Dalmatian watercolour - Chloe

16" x 20" watercolour on Saunders Waterford NOT paper

Today's painting is a watercolour on my favourite paper. It's what I would describe as a good tempered paper, allowing a fair amount of scrubbing before complaining! As I've described before, the surface is neither rough nor smooth but as Goldilocks would say 'just right' - for me that is. NOT stands for not hot pressed and hot pressed means smooth. I would suggest that if you're new to watercolours and want to have your paintings framed, you should avoid using the lightest weight of paper unless your paintings are very small. I've seen countless paintings starting to wrinkle when framed because the paper wasn't substantial enough. I've described sometime ago in this blog about stretching watercolour paper and in my opinion, it's a vital step and something I do even with heavyweight papers. In this way I never have to worry about the amount of watery paint I apply to the surface and always know the paper will remain nice and taut. 

On to the painting now. Well I think you'd have to look far and wide to try and find a prettier face than this little girl. I think she's absolutely lovely... and I hope you do too!

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Watercolour Dalmatian dog portrait painting

Watercolour Dalmatian - Otto - on Saunders Waterford NOT paper

Another Dalmatian today but this time slightly different as I'm going to also show a WIP (work in progress just in case anyone was wondering). This boy was painted in watercolours - I hope you like him. 😊

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Oil painting of a Dalmatian dog

Jazz - Dalmatian oil on canvas

I shall be trying to catch up on showing you paintings which were completed last year and which I simply didn't have time to share. They will be in no specific order. I hope you'll enjoy them. 

What do they mean to me? Well, they are all my 'babies' and I've never finished a painting and not loved the dog (or other animal) painted. I put my heart into them and try with all my might to make them live, whether or not they still breathe.❤️ Today's painting is a Dalmatian, a glorious dog.

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Silent Night Christmas Card

Silent Night Christmas Card

This painting came up in my 'memories' on Facebook today on my personal page and so I thought I'd share it here now. One of my favourites - if you look on my Facebook page (Anne Zoutsos Artist) it's my profile picture! It features my darling Angel. It's available to purchase as cards and prints here: 

http://www.redbubble.com/people/annez/works/8100027-silent-night-christmas-card-with-greeting-on-front 

and here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/annez/works/8102550-silent-night

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Dalmatian oil portrait - Ziggy

12" x 16" oil on canvas

This evening's painting is another lovely Dalmatian. This gorgeous boy lived a very long and much loved happy life. There is not much more we can hope for our dogs.


Anne
info@azpaintings.com

Watercolour Dalmatian portrait (Peanut)

16" x 20" watercolour on Saunders Waterford NOT

Well I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year and in fact is still having a good new year! I started 2016 with a sickly computer and a sickly me. Neither of us was seriously ill but it did make posting too difficult to struggle with. However, we are now both back and fully fit!

I'm hoping to get back to posting regularly now and if you have any comments or there is anything you'd like to see or have discussed,  please let me know.

As I say under the painting, this lovely Dalmatian was painted on Saunders Waterford NOT. For those of you new to this blog and not familiar with watercolour papers, you might wonder what NOT stands for. It actually means NOT hot pressed. Hot pressed watercolour paper is very smooth as opposed to rough watercolour paper which is.... yes, you guessed it, rough. NOT fits in between the two. I use Saunders Waterford as I find it a forgiving paper, meaning that it is possible to be relatively rough with it. I always suggest to people new to watercolours, that they pop along to their local art shop and buy a selection of different papers to see which they like best and which suits their style of painting best. I find Saunders Waterford paper to be like Baby Bear's porridge in Goldilocks and The Three Bears, that is, just right! 

Anne

Dalmatian in oils - Bailey

Oils on canvas - 16" x 12"

I told the following brief story on my facebook page (Anne Zoutsos Artist) and thought I'd share it with you all too.

When I was little I heard a story about a man who carved beautiful little horses. One day he carved one which was so perfect, it galloped away. It is my hope that one day one of my paintings will bark... 

This very handsome Dalmatian, painted in oils, is greatly missed by his devoted owner. RIP Bailey.

