Elsa

German Shepherds! I LOVE THEM. They can be goofy, intelligent, intimidating and always the loyalist of companions. A repeat customer, Joe, commissioned Elsa as a Mother's Day gift. His dog was June. This fur baby is his Mom's world. Her ever faithful friend. She was named for the German girl in Indiana Jones.

I cropped the one with the best lighting and expression. 

I wanted to keep some of the background direction in the rug and wall/floor seam so I could to run parallel with the dog's pose. It helps create weight at the bottom of the composition grounding the subject. 

Sketch to part way through the oil pastel base. 

It took a handful of tries before I got the proportions where I wanted them. A note: Don't start with the ears on a German Shepherd sketch. They are huge regardless of the facial features and measurements. We love that about them though, don't we? 

When working on the base it is a lot of scribbling with oil pastel and then blending it all with my finger tips. It is rough and sometimes takes many applications. 

More base color. 

 





A familiar sight is "the clutch" when you hold as many pencils in you hand as possible while working to not interrupt the flow. I work in my studio space which shares my LuLaRoe inventory and the best light in the house for my drafting desk and artwork. The pencil stage can be lengthy depending on the amount of colors in the fur. The pencil work on this piece took a decent amount of time-particularly in the ears.

The pencil has been introduced at this point and details are emerging slowly on the fur of his shoulder and in his ears. 

"Elsa" 11x14 Original Oil Pastel and Color Pencil 

That eyebrow! Heyyy!

The fur texture. 

The muzzle hues. 

My second German Shepherd was a beauty to work on. If you would like to see my previous check it out: Gatti. Joe's Mom loved the gift! I look forward to seeing more of Joe's family and friend's pups since he is so happy to share the work with them. I am truly blessed to have these return clients and all their support.