My biggest painting to date… It’s 29″ x 21″ acrylic on pre stretched canvas. I airbrushed the background for this piece. I wanted something that was soft and subtle and the airbrush is perfect for that. Beiges, tans and browns were the background choice my client preferred and it will work great with their six dogs on this big painting.
When doing the background I mainly focused on the areas that will be on show. That is why more of the centre area is much lighter as this will eventually be painted over with the beautiful 5 Spaniels and 1 Labrador.
During this stage I am applying the few base layers blocking in where the basic shadows and highlights will be. The third layer pictured here I begin putting in a few brush strokes following the fur direction. This makes the portrait feel more lifelike. Once Oscar is blocked in to this level that is when I will go back and add the next batch of layers focusing on details.