Posted on 12 Comments

Sketches of dogs

Paintings of spaniels

As a Christmas present, I promised I would paint my sister’s cocker spaniel, Dolly. I have a few photos of her but I thought my sister might prefer a painting based on an image she’d chosen.

My sister, however, gets distracted by all sorts of stuff, like the builders arriving to take down her lean-to shed and then having to deal with the junk that has accumulated in the said shed. In her defense, she’s inherited the contents. None of it is hers. There’s a fair bit of it.

Shed contents
Contents of my sister’s ex-shed

Anyway, I am waiting for her to send me her chosen image.

“Dolly won’t sit still when I try and take a photo!”, my sister complains.

So I may be waiting a while!

So in the meantime, I have been practicing painting other people’s hounds. I like to do quick tonal acrylic sketches as a break from oil painting. It challenges to think about tonal value rather than colour. Sometimes, it get it right, sometimes I don’t.

Painting of a cocker spaniel dog
Cocker Spaniel

 

painting of cocker spaniel
Goldie

 

Painting of Cocker Spaniel
Gilda

I also did a sketch of Dolly from a photo my mother had sent me. It may be the one my sister ends up getting!

Painting of Spaniel
Dolly the Spaniel