Painting an old dog.

[pugwash]

I was commissioned to paint this old dog when he was quite ill. The brief was to paint him as he was, warts and all, but not to have him look sick.
I did this by clearing his eyes which were quite cloudy and cleaning up the discharge from them. I kept all the grey hair and the beautiful expression.
Hope you like it.

[thevaliantx]

The only thing that seems 'off', in my opinion, is the left nostril. There should be a slit underneath the nostril, not going up the side of it. Did he have an infection that caused this slit? Otherwise, a beautiful portrait, and something the owner will cherish forever.

[pointy]

Hi there fellow aussie...you do beautiful portraits, that look is o hard to capture, well done

[pugwash]

Originally Posted by thevaliantx

The only thing that seems 'off', in my opinion, is the left nostril. There should be a slit underneath the nostril, not going up the side of it. Did he have an infection that caused this slit? Otherwise, a beautiful portrait, and something the owner will cherish forever.

Yes, you are almost right. He'd been in a fight in his younger days and made a mess of that part of his nose. I actually minimised it a little in the painting so it didn't look so bad.

[pugwash]

Thank you Pointy.

[beetee]

Lovely job Clive,

Brian

[LouiseMarie]

You have captured him brilliantly, I love the name Pugwash!!
You have done a great job at cleaning him up, without making him look sick.
I especially love the background the colour compliment him perfectly, if it was my portrait I would of softened the pastels at the bottom left so they were more blurry, only my opinion I feel they are a little distracting from the focal point. Great job though

[eviepatra]

Great portrait!!! Love it!

[pugwash]

Thank you Brian, LouiseMarie, and Evie, I appreciate your comments.

[John & Zoe]

I love the fact that the owner wanted him warts and all. There is something special about old dogs that you have captured beautifully. Zoe

[K Taylor-Green]

Beautifully done.

[smudged-blue]

Lovely portrait, Love his expression. Must have been a challenge to have him not look so sick and you really achieved this

[pugwash]

Thank you everyone. There is often a quiet dignity that is apparent in an old dog. I painted a shepherd once who had lost his right eye, which left quite a mess. The owner was unable to make up his mind whether I should paint him like that or paint him with both eyes. I sidestepped the problem by painting him in left profile!

[kentiessen]

A great portrait! He looks very well, too.

[crazywoman53]

Nice work.. he does look like a loveable old dog.