Colorful Pup

Remember when I went to Painting with a Twist? I had a blast there and definitely want to go again, but I can see how it can get a little pricey to go often. After my first experience at PWAT, I felt more confident in my painting abilities. They walk you through the painting process, so anyone can paint! 

While looking at the calendar for future classes, I came across this neat dog painting. I thought the color scheme would go perfect in my kitchen with these food pictures and colored mats. But I wanted my painting to be of my sweetheart, Iivana. So I decided to take on the task at home!

I already had some blank canvases at home from my melting art project when we bought a value pack. However, I did have to invest in some brushes and acrylic paint. I bought 3 brushes from Michael's that were on sale for 3 dollars each. I bought a small, medium, and a larger sized one. I also bought this starter pack of paint for 9.99, which I used a 40% coupon on so it was even less. Since I'm a teacher, I also got 15% for an educator discount. So I maybe spent 15 bucks on this project. I will eventually buy more colors and alternate brush sizes, but I wanted to make sure that I could paint at home first.

I used my computer as a guide and pulled up the PWAT picture and a picture of Iivana that I took during a personal photo shoot of my doggie. I sketched an outline of her. This was probably the most difficult part, because it was the structure of the painting. 

It's light but you can see my sketch.

Then I painted solid color bases.

I guess I got carried away and didn't take pictures of my other in between steps. I mixed colors, painted layers, let them dry, then added more color. The good thing is that if you mess up, you can let it dry and paint over it. I worked on it for a couple hours one day. I left it like this and then finished it up the next day.

My finished product! What do you think? Does it look like Iivana? The eyes were really difficult for me to mimic. I also think the face on this painting is a little longer than hers, but I like it!

This is the picture I used to draw her from.