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Dalmatian oil painting - Tia

20" x 16" oil on canvas

As regular readers will know, I haven't got my blog postings properly organised yet, but I'm getting there!

Meanwhile, another Dalmatian for you. A sad story as this young girl, so full of life and living, was diagnosed as suffering from leukaemia and her life ended at the very premature age of 6. She is still greatly missed by her owner. RIP sweetheart. 

Luca - Dalmatian Oil Portrait Painting

14" x 10" oil on canvas

Hmm, not wonderfully organised at updating my blog yet! Well, early days... 

Today I'm sharing an oil painting completed a few months ago. I really enjoyed painting this boy - it was fun to have a different pose from usual. I think it probably goes without saying that I do love the expression in his eyes and spent a long time getting them just as I wanted. I hope you agree that it was worth the time! 

The portrait was commissioned by his breeder in the UK as a gift for his owner - what a lovely gesture. 

 

This boy is alive and well and lives with his owner in France.  

If you have any questions or would like to discuss commissioning a painting please email me at info@azpaintings.com (now booking into the New Year)

Anne

Dalmatian oil portrait

'Katti' - 16" x 20" oil on canvas

It's been a long time since I've posted on my blog. Those of you who've been around for some time will probably notice that there is a change in the design of this blog. This is to co-ordinate it with my new website which has very recently been published. If anyone notices any mistakes with the website, I'd be grateful if you could drop me a note to let me know. 

Meanwhile I've been busy painting of course and have quite a few paintings to share with you. I'm starting with my most recently finished commission of a stunning Dalmatian girl - how lovely she was and I can understand how much her owner misses her... 

I will try and organise myself to update this blog efficiently but again, those who have been around before will know that organisation isn't exactly my forte!

Welcome back everyone! 

Anne

Dalmatian - Disney

Dalmatian Disney - 16" x 12" oil on linen canvas

I had meant to publish this photo directly after the post of the video showing a painting being opened as this was what was being unwrapped. Oh well, to quote Robert Burns - "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley"!

If you have any questions please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian portrait - Enzo (oil painting)

Dalmatian - Enzo. Oil on 7" x 7" MDF board

This evening's posting is of a recently painted portrait - I still have some pre-Christmas paintings to post and am endeavouring to get myself organised sufficiently to be able to put them here on my blog. Never give up! 

At this time of year there never seem enough hours in the day. There are always dogs to be walked but now the garden is crying out to be attended to with so much to do and of course paintings to work on. I had planned some spring cleaning but that has had to be put on hold - not something I am sorry about! 

Anne

Dalmatian #2 (finished) Tutorial - Lesson 4

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 4

So here is the painting now finished. I've also featured the head of this girl to show it in detail. Since the last blog post, all the spots have been completed and more work has been done on the shading of the body. This is the stage when small areas of detail are added - such as the toe nails. In this painting, the paint has been thinned on two occasions only - firstly for the underpainting sketch and then for the whiskers. Finally the background has been painted, my signature added and that's it!

I hope you've enjoyed the little journey through the development of one of my paintings.

If you have any comments, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 3

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 3

As can be seen, things have moved on quite a lot since I last showed you the progress of this painting. The head and ears have almost been completed although there will be some more detail added. The entire body has been worked on with the shading being refined and all the spots have had thick paint applied but only fairly roughly. The spots above the collar and a few below have had detail added so the next stage of the painting will be to add detail to all of the spots on the body and legs. It will then be back to her head and together with the detail mentioned above, whiskers will also be painted in. Once all of this has been done, I will paint the background and then sign it. It will then be ready for her owner to check that she is happy with the painting.

Anne

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 2

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 2

A considerable amount of work has been done since the last stage of this painting. All of the shading has been roughed in together with the spots on the head and ears and more work has been done on the eyes. Please note though that not one area of the dog is finished yet. I should also admit that I don't always paint in an ordered and sensible fashion and quite often get attracted by a particular area of the painting or take a rest from a difficult part! I am sure this is not the accepted way to paint, but since I am self-taught, I can please myself! 

