A Portrait of a Certain Dog - Blogdog

A certain dog  is a rather appealing Chocolate Labrador Cross who is being painted as a Christmas present. I have decided to do a WIP of his painting which I will post online. As its for Christmas you never know who is watching so I will keep him anonymous just in case.

8th Nov 2009

Initial stage this is an outline drawing in pencil which I produce from a blurred photo.

13th Nov 2009

Next tracing the drawing I am going to paint. This is the best method I have found for transferring my drawing onto the Sanded Card I use for Pastels. In this example I am using a Royal Sovereign pastel Card in Raw Sienna. 

 

I prepare the sanded card inspecting the surface for flaws and then draw a rectangle the size of the completed drawing and run masking tape around the edges to obtain a clean line for the completed drawing.

I take my traced drawing and turn it over. I use a charcoal pencil to draw over the back of the pencil lines.

I carefully place my tracing over the prepared card charcoal side down. Place a weight on it to stop it moving and rub the back of a finger nail over every line. As I go I partially lift the tracing paper from the card to check I have not missed a bit. Hey Presto I have my outline.

The tracing will be kept and used to hold over the painting as I work and ensure no lines have suddenly shifted while I have been concentrating on fur.

Excess Sanded card removed when taping up my serlected size will be used to test pastel colours as I work.