 2 paintings. Most of you who are familiar with my drawing and painting style and choice of subject matter, know that I am primarily an animal portraitist. However, I do like a "change in scenery" once in a while and so settled to focus instead on studying the landscape while attempting to put on paper a few of the sights before me.

I am still searching for titles...

untitled
(view from the balcony 1)
Pein Air Painting in Pastel
8x10

untitled
(view from the balcony 2)
Pastel Painting
8x10

The painting studio and animal portraits

It must seem like after completing the wolf painting, I have disappeared from the face of the earth but actually, I have been working on several projects at once. So I thought I'd share a few projects that are at various stages of completion in my studio.

First is a very rough sketch of a six cat portrait commission, most of which are Siamese type breeds and one amusing Scottish fold! Two cats in particular will be challenging to paint due to poor quality photos but with the client's feedback and scanning/zooming the photos on my computer to see more detail, I am confident it will all work out in the end.  I did start the cat on the top left which is one that I only have poor quality photos of. I felt I'd better start with the most challenging one and then the rest should be a breeze, right?

Another project I will be working on is that of my friend's beautiful dog, a flat coated retriever named "Galoche".  I will share more of this special commission on my blog at a later date. Below is a mock- up image composed of two photographs combined to create the reference I will use for the dog portrait.

Lastly, I completed a dog pencil drawing commission of which I have not shown any updates yet. Once the owner approves the final version of their portrait, I will post the artwork along with a few work in progress stages. So stay tuned and have a happy day everyone!

Forest wolf painting update

Well, I'm finally back at work on this big painting of mine. After spending nearly a week working on re-designing a whole new website (not quite done yet), I felt I could hear the wolf calling me to finish painting him.

Previously, I had completed the front leg and foot but did not post the update due to troubles with blogger again.
On this step I darkened the back leg and added the back foot of the wolf. Then I slowly and painstakingly began to add the short grasses and some ground debris that make up the forest floor. And yeah, I still have to go back and make some touch ups on the fur...but no worries, I am used to that!