Dogs and frame

Useful tips for pet portrait painting

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.