Hi Everyone:- I did my first painting a while back. It's a boxer and came out pretty good. My last two attempts have been a bit of a disaster but I am still trying.
Comments please especially from the experienced painters here.
I've been following the painting and have seen some great stuff. I hope we can get there someday.
Terrific first paintings....both of them! You've both gotten the idea of direction for the brush strokes as well as textural differences for different parts. The best advice I can give you is to keep on painting, and to remember that it's a "painting" that you are trying to accomplish, and that your camera can do the photograph part (with YOU behind the viewfinder and operating the shutter, of course!). A painting will differ from the photo by being simplified in places so the brushwork can be expressive, and your goal as a painter should be to enhance the character of your subject with the painting that you do, not just copy what's captured by the camera. I think you've both made good decisions on these paintings in that regard. On the boxer, I'd love to see just the tiniest catchlight added the eyes; I can see it's there, but it would benefit from just a bit of enhancement, in my opinion.
Nice job! Keep posting!
Thanks for the kind words Kathy. We both are very intrigued by the process.
Harper's photo went to the owner at the last dog show we did. She was almost in tears. It was such a joy to see her reaction. We are going to keep practising and should be able to offer them to our customers by late spring or summer.
I'll change the catch lights after I get the last of this show done and repost the photo.
I agree with capturing the character of the subject. I guess I have some artist in me after all. I just needed the right medium. Thanks again for the words of encouragement. I have three more I want to try over the next couple of months.
