Bodie and Bear Bear Are Ready to Go Home

Bodie and Bear Bear final portrait

I have completed and framed this portrait, and it’s off to its people to be a surprise holiday gift.

Bodie's face

You can read more about the background on it in my first post, and the fact that the husband is returning the favor to his wife, who commissioned me to do a portrait several years ago.

I had gotten a pretty good start in the first draft, but if you look closely you’ll see a lot more fur this time, and more detail generally.

Bear's face

The portrait is 18″ wide by 14″ tall, and the dogs’ faces a pleasantly big, large enough to work good detail around the eyes and on their noses. Working the fur on subjects this large is a little more time consuming, especially with long-haired animals such as these. I start with general areas of color to mark where the shadows and highlights are, but then I layer other tints and hues over that and the final top color in wisps, blended with my fingers. This is what gives the fur the depth and texture while maintaining the right coloration.

I really enjoy dog’s noses—there’s so much going on there! And in an extreme close-up you see so many different-colored hairs and whiskers of every length.

Read the details of building the portrait and the people who commissioned me in my first post.

I can’t wait to hear what the recipient has to say, and I’ll be sad to see them go so soon!

Read more about my animal portraiture.

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