Pet Portrait Class Winter 2012
I am very pleased that my Pet Portrait class had enough people enroll so it didn't have to be canceled, as you all have probably figured out, I am an animal lover and they are a favorite subject for me to paint and draw.
What we went over in class is one, how to pick out a photo to work from and how to get that image onto your canvas or paper.
First, picking out a picture: Find a photo that conveys some of the personality of the animal you want to paint. It doesn't matter if it is a house cat or a lion, a wolf or a poodle, an elephant or a mouse; you want to find an expression on their face or their body language that tells the viewer something about this animal.
Most of us take a lot of photos of our pets especially now with digital cameras, but not all of those images would make a good portrait. Some times you can have an image that has great lighting, and perfect background but the animal is just so-so. Conversely, you can have a great photo of the animal but the background is chaotic, which one do you choose? Actually, you can choose them both. Use one for reference for your background and the other for the animal. Having reference photos and keeping a library of these things is a valuable asset when it comes to your art no matter the subject. However, if you have to choose one or the other, choose the great photo of the animal and ignore what is around it. We are artists and we are the ultimate in PhotoShop.
As long as I will teach art, I will always encourage my students to practice their drawing. If you want to be a better painter, drawing is an essential part of that, even if you want to paint more to the impressionistic or abstract side, it is always good to know the "rules" so you know which ones you want to break and why. Drawing is the base on which you build.
That said, I know that many people want to paint but they don't want to draw so there are other methods to get an accurate drawing on your canvas. You can use an overhead projector or there are computer programs that will enlarge an image to the size you want (Poster7 is a good one and it is one of the links in the side bar) or you can use the grid method which I demonstrated in class.
What you need to remember is that everything is just a series of shapes: Curves, straight lines, angles…They aren't ears and eyes or nose and tongue until the very end, if you get all those shapes right, what they represent will be there at the end.
I like to do my drawing on a separate piece of paper the size of the paper or canvas I am going to be working on, this way I can make all my mistakes and correct them before I start to paint. It is fairly easy to transfer a drawing onto a canvas or paper plus you have it handy if you need to re-establish your drawing without starting from scratch. Really all I do is a simple line drawing with the outline of my subject and some of the more important features like eyes or the shape of the mouth or where a leg comes into a body, I'll save the detail for the painting itself.
However you feel most comfortable getting an image on your canvas that is the method you should use in this class, though I do encourage you to take the time to sketch and draw, it will do you good. Please have your drawing and your reference photo with you in class along with your paints so we can get started, I will be working in acrylic but feel free to work in the medium you feel most comfortable. It is not necessary to have the drawing on your canvas, usually there is a lot to do in any medium before you get to that stage anyway. See you all in class.
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