Bess the collie dog

This is an acrylic painting of the beautiful collie dog Bess. I worked on her portrait last November. It was very fitting for the time of the year to paint a portrait of a dog in snow. It really put me in the mood for the approaching holiday season.

Bess’s portrait is 25 x 35 cm in size painted with acrylics on stretched canvas. The reference I worked from was a photo of a hard copy photo that the client emailed me. The photo being a little older did not offer a lot in terms of detail but really worked when it came to the composition and lighting. The client emailed me some digital photos of Bess so I was able to use the detail from those in the painting. Her painting was a very special Christmas gift as Bess had to be put to sleep just two weeks before her portrait was commissioned.

The client was delighted with the finished painting:

I wanted to let you know that I received the portrait and it’s beautiful. Thank you so so much. Hope you have a lovely Christmas.

Karen, Galway, Ireland

I worked on the portrait in a few stages starting with an acrylic sketch in yellow ochre. I adjusted the image slightly adding the rest of Bess’s paws which were cut off in the image. I also removed the red brick from the background. I thought it disrupted the image taking the focus away from Bess. The leaves worked well in the top right corner adding some depth. I took some photos while the painting was in progress:

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