Acrylic and Pet Portrait Classes

WINTER 2012 CLASSES

Animal Portrait Class – Week 2

Since everyone is kinda doing their own thing and in all types of mediums, I will just go over things we have in common when it comes to painting portraits of our animals, because even though we are working in everything from pencil to pastels there are a lot of things we do that are very similar to accomplish our goals.

First off the choice of background is very important to your finished painting and it is something I usually do first when I'm painting in watercolor or acrylic, pastel, I'm a bit more flexible with when I put it in but the goal is still the same: Create a background that will compliment, not compete, with my subject.

All of us are working from some kind of photo whether it is one we took our selves or from a calendar or book, as artists, we are the ultimate in PhotoShop so keep that in mind when you are looking at your reference photo. The photographer was stuck with what was in the background when taking the photo unless they were in a studio setting that includes the lighting of the animal to some extent. If you or a friend took the photo chances are you just took it because you liked the pose of the animal regardless of the dirty laundry or the clutter in the background. You do not and should not (in most cases not all) include a distracting background behind you subject. It is one thing to place your animal in its environment; it is another to have chaos going on all around it. Even a brick wall can be distracting with all the straight lines drawing attention from the animal.

For my dog, I chose a muted blue color scheme rather than the garage wall and plants that were around him in the reference photo. It also wasn't a solid blue background either. Behind his head around his face it is lighter and gets darker towards the corners. I brush mixed my colors on the canvas using gesso for my white, ultra marine blue, purple and touches of burnt sienna and umber. It still looks blue, but it is a grayed blue to go with my gray dog.

I have done dogs in their environment before when I thought it was necessary to tell the story, I just make sure that the animal is still the main character of the story by placing it in a prominent position and being prominent in the picture.

Another thing I try to do is keep my subject out of dead center. It is called "dead center" for a good reason: The eye seems to just stop moving around the painting. While there are exceptions to every rule, when you are placing your animal on your canvas or paper, try to place the animal off the center line and more to a third line both horizontally and vertically, it will make your painting more dynamic visually and more interesting. Remember to have more space in front of your subject then behind so it has either some place to look or move depending on if you are doing just the head or full body.

Fill the canvas or paper with your subject. I can't tell you how many times I find students starting out a painting and making the subject of the painting so small on the page or canvas, it is lost in the background. This applies to all subject matter not just animals. Make the subject important by having it fill in a good percentage of the canvas or paper because after all, that is what you want people to look at, you don't want them to go hunting.

And finally, the under painting. The under painting is like the foundation of a house, it is what you will build the rest of your painting on so I cannot understate its importance. For most media like acrylics, pastels and oils, we work from a middle dark to our lights and very darks, in water color we work from our lightest lights to our darkest darks but they all start out with an under painting.

With my dog, I mixed a medium dark gray color for most of the fur but as I painted I added touches of sienna, umber, gesso (white), blue and purple and mixed on my canvas. this give a variation to the color and interest. When my painting is done, the under lying color will act like the color of the deep fur giving my final animal's fur depth and texture.

In watercolor, what I look for to start my under painting is the color of the highlights. If you are working on a dark animal, those highlights can be more blue or gold depending on the light and what is around the animal. You under paint with a light version of the color of the highlight, that means a lot more water than paint. In the shadowed areas, you can use more blues and purples but keep it light, it is easier to add color than it is to remove it in watercolor these light blues and purples will be your reflected highlights in your finished painting.

As important as the under painting is, how it is applied is just as important. When you are painting animals, it is essential to follow the direction that the hair, feathers or fur grows and that direction can change with the curves of the body so pay close attention to how the fur or feathers cover the animal you are working on. Even in the under painting this if important because you eye will pick up on anything that just doesn't look right even if the top layers or paint are correct. We are much more perceptive than we think we are.

Before I close, I do want to address the issue of black. Generally, I will mix to a very dark, almost black color because it has more life to it than out of the tube black. That said, I will reiterate there are exceptions to every rule. If you like the look of black, please feel free to use it you will not hurt my feelings. I usually don't like to use, and especially, mix with black because it can really kill a color, on the other hand there are times when it is the best option. My pastels as an example: It is very hard to get a really dark color in pastel and not use black. I don't use a lot of it but if I need it I do. Sometimes in my acrylics I will work on a black canvas or I need something black that no amount of mixing blue, purple and umber will give me so I will use black, usually it is something man made that probably used carbon black to color it in the first place so tube black works in those situations.

If you still want to avoid using black, using Payne's Gray is a good substitute. Thinned out it is a very purple-ish gray color, at full strength it is a very lively dark color so it is a good alternative to using black. If you still want to mix to black the above formula (Ultra Marine blue, burnt umber and purple or UM blue, burnt sienna and purple) is a good choice or any of the dark blues (pthalo or indigo or a dark turquoise are good choices) with burnt Umber or Van Dyke Brown or sepia will also make very dark, almost black colors. It is after all, your painting you are painting for your self so use what makes you happy, that is the important thing.

I will continue on my dog next week, I already see some things that need adjusting before I can work on detail so we all have our work to do. See you in class. end#