Pet portraits in oil of your dog, cat or horse
Knowledge is key
For anyone wishing to have a go at their own pet portrait, one of the best tips I can offer is to look. Studying your subject is one of the most important things you can do and by continuously sketching different angles and poses you get to know and understand the details that make up the portrait. When you have this knowledge your drawings and paintings will always be a truer reflection of the subject leaving you free to develop your own individual pet portrait style.Colour grounds
When starting a pet portrait, a white canvas can be a daunting prospect but, just as it's good to get your face wet before jumping into the sea, it's best to cover the canvas first with a coat of paint before you start. This not only "breaks the psychological ice" but it does have a fundamental benefit to the painting in providing a mid-tone to work from. From the point of view of establishing the correct tonal range in a picture, it is much easier if the ground is in the middle of the tonal range, rather than totally white or black. The colour you choose for will also have an effect on the finished portrait as warm colours will warm the finished result and cool colours will cool it down, I tend to go for a warm colour over which I under paint the portrait using a cool Paynes grey and then warm it again with the colour glazes.Choosing colours
To make sure you create a pet portrait that not only looks good, but remains that way for centuries to come, an artist selects paints that have excellent colour saturation and plus a high degree of permanence. However, another aspect of paint which is just as important, is opacity.The pigment for each colour comes from various sources and each source will create a paint that is either opaque (it has good covering power) or transparent (allows light to come through). When choosing the colour palette for your pet portrait it is important to bear this in mind.
Choose opaque colours for the under painting, or when the background should not affect the applied colour. These colours are also good for 'wet on dry' techniques where the juxtaposition of the colours creates the finished effect. "Scumbling" is a technique that works on this principle, paint is dragged over a dry layer of colour leaving broken areas of the first layer to show through.
Transparent colours are excellent for glazes, and building up effects where the under lying colour needs to have an impact on the colour being applied, shadow areas are also good place to use transparent colour.
Transferring your sketches
To get the best out of any pet portrait it is a good idea to do preliminary sketches, this helps finalise the composition as well as making sure all the details are correct in the final painting.Sometimes though, especially if you intend to make use of the coloured ground, you may not always want the drawing to show through the layers. Transferring your sketch to the canvas can be done using a grid system, but this means your canvas ends up being covered with a lot of squares as well as the outline you need.
You can avoid having all those squares by using another way to transfer the drawing. Prepare a sketch (done actual size on cartridge paper) by rubbing charcoal into the reverse, paying particular attention to areas with the most detail. This is then carefully laid onto the canvas, secured in position using masking tape to stop it moving (otherwise you'll get excessive charcoal on the surface of the canvas). You can then trace the image onto the canvas. Use a ball point pen or something similar, so you can press quite firmly and also see where you've been (you need to make sure you've copied all the details before you remove the paper - it's very difficult to put it back in the same position if you've missed a bit!). Once completed, any marks you don't want on the canvas can be brushed away with a soft brush or damp cloth. When you're satisfied with the drawing, spray it with fixative (or odour free hairspray) to fix the surface.
Stretching your own canvas
When creating your pet portraits you can save money and get a better quality finish by preparing your own canvases. For general work go for a canvas weight of 10 oz, large works or works that will carry heavy amounts of paint will need to be heavier (12-14 oz). For stretcher bars the cheapest will be made from standard softwood, these are OK for small works. For better stability and long term use, go for stretchers that are kiln dried and preferably made from hardwoods.I have seen examples of "how to stretch a canvas" on the web, and most fall short of ideal. This is how I do it.
1. Assemble the stretchers. This will give a template for the size of canvas you'll need.
2. Lay the assembled stretchers on the un-primed canvas and cut around it leaving around 3 inches extra all around (this is based on using stretcher bars that are approx. 18 mm deep). This can be roughly done at this stage.
3. Apply a coat of gesso to one side of the canvas using a palette knife to spread it around and a brush to smooth the finish. Canvas has a "front" and a "back", where the texture of the weave is different, choose the side which suits your painting best. It is also best to use an acrylic gesso, modern gesso is suitable for both oil and acrylic and a more flexible than traditional gesso. Once this is dry it is best, though not absolutely necessary, to coat the reverse with gesso as well. This will help protect the exposed canvas from moisture in the atmosphere and rotting it.
4. Once these first layers of gesso are dry place the stretchers back on the centre of the canvas and draw a straight line around it, this time leaving 2 inches of extra canvas around the frame (for 18 mm stretcher bars). When the outline is drawn you can cut the canvas along the lines so that you end up with nice straight edges and as we've cut into canvas that has been gessoed, will avoid fraying.
5. Lay the stretchers again on the trimmed canvas, as close to dead centre as possible. Start with one of the longest sides and fold the excess over the bar keeping it as tight as possible (without pulling the canvas over too much) and pin or stable it starting at the centre and working out to the corner keeping the canvas tight all the time.
6. Go to the opposite side and, starting at the centre using canvas pliers, pull the canvas tightly over the bar and pin or staple it to the edge whilst keeping it taught. Then go to each corner in turn, pulling the canvas over the bar and away from the centre to eliminate any creases, whilst pinning at end (but before the joint starts).
