A WIP,( work in progress) Labrador

I have a commission to paint a Labrador dog. It is to be Christmas present and I have plenty of time yet, but decided to get down to it.  Labs have such an appealing face and I need to capture that.  As in any portrait I will start the painting process with the eyes.  The photo supplied is from my client, Pamela Linger.

 My first task is to accurately draw the subject and choose the colours that I am going to use.  I scan at several stages as I go to provide myself with a objective view of my work and to keep track of my progress.  I am using Bristol Vellum paper as the support.  The dog's colour is very light so it was a challenge finding the right colour pencils.

I was using Derwent Coloursoft and a couple Fabercastel polychromos, a bristle brush and blender pencil for blending, the ubiquitous blue tac for lifting colour, a white rubber pencil. and my paint brush used to brush off the surface of the paper removing any rubber crumbs or pencil dust.

I wear a special glove to keep my paper clean.  Note the important tool beneath my poised hand....my laptop!

My trusty pencil sharpener, must be over 50 years old, but makes an excellent point on the pencils. 

 Not very portable though.

I can now see if I have a good likeness of the dog and if my colours are working well from the scanned photos of the work so far.  The scanner is an important tool.

I will fix that green cast, as suggested by a fellow artist Rosemary, on wet canvas, by a little lifting of colour with my trusty blu tac.  I spray my work with a workable fixative to give the paper more tooth for the pencil layers.

I have started putting in the background.  I chose a petrol grey as it has a blue look, complimentary to the yellowish colour of the fur. This is only the first layer;  It will need more layers to darken it.
At last, I am leaving it as it is unless I see a glaring error.  It is not due yet so it can sit around for me to spot anything I want to change before delivery.