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Buddy – English Shepherd Pet Portrait

June 18, 2014 By Colleen 12 Comments

English Shepherd Portrait   Meet Buddy!

English Shepherd Portrait

Doesn’t he look like the sweetest dog ever?

english shepherd portrait

I have it on good authority he is one of the sweetest dogs, because I follow his mom on Facebook and Instagram where she occasionally shares posts about Buddy.

I would expect that her dog would be awesome because Brittany is truly one of the kindest and generous people I know. I’m so lucky that I get to call her my friend. So to be able to paint her dog was a real treat, especially since Brittany is an accomplished artist herself. #nopressure Also, this is the first english shepherd portrait I’ve done, or shepherd of any kind!

I asked Brittany to email me some of her favorite pics of Buddy, which she did.

English Shepherd Portrait

Her only request was if I could capture Buddy with his ears up and mouth open, as this is when he’s happy. The only thing missing from this pic above is a wagging tail, right? I don’t know how she even shot this because I imagine Buddy jumping up and down, excited to go for a walk.

Or maybe he’s one of those dogs who actually sits on command. I don’t have one of those.

I was so excited to draw Buddy, I totally forgot to take step-by-step photos. Plus, I wasn’t really ready to write a colored pencil tutorial. Now, with a few under my belt, I might share some pencil tips on my next pet portrait. I think you’ll love drawing with pencils, especially on animals.

I have a few in-progress photos that I shared on Instagram. Are you following me there? If you like seeing step-by-step pics, I almost always share there.

english shepherd portrait

I follow a lot of artists on Instagram and I notice that they draw portions of an animal and work their way down. I used to color block the whole thing and then add detailing later.

The one thing I do now is get the eyes in early. They always bring life to the piece and it’s like I can “feel” the pet, which is special to me.

I may or may not actually talk to the animal while I’m drawing him or her. (I’ll never tell.)

english shepherd portrait

I started working my way down with Buddy’s portrait. It felt a little odd at first but now I wouldn’t do it any other way.

english shepherd portrait

Mainly because I rest my hand on the canvas as I’m sketching and, since these are oil-based pencils, I manage to smear everything under my hand.

Yeah. It’s lovely. #not

english shepherd portrait

Once I erased all of the smears I took a fine tip liner brush and acrylic paint and started adding the wispies.

english shepherd portrait

No matter how much I sharpen my pencil – and I sharpen them a lot – I can’t seem to get the tiny fine lines like I do with a paint brush.

english shepherd portrait

Of course, the fact that I did this on canvas rather than paper makes a big difference. You can see the weave of the canvas close up but not from far away.

english shepherd portrait

This is an 8 x 10 inch canvas so it’s pretty small, but large enough to still get in most of the details too.

english shepherd portrait

What a joy it is to paint someone’s ‘best friend’. For a long time I’ve been wanting to do something special for Brittany. Not just because she’s a dear friend but because she was amazing after my husband died. She’s a special, special person who is always giving to others.

I hope you’ll take a minute and go visit her blog, Pretty Handy Girl. It is full of awesome DIY projects of all kinds. Seriously, if I ever have a question, PHG is the first place I look!

So Buddy is the second blogger pet I’ve done, and there are more to come! If this keeps up, I might have to do a Bloggers’ Dogs (and kitties) series of some kind. Wouldn’t that be fun? We could play a mix ‘n match game – match the pet to the blogger – or something.

You just keep thinking, Butch. That’s what you’re good at. Name that movie.

I’m off to start the next pet portrait. Any guesses which breed this one will be? I’ll give you a hint – it’s a dog. I little one.

Have a great rest of the week!

Colleen

about Colleen

Filed Under: Illustrations, Markers & Pencils, my paintings, My Stuff

Comments

  1. Laura Strack says

    June 19, 2014 at 8:03 am

    I may have to commission you, Lady! Did I say that correctly? I’ve never had a portrait painted or sketched. But I am definitely entertaining the idea.

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      June 21, 2014 at 8:05 am

      Aw, thanks Laura! But I think you should try to paint one first yourself! Seriously! You might be surprised. The hardest part is the relationship of the eyes to the nose so if you get that right, you’re halfway there!

      I am thinking about writing a few more tips on animals. Not an actual tutorial because I’m still fakingittillImakeit but I think I can come up with something to help. However, you know I’d LOVE to paint your baby for you too.

      Reply
  2. Kris says

    June 19, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Wow! You’ve really captured Buddy’s spark! What a happy boy! Very, very nice, Colleen!

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      June 21, 2014 at 8:06 am

      Thank you Kris. That’s exactly what I tried to do! He’s such a sweetie.

      Reply
  3. Cookie17 says

    June 19, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    What good job on this dog…It’s so pretty,Great job One these day’s I’m going learn paint,,lol

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      June 21, 2014 at 8:07 am

      Thanks Cookie! Oh I hope you do take up painting or drawing. It’s so relaxing, as long as you keep your inner critic quiet.

      Reply
  4. Lorrie Koenig says

    June 19, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    You are doing an amazing job on the pet portraits.
    Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      June 21, 2014 at 8:07 am

      Thank you Lorrie!

      Reply
  5. Lyn says

    June 20, 2014 at 2:34 am

    Your portrait of Buddy is beautiful you have certainly captured his happy smiling face.
    I expect Brittany loves your wonderful gift to her.

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      June 21, 2014 at 8:07 am

      Thanks so much Lyn. I was thrilled to be able to do this for Brittany.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. OUR ONE-OF-A-KIND DOG - Mad in Crafts says:
    July 30, 2014 at 4:00 am

    […] is one of a kind.  And so are Aunt Peaches’ cat Lola, Amy from Mod Podge Rocks’ pug Roxie, Buddy the English Shepherd owned by Brittany of Pretty Handy Girl, and Rhonda aka Mrs. Greene’s cat named Abracadabra.  […]

    Reply
  2. Handy Dog News and Pet Portraits by Colleen of Just Paint It Blog - Pretty Handy Girl says:
    August 17, 2014 at 4:00 am

    […] like Colleen who captured my dog’s happy personality in a portrait. You can read and view her process for creating his portrait on her […]

    Reply

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    About Me

    Hi there! I'm Colleen, a self-taught artist, writer and blogger, among other things. You don't get to be old enough to order off the Denny's senior menu without accomplishing a few things in life. Read More…

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