How to Paint a Puppy as an Oil Painting Subject

You can paint a puppy in oil.

When starting out painting with oils, it is best to concentrate on simpler, inanimate objects such as coffee cups or fruit. Once you are comfortable painting in oil you can move on to more challenging subjects, such as animals. Painting an animal, such as a puppy, in a oil is a beautiful and artistic way to capture the animal for posterity. That being said, there are many things you'll need to keep in mind when painting an animal, such as its personality.

Things You'll Need

• Digital camera
• Tubes of oil paint
• Brushes
• Turpentine
• Canvas
• Easel

Instructions

1. Take a moment with the puppy to get an idea of its personality. Is it playful? Friendly? You'll want to bring these characteristics out in the finished painting. The eyes of an animal can tell you a lot about its personality.

2. Take a photograph of the puppy you intend to paint. Do this with a high-quality camera, as you'll want plenty of detail in the photograph. Take the picture from the angle you wish to paint the puppy.

3. Print the picture and do a rough sketch of the puppy on paper to get a general idea of the process.

4. Place the canvas on an easel and place the photograph of the puppy at eye level in front of you, next to the easel. Having the photograph about 15 inches away from your eyes will give you a good idea of the perspective and angles in the photo.

5. Sketch the puppy on the canvas in pencil. You can erase the pencil and start over if you don't get it quite right the first time.

6. Paint with dark oils over the pencil sketch. This makes shading and coloring much easier. Use a small brush for smaller areas, such as the eyes and nose, and larger brushes for larger areas like the body.

7. Use a large brush to add base colors to the background. Wait for the paint to dry.

8. Fill in the colors of the subject using paint mixed with an equal amount of turpentine. This allows the paint to dry faster. Wait for the paint to dry.

9. Add layers of color to the painting after the initial drying. Add dark colors to dark areas and light colors to light areas.

10. Paint fur by applying strokes in the direction that the hair on the animal is growing. Paint the initial stroke with dark paint and add strokes of lighter paint over it to create the hair effect.

11. Use lighter paints in the background in order to give the impression of light. Imagine where the light is coming from and paint accordingly. Allow the painting to dry.

References

• Pet-Art: Paint Oil Paintings