Here's my progress on painting a police dog for my friend's brother.
I used a projector to get the proportions right away. Then, used a different color picture as a reference. This is an 8x10 small oil painting.
The original picture.
Projector to get proportions right away because I want to spend my time on the detail. It's still difficult to get this looking good, so good luck to artists that want to use a projector. Make sure to not let it look like a stamp. Use gradients of shades and put the finite details on the close parts only.
Try using a printed picture right beside your canvas. It will feel like a fun puzzle when you match something perfectly. This is how I love the process of painting.
Here's the picture I'm using for the color it should be.
Did I mention that I use a lot of smells when I paint? It makes it fun. Dragon's blood incense and pumpkin candles are my guitly pleasures. Can't stop love!
After I get it this far, I'm hoping to add more layers and detail by adding more like lights and darks, using more paint, waiting for it to dry, getting proportions more exact -whatever I can think of.
I haven't used paint thinner for two days. I've just been using oil and a towel, then washing my brushes. Definitely better for health, maybe better for the painting to keep it oily. My work looks pretty dry and when I go to get it scanned at NW Fine Art Printing, McKenna thinks it's not an oil painting -probably because it looks so dry. I'm thinking of sealing my year old work with oil finishing glaze to make em shiny.
Using paint thinner was actually an awesome good move to make things more exact gradients and shapes. Now I'm thinking, isn't this dog supposed to be a black German Shepherd -I need to get rid of this white! His nose needs to be all black, just wet shine. His light fur needs to be light brown, not white. Only white should be his peppered muzzle.
Tried to make the white fur brown.
Gotta add pink to his tongue, gums, and ears. Contemplating whether or not to yellow teeth.
