
Leo is the same breed as my pup Millie, a Formosan Mountain Dog (both rescued from the streets of Taiwan), except Leo has dark brindle fur which I found much more difficult to paint than Millie’s blonde fur, especially when working from a photo (at bottom of post) without much variation in light and shadow to help create dimension and volume on a surface that is already so varied and random.

Before starting the oil painting I did the above quick gouache study to send to the collector who commissioned the painting to give her a sense of what I was planning. I hadn’t decided yet whether to include their backyard.
Below are a few steps during the work in process and the original photo I worked from.
I got really interested in painting the ferns on the left in the photo but decided to simplify the background, which was attracting my eye more than the doggie. I changed Leo’s fur coloring a bit in the painting based on some additional photo references that showed the fur as being darker and warmer-colored than in this photo. I’m so glad Leo’s people are happy with the painting!