Horse & Hound
commission
What inspired me to create this portrait?
I was asked to commission a portrait painting of a dog and horse by a friend of my son. I was emailed a number of photographs that were taken the previous weekend. I felt that this would be a good opportunity to further practise hair and fur textures. Initially, the portrait was going to be small. However, after doing some primary sketches I realised that to get the appropriate proportions and to produce the required texture detail the canvas had to be of a reasonable size – I first established the size for the dog. This then dictated the size of the horse and subsequently the size of the canvas.
Why did I choose Pastel Pencils to produce this piece?
My first attempt at this piece, I tried Artist’s Colour Pencils – but wasn’t comfortable with hair textures and colour blending. As an example, I was unable to blend the colours of the dog’s hair. I had worked with Pastel Pencils once before on a smaller project and found that they provided a much better depth of colour for my style mainly due to the chalkiness of the pastel material. I find that when I apply pastel to paper, it comes alive.
How long did this piece take me?
Because of the intensity of the detail, I find that I can only spend around 2 hours at a time working on a piece. Any longer than this and I lose focus and it would lack the require quality of detail (even a short break doing the housework and restarting is enough to give me a break – much to my wife’s delight!!!). With this in mind, the overall piece took about 7 days with approximately 6 hours per day.
I was asked to commission a portrait painting of a dog and horse by a friend of my son. I was emailed a number of photographs that were taken the previous weekend. I felt that this would be a good opportunity to further practise hair and fur textures. Initially, the portrait was going to be small. However, after doing some primary sketches I realised that to get the appropriate proportions and to produce the required texture detail the canvas had to be of a reasonable size – I first established the size for the dog. This then dictated the size of the horse and subsequently the size of the canvas.
Why did I choose Pastel Pencils to produce this piece?
My first attempt at this piece, I tried Artist’s Colour Pencils – but wasn’t comfortable with hair textures and colour blending. As an example, I was unable to blend the colours of the dog’s hair. I had worked with Pastel Pencils once before on a smaller project and found that they provided a much better depth of colour for my style mainly due to the chalkiness of the pastel material. I find that when I apply pastel to paper, it comes alive.
How long did this piece take me?
Because of the intensity of the detail, I find that I can only spend around 2 hours at a time working on a piece. Any longer than this and I lose focus and it would lack the require quality of detail (even a short break doing the housework and restarting is enough to give me a break – much to my wife’s delight!!!). With this in mind, the overall piece took about 7 days with approximately 6 hours per day.
How did I feel about the end result and looking back, would I have done anything different?
I was overjoyed with the end result. When I reflect on it now, it is hard to comprehend how much I have progressed in comparison to previous commissions. I would not have done anything different with this piece, however next time I would do it with more confidence.
