Essentials Cafe

I really like this dianne, especially the way you have captured the wirey hairs of his coat and the mood of intense longing, as if he is yearning to get out and at whatever it is that has caught his attention.

What brushes did you use to capture the finer details?

So sorry about your loss, I know how much companionship a loyal pet can give, my own dog is so loving and forgiving when I get it wrong.  Also I understand how much a part of the family they become.  Thanks for sharing.

I can sympathise with you, having a dalmation from the age of 3 to 16, he was my best friend. I still remember the day i had to go to my youth training scheme job and looked up the stairs to see him one last time. I broke my heart. I still have his picture of him on the beach with me in my wallet. He died 24 years ago and still miss him sooo much. My thoughts are withyou.

Thanks fellas for your kind words.

In answer to you questions about the artwork this is how it was achieved.

First I used the fill bucket to colour the background so I was not starting on white.

Then I used the square grainy pastel to block in the large areas of white etc.  I then used the sharp chalk for all the fine detail on the fur.  For the blending done on the piece I used the grainy water blender.

You may have read on my BIO that I do soft pastel art.  So I decided since I am already familiar with this technique it would be a good place to start with the Wacom tablet.  I find the Wacom tablet much harder to use than drawing with real pastel and paper. The work I do on real paper is of a much higher standard, but I am slowly getting the hang of it.

I have decided since finishing this piece that the background should have been done with a dark colour to make Midge stand out.  I may well re-draw the whole piece at a later date, depending on how I feel.

It was very theraputic to sit and draw this piece.