Shasta herself is finished. I always love the way it looks when the subject is “3-dimensional” on the flat grey paper! Next I’ll start on the ferns and hiking trail. There's a lot of blank grey paper that has yet to be filled in.
There are a couple things I want to fix about Shasta. The shadow on the back of her orange foreleg makes her leg look too thin. (Big foot, skinny little leg.) And I need to add that other toe to her back foot where it’s covered by hair. Looks like she only has 3 toes.
Next, the background scene...
1
I sketched in some of the forest background.…lights and darks to help orient me with regard to the path, the ferns, leaves, and hillsides. And the curving shape of the path. I’ve faintly marked the posts that held up the railing of the bridge – which I've removed in the artwork – but they are there in the reference photo, and that will help guide me as to where I'm at in the image.
2
Now I start filling in the greens of the forest, starting in the upper left below the tree trunks. Greens, yellows, golds. As usual, I work down and across from the upper left, because I’m right-handed. So I don’t drag my hand repeatedly across the finished parts. This close-up shows some of the pencil-work. I’m not working as tightly detailed as I did on Shasta, the main subject.
3
Same as the previous pic but with the open spot in the center filled in. What a difference some green pencil makes! The forest floor comes to life.
4
The background scene starts to look 3-dimensional....
🎨 Prismacolor pencil on grey Canson Mi-Teintes paper, with blue watercolor wash on the bridge.
“Shasta”, an Australian Shepherd on a forest trail where she loves to hike with her beloved people.
Commissioned by Diane Barnes as a gift for her son Takeshi and his fiancé Cheryl.
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