Boxer in Long Grass
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just under 6 hours. The full painting is available with colour coding and narration for full guidance.
This gorgeous boxer is the first of this breed to feature in my tutorials library. And what a fantastic example of the breed he is. It's a super reference image to learn from, and there is as much to learn about painting backgrounds as dogs in this one.
I'll take you through the whole piece including that rather complicated looking long grass. Hopefully by the time I break it down into bite sized pieces, you'll feel more confident to add backgrounds to your pet portraits.
It's something I struggled with in the beginning, but now I love the sight of green grass in a portrait!
Timelapse Video
Cloudscape
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just under 2 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
This small landscape study is more a study of clouds than the hills below. The clouds take up most of the composition and I'll talk a lot about creating the textures and the perspective of them to suggest the distance in the valley.
But then in the foreground we get a chance to loosen up and create expressive grass and distant hills without going into too much detail.
It's a really fun little piece that didn't take too long. I used a homemade pastel surface which provided some great textures for the grass in the foreground. I recommend a more textured surface but you can work along on any paper.
Timelapse Video
Cocker Spaniel
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just under 9 hours. The full painting is available with colour coding and narration for full guidance.
This piece is the perfect tutorial to help you understand colour theory better. We couldn't ask for a more colourful portrait on which to talk about light and shade, complementary colours, and value. It's all here in this piece and I made sure that my narration went into great detail on my use of colour.
On top of that this series will guide you through creating an atmospheric background, as well as some other interesting elements such as the life jacket.
Orange roan fur is also a tricky challenge, so whether you work along or just watch, there is lots to be learned from this one piece.
Timelapse Video
Kinsale Harbour
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers around 3.5 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
This mini demo is perfect for practising a combination of landscape and an urban scene. There is something so satisfying about blocking in the little buildings and my aim with this demo is to show you how to create a sense of the dramatic light hitting everything in the same way.
You can download the photo that I used in the demo at the reference link below. Alternatively click HERE for a bonus pack of references from the same location with different types of lighting.
As always I want you to have the option to work along with me, but then to test out some of those new skills on an image of your own choice.
Timelapse Video
Black Cat Long Hair
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just over 3 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
This small demo explores painting long black fur from difficult photo reference. As an extra to the first black cat demo I painted from good reference, I decided to make another black cat demo using a photo that had poor lighting. Because often, this is what we get from clients when working on portraits of dark coloured animals.
The aim here is to give you the skills to edit and enhance what you see in the reference. You'll learn how to use your colour palette to add dimension and soft textures to quite a flat looking reference image.
As well as that, this beautiful kitty has such a quirky expression making this a super fun demo to work along with!
Sunset Mountains
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers around 2.5 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
There are few cheerier subjects to paint than a colourful sunset. This short demo shows you how to create a sense of distance in a landscape using atmospheric perspective. We also explore how to create the warm diffused light from the setting sun.
It's a fun way to use some of your more vibrant colours and to make use the million photos of sunsets you no doubt have on your phone too! This one was taken on my phone, and I want to inspire you to make use of your own references even if they're not professional quality photographs.
Below you'll find the reference to work along with me, and a few different bonus sunset photos to choose from if you want to try a different one.
Timelapse Video
Short Hair Black Cat
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers over 3 hours. The full painting is available with colour coding and narration for full guidance.
Black fur seems extremely difficult to paint as sometimes we can't see very much detail in it. This tutorial shares a lot of tips for working on dark coloured fur to bring out more colour and light without losing the rich darkness.
I share palette ideas and tips for enhancing what you see in the reference. And the demo even includes shortcuts to creating a fluffy blanket, one of the most common types of pet portrait background.
Be sure to check out the second black cat tutorial in the library showing you long fur. But this short haired beauty is a great way to learn about both cat portraits and black fur.
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Sand Tutorial
Finished Painting
This tutorial focuses on one element from the painting. The sand is something I have not shown before and while I have made other tutorials showing similar dogs and backgrounds, nothing with such detailed sand.
Don't let the appearance of the sand fool you though, it's not as detailed as it may first look. I'm going to show you in this tutorial how I created the texture of the sand and the sense of distance as it recedes into the background.
While it did take time, it's not as crazy as you might think and I did not actually paint every grain of sand on the beach.
It's one of those extra elements that you might encounter in a pet portrait and I hope this tutorial will give you the confidence and knowledge to take it on!
Timelapse Video
Siamese Cat
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just over 1.5 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
This short demo is perfect for trying out soft pastel for the first time. The limited palette means you don't need many colours to work along with me. And it's a relatively quick demo which focuses on creating the illusion of detail without actually spending hours painting each individual hair.
The demo is also available through Kristine Kapohina Art.
I was delighted to be asked to make a demo for her students to introduce more people to the wonders of soft pastel. If you're interested in amazing botanical watercolour tutorials, I highly recomment Kristine's channel.
Timelapse Video
Bumblebee
Finished Painting
The following tutorial series covers just 3 hours. The narration in this demo will guide you through the full project using a limited palette.
This spring themed demo is small and quick to create, but at the same time we cover a lot of useful techniques. How to create soft and out of focus backgrounds that add depth to a painting. How to create crisp and vibrant details that bring our eye to the main focal point.
This little demo is packed full of information! You'll find the main reference for the demo at the link below. But click HERE to access a bonus selection of spring themed bumblebee photos.
