The creation of Sally - my demo painting at the Hunter Arts Bazaar days

I started Sally back at the Autumn Arts Bazaar and didn't get a chance to do anymore until last Sunday at the Winter Bazaar.

This is the stage I got her to at the Autumn Bazaar.I had done a blue underpainting and decided I better finish off a bit so people would know she wasn't going to stay blue! lol's Her eyes ,mouth and nose are roughly done. She is a fairly large Oil portrait - 40 x 50cms image size.

 Here is where I started yesterday. As she is just a sample portrait and I can do whatever I want I wanted to go as colourful and bold as I could. Here I've started to put some extra colour through the blues which will be the base for the white later.
I was very busy on Sunday so I was interrupted talking to people a lot which was good as I didn't get time to start worrying about what I was doing..lol's

 

You can see my palette with the paints in the foreground. I had to keep reminding myself to stay bold and not get bogged down with detail etc . Still building up the layers..

I've started to add more white fur. She is an unusual Border collie as she has a mainly white face except for a bit more black at the back on the RHS.

This is where I got to on the day. The sun had moved around and was shining in my face and I was getting tired so decided to quit while I was happy with her.

I'm really happy with the result so far . 

I still need to come back and detail her nose , mouth and eyes a bit more and decide on a colour for the background. I don't want to lose the impact she has  from the viewing distance.

 My portraits are designed to look great when you view them on the wall. They usually look good closeup too but when they are in your home you want them to look good from the usual distance you are going to see them as you sit or walk by. She is going to be a stunner when she is framed! 

 An onlooker quipped -' You should say 'I bring out your inner dog' "- I thought what a great quote as that's exactly what I do!

 A photo just shows the outside and all the clutter whereas my portraits show you the pet you know and love.

Thanks to the person that took the photos for me!