Custom Boy Portrait - Part 2

The process unfolds 

Look at the brush strokes in the grass, water, and his pants 

If you read my Custom Boy Portrait, Part 1, you will remember that the last picture that I presented had the young boy drawn in pencil.  It was what I call a composition drawing, something that I do before starting to paint. 

Saint Bernard 

The customer wanted a Saint Bernard in the painting along with a book and a ship.  It is fairly common to see portraits of this  period including both a dog and a book.  

  

I love his sweet little smile and the colors really pop on the high quality water-color paper. 

When deciding on the composition of this piece, remember I had said that it was important to illustrate the dog in such a way so as the viewer realized that the dog was  of a large variety.  Even as large as I made him, I could have gone bigger.  I know this because my neighbor (growing up) had a St. Bernard.  To me, it looked like a horse.   Let's just say this is a young St. Bernard.  

This is a great example of what I am talking about.  

In this shot, you can see that the dog is really large.  It is nearly as tall as the child.  

This was one of the paintings that the customer referenced when requesting a child with a book.  They liked the ship, too, so I have included a ship in the background of our painting, as well.  You can read about this painting by going to: 

http://kolenespicher.blogspot.com/2015/10/portrait-of-young-girl-auction-item-for.html

This is almost finished.  I really love this frame
and think that the painting is really very sweet! 

I will look at it for a few more days, probably till Monday or Tuesday and then send it to be framed if I don't see any adjustments to be made.  

Thanks for looking and I wish you all a happy New Year!!  

Enjoy 

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Custom Boy Portrait - Part 1

Little Boy with Saint Bernard by the Sea 

Rough draft pencil drawing 

This was done very quickly to give you an idea about how I come up with my ideas.  I just need to figure out the composition before starting to draw.  I dislike any eraser marks. 

Very deep walnut frame with silver leafed liner 

I decided that I would use this nice silver leafed walnut frame.  It is in excellent condition and what I liked most about it was the fact that the liner was silver.  Normally, they are gold leafed.  No damage on this piece, either! 

Saint Bernard. 

I loved this dog.  He has such a sweet face.  Because I am illustrating a young boy for this painting, I couldn't have the dog leaning up onto him. 

The water is at the top and he's leaning on a log. 

These are big dogs and it wouldn't make sense.  We decided that there would also be a book in his hand.  In the end, I drew him laying at the little boy's feet on a log. 

This is a random drawing that I liked, found online, although I
am NOT doing a profile.  

Having the whole body in the painting helps to give you an idea of the scale of the pet. The example above clearly illustrates a smaller dog.   In the next picture, you can see the scale of my dog.  

I am going to be putting a ship in the background, too, just not drawn yet! 

Thanks for looking today, and I wish you a very Happy, safe New Year!!  Check back next week.  I will have more done then, and you will be able to see it in color!  It is going to be bright and happy. 

Enjoy!

 

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