HOW TO PAINT A DOG PORTRAIT in pastel - Step by Step. Stage 1

Alongside my Daily small Painting series I am currently working on more dog portraits and thanks to a fb friend, I have at last got a Saluki dog model! I know about his character and have access to several photos of him. I have been asked to show the stages of making a pastel portrait, so here goes.

As I cannot meet Jamil in the flesh, I select a photo to work from, then get as accurate a drawing I can but also aim to capture his individual character.   I think about the composition and placement of the head on the paper. 

Next, I look for the tonal range grey scale and local colours and indicate those in key areas.  I think of this first stage as mapping out all of the main elements, composition, tone, colour.



Saluki 'Jamil' dog pastel portrait stage 1



Now the light is fading so I will leave it alone! I will post the next stage when complete, keep watching, Jan