A Man and His Dog

After my little warm up with the small oils, I started working on this portrait. I had multiple photos to work from: the subject, a fine Rottweiler, his owner (he's pretty cool, too)  and the Alaskan mountains and tundra. Starting with the background, I then worked forward, roughing in the colorful foliage.

Next came Smitty, painting in the basic form and coloration. 

Then I painted in Blaine, and the foliage that would anchor them to the ground instead of floating in space. I took several photos at each step and after each painting session. The canvas size is 20x24" so it is very helpful to use the photos to see the big picture and how each element is going to work with the next. Mirrors are also helpful to gain a different perspective. From this photo, I can see I need to do some  more shading on the hands and the branch to the left of Smith, needs some companions.

And so the process continues of tweaking the details and finally arriving at the conclusion.