In both of these paintings I combined water color with other media. The portrait of the black and tan Afghan is colored with Derwent Inktense pencils with a water color overlay. I used a black Inktense pencil to draw the lines of the dog's hair. I wet a #4 filbert brush with water and painted over the pencil lines. This produced a black ink. I then painted the white areas on either side of the lines while the ink was still wet. This produced a shaded grey under coat. Once the ink was completely dry I diluted yellow ochre water color and painted the tan areas of the dog's face and throat. I also used this to highlight areas of fur on the dog's coat. Once this was dry. I mixed white with a small amount of yellow ochre to create a light tan for highlights and painted them on the dog's throat. I diluted black water color with water and painted over the inked areas. I then painted the dog's nose and muzzle. I mixed a small amount of burnt umber and yellow ochre and painted the dog's eyes without diluting the paint. Finally I used a light wash of cerulean blue for the background.
The dogs on the beach at dusk is inspired by Diana Fife's beautiful painting. I love the impressionist era and wanted to try my hand at an impressionistic painting.
For this painting I added only enough water to the paint to make it flow. I used acrylic paint to accent the white areas of the sky and the waves. The dogs' fur is highlighted with acrylic paint.
