How To Paint A Dog In Acrylics

Students Master Canine Portraiture by Researching Dog Features

Aug 23, 2008 Jo Murphy

Painting a portrait of a familiar dog provides a simple sustained experience of focused artistic research.

If students paint their own dog, they will have a good working knowledge of what the dog looks like. If this is not possible, they can choose a dog they like from a magazine. Painting in acrylics on MDF is recommended because it is cost affective and affords easy clean up.

Choosing the Picture

Set the task of finding an appropriate picture of a dog as preparation for homework. This is an important part of learning to paint portraiture, because the image they choose will set the tone for the entire project. Tell students to choose clear, crisp close up shots taken in even light. Subject matter that is small and darkened by shadows makes the task unendurably hard for inexperienced painters.

If you have access to a computer with graphics software, ask students to scan and crop their picture. Show them how to use the technology to position the exact composition they would like to paint. Give them permission to fine-tune the image so that they achieve maximum contrast. Take the time to design the most appealing colour combinations in a program such as Photoshop. If your class does not have access to computer and software, they will need to cut out the composition and paste it onto a coloured card so that it can be stood where they can see it easily.

Drawing Up the Shape of the Dog Face

When drawing up the dogs face, avoid all clutter in the picture plane. Position the shape on the canvas. Intentionally forget about the background for the time being. Draw the shape up in a neutral colour very lightly with watery paint. It might take the students a few attempts to capture the likeness of the dogs shape.

Tell them to stay with the task by washing the board back with a wet rag. They can start afresh as many times as they need to. Perseverance will bring them to a place where they are happy with the shape of the dogs face. It helps to turn both the image and the painted outline up side down so that the student is judging proportion, rather than just trying to paint what he or she thinks she sees. Refer to Drawing on the Right Hand Side of the Brain [Betty Edwards. Tarcher 1999] for an explanation of this phenomenon.

Research Canine Features

Students need to approach learning about dog portraiture from two different viewpoints. At times, they will need to look for the similarities of shape in the canine facial world, and the differences for each breed. However, to capture an exact likeness of a particular dog they will need to look for the particular differences of facial feature that makes each dog unique. In the example featured below, the dog’s eyes are diamond in shape. Send students on an internet hunt, looking at the various shapes of facial features until they see similarities and differences. If your students are positioned to view the image on the computer, and the image contains enough pixels, encourage the student to zoom in on the eyes and examine them in detail.

You might like to encourage students to browse the canine drawing tutorials by Bob Davies on How To Draw and Paint.com and by Marion Boddy-Evans on About.com.

Set the Dog Portrait in Context

Once the student has drawn the dog, the next step is to place the animal in context. The dog featured below is sitting in front of a barn. It is wise for beginners to simplify the background. Tell students to eliminate as much complication as possible. This is why they were told to crop up to the central subject matter as much as possible when they were starting out.

Now is the time to encourage students to look for shadows and mark them out.

Build Up Layers of Colours

As students build up layers of colours, they should work from darks building towards the light, until all hues have been added to the composition. As the student moves around the canvas, he or she will start to play with shapes. The student will manipulate shape, colour and other elements of design as they seem to change when new colours are added. This is an exciting stage of painting and it can take days.

Developing Creativity, Talent and Individual Differences

Students will develop their own style. Some trying to capture every nuance of light shade, direction and patterning. Others will follow the path of simplification as they become enthralled by abstract designs that emerge. Support them in their choices and provide feedback about technique when asked.

Now that students have experienced painting a simple canine portrait, they may go on to investigate painting other animals. Perhaps activities of this kind can become a natural part of the student inquiry ethos of the classroom.

The copyright of the article How To Paint A Dog In Acrylics in Arts Education is owned by Jo Murphy. Permission to republish How To Paint A Dog In Acrylics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.