7. Go to the other sides and repeat the process.
8. The canvas can now be pinned to the back of the stretcher bars to keep the edges flat. Position each pin or staple between the position of the pins already on the sides. This helps spread the load.
9. As we have allowed only 2 inches of canvas around the frame, we do not have excessive material on the corners, making it easier to deal with. Working on each corner in turn, pull the corner of the canvas over the corner of the frame as tightly as possible, at the same time fold one side over the corner and the other side over the top of that so that the corner of the canvas is under the two sides and pin or stable the whole lot in place, keeping it taught all the time. Repeat for each corner.
10. Check the surface for any knots or imperfections in the canvas and if necessary these can be rubbed out carefully with a pumice stone or light sand paper. Once ready, apply an additional two or three coats of gesso to the face of the canvas and sides, allowing to dry between coats.
11. Once finished insert the corner wedges to help tighten the surface of the canvas.
Brush Types
When considering your pet portrait, an artist has many ways to apply paint to a canvas, but the most traditional tool is the brush. However, brushes come in many forms and it is important to make sure you are using the right brush for the right job. Although there are many types of hair used the two of the main types to consider are Sable and Bristle. These are the acknowledged best of the best in soft or hard brushes.Sable brushes are traditionally used for their combination of softness, flexibility and strength. The sable hairs taper to a point, making them extremely good at creating a fine tip, ideal for detailed work. Although mainly used for water colour, they can also be used for any fluid paint, including oils, although great care has to be taken in the cleaning of these brushes.
Bristle (hogs hair) brushes are the workhorses for the oil painter, they're very strong and springy with a taper towards their point. In the very best types, the point itself splits into several smaller points known as a flags, giving the bristle huge capacity to hold colour. Inferior bristles tend to be less springy and cut instead of flagged. The bristle brush comes into its' own when using stiff paint or dry brush techniques, they also are good for texture effects like stippling etc.
Synthetic hair is a relatively inexpensive alternative to natural hair, they are great for general work and can take more abuse, however even the best cannot match the performance of sable and bristle brushes.
Painters' brushes are made in the following shapes; rounds, mops, flats, short flats (brights), filberts and fans. Rounds are the brushes that taper to a fine point. Mops are round brush that have a domed tip. Flats are fairly short haired brushes that are square and finish in a straight edge. Filberts have the short square heads but finish with a rounded tip. Fans have a thin layer of hair shaped as a fan, the fan is the only brush that is not used for applying paint but solely for blending and softening colour on the canvas.
Making your own paint
It is possible, and quite easy, for the pet portrait artist to make their own paint. One of the easiest forms of paint to make yourself is egg tempera, a medium that has a long history in art and if used on a properly prepared ground can be a better lasting medium than oils. The finished paint can be thinned with water and dries very quickly to matt or semi-matt finish. Egg tempera is quite brittle when dried so needs a stiff support to avoid cracking, but if precautions are taken, tempera is a very stable medium.Tempera is not capable of great depth but it lends itself to a linear style and works best when compositions are based on a well executed drawing.
Process for making egg tempera.
Start by creating a pigment paste, this is done by putting dry pigment into a small jar, adding enough distilled water to make a thick paste. The quantity will vary from colour to colour as each will have a different degree of absorbency. Put the top on the jar and shake vigourously. This pigment paste can then be kept until you need it.
To make up the required amount of paint, crack an egg and separate the yolk. Dry the yolk sac by rolling around in the hand or absorbent paper. Hold the yolk and cut the sac with a scalpel, letting the liquid run into a glass jar. Whilst stirring add distilled water until the consistency of thin cream is achieved. Gradually work small amounts of the egg mixture into the pigment paste on a flat piece of marble or glass using a palette knife until the desired consistency is achieved. To test the binding power of the paint, use a brush to apply a small amount to a piece of glass, when dry, peel it off with the palette knife. If it is ready it will come off as a skin, if it crumbles, add more egg.
As egg is the binder used here, it cannot be kept for any length of time, as it will putrefy. So it is always best to make the paints as and when you need it.
Watercolour painting techniques: Dry brush painting
'Dry brush' is a technique in which paint straight from the tube is mixed with little or no water, then applied to a textured paper. The tooth of the paper catches the paint whilst leaving some areas free. Dry Brush strokes have an interesting ragged quality that suits subjects that require texture effects like tree bark, wood, grasses and foliage. It is particularly suited to watercolour painting as it can give the impression of detail without having to show it.Experiment with various types of brush mark to see what effects can be achieved. Also vary the size and shape of brushes to get different results. Damp the brush first, but reduce the moisture content by semi-drying it using tissue. Drag the brush at 45 degrees lightly across the paper using quick continuous strokes. Try short stippled ones and curving strokes to suggest natural forms. Foliage is best shown with jabs of the brush head first into the paint then gently on the paper. Wood grain can be described with a very dry brush, dragged lightly across the paper with varying pressure. Water can be shown with slightly thinner paint applied quickly with long, light brush strokes. This leaves a slight speckle that looks similar to the shimmer of light on the surface of water.