Portrait of Najee - second session

After letting the initial paint set up a bit, I start laying in more precise and thicker paint. The underlying layer is still slightly wet, but the thicker paint allows me to easily cover areas for correction. This image is after another hour of work, and the head is looking good. I’ll take a break and come back to it with a fresh eye.

Portrait of Najee - first session

During the same session as the previous post, I continue with corrections on the initial block in. The head begins to take shape. I’ve been working for about 45 minutes up to this point. Time for a break.

Portrait of Najee - block in

Najee is a beautiful 2 year old German Shepard. I'm creating a portrait of him which will hang at the San Francisco Animal Care and Control offices.

I start on a 30"x40" canvas lightly toned with burnt umber. My initial block in is extremely wet and created with a large brush and a rag for wiping out. This only takes about 10 minutes and is just to set the position on the canvas.