Emma

My friend Martha asked me to paint a portrait of her "grand dog" Emma as a Christmas present for her son and daughter-in-law.  Emma is a lab-ra-doodle and has a mass of curly hair...I was worried I couldn't capture her in watercolor so asked Martha if it would be okay if I tried it in oils.  I figured if it didn't turn out well I just wouldn't give it to her  :)  Here's the progression of Emma...the photos are from my iPhone...so not the best, but you'll get the idea.  I'm pretty happy with the final results...

here's the beginning...I start with a sienna background on the

canvas...makes the finished oil much warmer.  With animals,

if you get the eyes right...the rest falls into place

starting the fur...I did lots of colors...the light hits her curls

and creates tons of shades of tans/siennas/browns even though

she's really just one shade of beige

working on depth...adding darks and lights

I asked Martha what colors they had in their house...

light blues, tans and light greens...thought the blue

brought out the rich tones of her fur best

Emma