Mix a golden copper color for integrating the dog’s coat with titanium white, raw sienna, yellow oxide and small amounts of cadmium orange and burnt sienna. With a No. 3 round, paint strokes that follow the hair pattern, from the lighter parts of the coat overlapping the darker areas. For details in the darker parts of the coat, take a portion of this color and add more cadmium orange and burnt sienna. Use a separate No. 3 round and the shadow color from Step 1 to soften and integrate. Use a No. 3 round and the darker golden copper to add some detail to the highlighted parts of the dog’s coat.
Paint Your Dog in Acrylics | Art Challenge
All of September I’m having a “Paint Your Pet Challenge.” Masterclass students AND non-students can participate in this challenge for a chance to win ANY of the following prizes:
1) Master’s Touch Acrylic Paint Set + Mixed Media Pad.
2) Master’s Touch Variety Brush Set + Watercolor Travel Pad.
Challenge Rules
1) Once you’ve completed your pet portrait (cat or dog) post your photo on social media and tag @laurenelizabethfineart (Lauren Elizabeth Fine Art Facebook page) OR send me a photo if you do not have a Facebook.
2) Use any paint medium you want. It must be on canvas or paper.
3) Post a photo of your painting before September 25th. Winner will be announced on September 30th.
Acrylic Dog Painting
Painting your dog can be daunting, but I assure you with a little patience, acrylic instruction, and a good reference photo, you can paint any dog with ease.
In summary, here are the steps for painting your dog with a landscape background. Remember, a great painting requires great photos. Make sure you have at least 3-reference photos of your dog AND the background you want.
Step 1: Paint the base coat onto your canvas first. Then once dry, paint or sketch the dog and background.
Step 2: Paint the background before painting the dog in the foreground. If you have a dog in the background then paint them together.
Step 3: Layer colors to add depth and distance to your painting (if you are adding a landscape background). This may take many layers. I spent a good 2 hours on the background before moving onto the dog.
Step 4: Start painting low lights (shadows) on dog. Make sure your color is brighter than the background, but the darkest color on the dog. That way you don’t loose your dog if you have dark colors in your background.
Step 5: Add final highlights to your background. THEN add final highlights to your dog. This step is all about fine tuning what you already have. So painting over top the previously added hair, pedals, and leaves, not adding more.
How to Paint a Golden Retriever
Golden retrievers are a popular breed because they embody what a lot of people think of as the ideal family dog: they’re good natured, playful and affectionate. Webster, a dog whose portrait I painted for his owners, was no exception.
Paints You’ll Need:
- Burnt Sienna
- Burnt Umber
- Cadmium Orange
- Hooker’s Green Permanent
- Payne’s Gray
- Raw Sienna
- Scarlet Red
- Titanium White
- Ultramarine Blue
- Viridian
- Yellow Oxide
Brushes You’ll Need:
- No.1,3,4 and 5 rounds
- No. 8 shader
1. Establish the Form and the Dark Values
Draw the dog lightly in pencil, using a kneaded eraser to lighten any dark lines or make corrections. Use burnt umber thinned with water and a No. 4 round to establish the form. Mix burnt umber and ultramarine blue for the black parts of the dog–the nose and jowls. Paint with a No. 3 round. Mix burnt umber, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue for the shadowed parts of the dog’s coat. Paint with a No. 5 round, using strokes that follow the hair pattern. For the darkest shadows, apply more than one coat of paint after the first layer is dry.
2. Paint the Middle Values
Mix the reddish-gold color for the retriever’s coat with raw sienna and burnt sienna. Paint with a No. 4 round. Paint thinly enough so the white panel shows through with strokes that follow the hair pattern. I mixed the dark green background color with viridian, cadmium orange and burnt umber. I used dabbing strokes with a No. 8 shader, switching to a No. 4 round for around the dog’s outline. For the foreground grass, I painted sweeping strokes with the No. 8 shader.
DOG PORTRAIT Acrylic Art Lesson | EASY Video Drawing & Painting Project Tutorial
Are your students learning about Dogs? Consider adding an art project to your Canine unit! I’m happy to offer this Puppy Dog Portrait drawing and painting lesson that was designed especially for students in 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade.
This video tutorial demonstrates the necessary steps to complete this low-prep art project. Use this project as supplemental learning in Art, Science, Math, Literature, Social Studies, SEL, Language Arts, or History themes. This art project offers a fun and engaging opportunity to incorporate students’ artistic literacy and innate love of hands-on experimentation into a core curriculum unit of study. To enhance student comprehension, consider turning your STEM unit into a STEAM unit with the addition of this art project.
This digital resource is Distance Learning Supported. Videos may be paused, fast-forwarded, or reversed as needed. Excellent resource to use for sub plans and to display as classroom decor. Use completed projects to brighten up your walls and bulletin boards or to give as a unique gift to parents. Need a class incentive reward or a party day activity? Consider an art project 🙂
UPDATE: Please see details below for instructions about how to access and view this video.
Did you know? Creating art is a great way for students to gain self confidence, tap into their natural curiosity, learn about the world around them, practice mindfulness and calming strategies, and understand connections between themselves and their environment. The social-emotional learning benefits of creating art are significant.
How to use this resource: simply supply your students with the necessary art materials, display the video in your classroom or homeschool, and watch as your students create this drawing and painting project right before your eyes!
Designed with beginners in mind, this project is perfectly suited for students in first grade, second grade, and third grade. By following along with me, step-by-step, your students will learn the skills to create masterpieces of their own long after the project is complete.
The process used to teach this project is a kid-tested, step-by-step method that will inspire and delight your students into drawing and painting action! This process involves observing, following instructions, and creating until each student is happy with the outcome.
Students will learn basic drawing and acrylic painting techniques and apply these techniques to complete this project. This project is designed to give students the tools they need to begin their artistic journey into self-expression, reflection, and creative thinking.
Supplies and materials needed for this project:
- Heavy Paper (Watercolor Paper Works Great!)
- Acrylic, Tempera, or Poster Paints
- Paint Brushes
- Pencil with an Eraser
- Paper Plate (Palette)
- Bowl of Water
- Paper Towels
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⭐Interested in earning TpT Credits that can be applied to future TpT purchases? It’s easy! Simply leave a review on purchased resources 🙂 Learn more here.
If you like this project, you’ll also love:
Master Artist Project Bundle: Here
Diego Rivera Project: Here
Paul Klee Project: Here
Van Gogh Project: Here
Pablo Picasso Project: Here
Wassily Kandinsky Project: Here
Henri Matisse Project: Here
Georgia O’Keeffe Project: Here
Yayoi Kusama Project: Here
Frida Kahlo Project: Here
Romero Britto Project: Here
There are two ways to view this video art project: stream directly from the TpT site, or access video via private link on Vimeo, a video hosting platform.
*To download art project access instructions, simply click on the ‘Download’ button in the Supporting Document box above this description. The ‘Download’ button will lead you to instructions that include a special link. Click on the link, and you will then have access to the art project video. This is an unlisted, ad-free video that is hosted on Vimeo.
