After last night’s whinge I was especially careful to set aside at least an hour this afternoon to continue this painting. I knew the next stage would be a challenge and, if I allowed myself, I could easily be scared out of continuing – my last attempt at black fur was a disaster, remember the (still unfinished) cats?
So I spent a pleasant session beginning to work out that black fur… it’s looking very washed out at the moment but I’m really happy with the result so far. The most impressive thing for me is that almost the whole painting so far has been painted with a mix of only three colours: Ultramarine Blue, Carmine and Gold Ochre… I think I did use a bit of Viridian to get the green of the railings, but otherwise it’s just those three.
I’m quite amazed at the versatility of mixing from just three colours and I love the subtle tones that happen when the mix separates a bit as it dries. I’m not sure how this will work with obtaining darker shades of ‘black’, to add contrast to his coat, but it seemed OK for his nose today. I managed to make his nose a touch larger today as well… it was looking a bit out of proportion.