German Shepherd Dog Commission

This is the commission I was working on right after Christmas.  It was a gift that has now been given so I can post it.  I'm very relieved to say that both the person who commissioned the piece and the gift recipient were very pleased with the portrait. 

This painting is pastel on velour, my usual surface, with various pastels and pastel pencils and went fairly well,  As usual, the reference photos were not clear and did not show some parts of the dog they wanted painted.  The ruff under the neck was cut off and the eyes were "flashed" so I couldn't tell what color they were.  So, between the memory of the person who commissioned the painting and looking at similarly colored GSD's online, I made some educated guesses which were evidently close enough as the owner assured me that it looked just like the dog.

I was concerned that the fur was too long but both the commissioner and the owner told me that this dog was not at all smooth and that the fur length was right on.

So, on to the next commission which will be in gouache and I need to both finish the magnolia pastel painting and get the studio ready for the new cabinets.

Jeanne, from Jeanne Grant blogspot, left a comment about wanting to see the finished studio and I promise to post pictures.  The cabinets were supposed to be here by today but as far as I know, they haven't arrived yet.  After they do arrive, we'll have to install them (around my DH's work schedule) then I'll have to get everything tidied up to show everything at it's best - lol.  So, it might take a while but I'll eventually get pictures up here for you all to see!