Purdie, Rio and Chewy - Part II

I have often photographed dogs for my local dog shelter. When I have to photograph a pair that cannot be adopted separately, it's really hard to capture the perfect moment for both dogs; you just have to aim and click as often as you can and hope for the best. Sometimes pure luck will give you that shot in moments, but most of the time it will take hours. Thank God for digital cameras. So, when I saw Joy's photograph of her dogs, all three together, looking at her, each with their own personalities, in her lovely room with a nice light, I thought: Perfect.

Here is a the preliminary sketch of this adorable trio.

Purdie, Rio and Chewy's portrait will be on an 11" x 14" size canvas. I've asked Joy to provide me with some extra head shots of Rio just to make sure I get his eyes correctly since they are surrounded by dark patches of hair.

Also, to make sure Joy's living room and sofa were reproduce accurately and in proportion, I traced a grid over a spare copy of the photograph. I then traced a grid over my sketching paper. This helped in drawing all the elements in bigger size without any distortion. I then drew all three dogs on the couch and all the details surrounding them.

I'll be able to start colour tomorrow.