Monday, May 20, 2013

New Commission - Buster, an Australian Kelpie


Buster, 16 x 16 inch oil on linen.
© 2013 Kathleen Coy

Fresh off the easel is a commissioned painting of an Australian Kelpie named Buster. Would you look at that face! I fell in love with this pose, and those gorgeous eyes that stare right into your soul. It felt great to be painting large after a year of small paintings. (By the way, the year long project is over, so I'll be updating this blog much more frequently now.) I've included some photos of the process below. 

First I did a small value study, then I sketched Buster with vine charcoal on the 16 x 16" oil-primed linen panel. I like vine or willow charcoal because it erases off the canvas with the touch of your finger, so you can fiddle with the drawing until it's right. 


After I'm satisfied with the charcoal drawing, I go over it with a sanguine Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen (a little trick I learned from Terry Moore Strickland's blog), otherwise it will dissolve when I start laying in the first washes of thin paint:


Now to start on those eyes...


More progress:


And once again, the finished painting:


Next up is a portrait of Buster's black lab sister, River. Stay tuned...

9 comments:

Laurie G. Miller said...

This is such a great portrait. Did you take the reference photo, or, did the owners? I also loved seeing your process.

Art By Erika said...

How generous of you to post the process. Interesting about the sanguine pen stage thanks I might try it!

Kathleen Coy said...

Laurie, thank you! The owner took the photo. 9 times out of 10, they do, unless they're local.

Glad you liked it, Erika! Let me know if you try it.

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorites, and even having said that, there are so many favorites. I think that you bring an amazing amount of soul and life to your subjects even without ever having met them in person. Loved the progress photos.

Kathleen Coy said...

Anon, what a lovely comment. Thank you so much!

Maria's Watercolor said...

So wonderful, love that sweet face, and love seeing the work in progress as well.

Kathleen Coy said...

Thank you, Maria. He does have a sweet face.

Kristy Tracy said...

What a precious face! Thanks for posting your creative steps. You're an amazing artist and I enjoy following your blog.

Terry Strickland said...

Isn't the sepia pen a great tip? It solved so many problems, i was so happy when I found it. Thanks for linking to my blog! Wonderful portrait of River.