If you'd like to ask any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 1

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 1

I think the photo of this stage of the painting is fairly self-explanatory. As can be seen, once again I have painted the eyes first so that I can develop a relationship with the dog. After that I have blocked in shaded areas and the spots with thin paint. In this painting I have also added a foot which was not visible in the reference photo but without which I felt the painting looked wrong. 

At this point, I like to step away from the painting and look at it to make sure that it is developing along the right lines. Even when only in the beginning stages I aim to make the paintings visually interesting.

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 4

 Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 4

So, here is the final painting. I hope it's going to be clear enough to see easily as I've found it incredibly hard to get a reasonable photo of it. 

I think a lot of this lesson really is self-explanatory. As can be seen, the black background has been painted in and the black edges of the ears have been slightly lightened so that they can be seen against the background - albeit not very well in this photo! Sometimes it can be very effective to paint 'lost and found' edges where parts of a painting are indistinguishable against the background but I didn't feel this would be right with this painting. More detail was added to the muzzle area and whiskers were painted in. The bed was painted but less than in the actual photo and toes were added which weren't in the photo! The final part of all was the blending in of the reflection with brush strokes both horizontal and vertical. Although the reflection is an important part of the painting it must not take centre stage - this position must be left to the VIP of the painting. 

Good girl Macy!

I hope you've enjoyed this journey into painting - another one to follow very shortly.

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 3

 Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 3

At this stage the painting of the Dalmatian itself is almost finished. More detail has been added to the spots and the shading. The reflection has been added although this will need blurring into the background when that has been completed. 

It's always a good idea to look at your painting from slightly different angles and stand back to see it from a little further away. It's so easy when you're concentrating hard on the details of a painting to lose sight of the whole picture and for exaggerations to creep in. When you look at your painting, do you feel you could stroke the dog, feel its body under your hands? If you do, then you know you're getting it right. 

Any questions - just drop me a line at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 2

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 2

As can be seen, the painting has developed considerably since the last lesson. The spots have all had oil paint applied without the addition of any thinner or medium. At the moment the edges are only roughly painted although the shapes are more or less accurate. The areas in shadow have had considerably more paint applied and again, like the spots, the paint has had nothing mixed with it. A large amount of detail has been added creating much more form. I've also added much more detail to the eye rims but haven't touched the eyes themselves as I got the expression I wanted when I first painted them and don't want this changed until I'm ready to work in the final detail - quite a time consuming part as getting the eye detail right is crucial. 

When you get to this stage, take time to look at the painting to make sure that your image is really starting to gain shape so that you feel you can reach out and touch the dog. If you don't feel that yourself,  you'll be lucky if anybody else does! If you're not sure, try looking at it through a mirror as when you're not used to painting, it can be useful to have a different perspective. For now, I feel very fond of this little girl and look forward to the next stage of work.

Again, if anyone has any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com or leave a comment here.

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial

Step by step oil painting instructions

I've been asked so many times to give painting tuition in my way of painting that I have decided to do my best and show the progress of a painting and describe the steps along the way. If anyone has any questions, please either email them to me at info@azpaintings.com or leave a comment here. 

The painting I will be showing you is on a 16" x 12" box canvas and is going to be a 'reflection' painting. 

As usual I like to paint the eyes first, even though only roughly, but this aspect of the painting is extremely important to me. Once I have the eyes painted I can relax and start to build up the rest of the body. I like to get the shading of the body painted next as it starts then to form the flat image into something with form and life. I start by blocking in a thin layer of paint in the areas of shadow and also all the spots. I don't worry at this stage about making sure the spots are all the same depth of colour but I do try and get the different tones of shading more or less correct although not at their final depth. At this stage I only use Ivory Black and Titanium White. This is a very important step in the painting and if it lacks interest now, the final painting is also likely to be boring. If the painting was of a different coloured animal I would use a complementary but still neutral colour for the shadow. 

I hope you've enjoyed this first lesson in painting my way and will join me for the next stage which will follow soon.

Anne