Sadie Shitzu Puppy

An original painting, watercolor and gouache on Arches 140# professional paper.

Size: Approx. 7 1/4 x 5″

We had a Shitzu named Sadie.  She was a tiny thing–the runt of the litter.  She was sweet as she could be, but prissy and stubborn!  She’s been gone a few years but we still miss her.  This was when she was younger, but we kept her in a “puppy cut” even when she was fully grown so she always looked like a pup.

My process:  I started with her ears–at the top with Raw Sienna, Raw Umber and down to Peach Black at the bottom of her ears.  I moved to her eyes, layering again, to get a translucent quality to her eyes.  Her nose was always shiny, too, so I layered the paint, then used a wet brush to soften the top and bottom of her nose.  The rest is pretty self-explanatory, finished her fur on her back, then used Thalo Blue and Raw Sienna to put her shadows in–around her eyes and underneath her belly.  To finish, I used white gouache to make her long lashes and white fur, then added a little gray to the white to highlight her darker fur.  Here is a detail photo of her eyes:

As always, comments are welcome!

SOLD!  Collection: S.M., Louisville, KY

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