How to Paint a Realistic Dog in Watercolor

1. Preview: Hello everyone. In this tutorial, I'll be showing you how to paint a realistic dog with light creamy for. I will take you through the process step-by-step from mixing the perfect colors to adding details and depth to differ. You will learn how to achieve a soft further effect. How to add individual hairs and whiskers, and how to create a realistic look to the eyes and the nose. By the end of this tutorial, you will have the skills and knowledge to create your own realistic dog painting. So grab your paint brushes and join me as I bring this beautiful creature to life. 2. Background: Hello everyone. In this tutorial, I'll be guiding you through the process of creating a stunning portrait of a dog with light and creamy firm. You will learn how to achieve a soft fur effect. How to add individual hairs and whiskers, and how to create a realistic look to the eyes and the nose. By the end of this tutorial, you will have the skills and knowledge to create your own realistic dark painting. We're going to begin by painting the background of our piece. I've already transferred my sketch onto 140 pound Arches paper, which I've attached to a gator board and secured with tape on all four sides. The tape serves not only to hold the paper in place, but also to create a clean border around the finished painting. When working with light colors, such as white flowers or this light creamy for, I prefer to use a kneaded eraser to lighten my pencil lines. This type of eraser is pliable and can be shaped for precision. I like to roll it over my sketch to remove excess graphite and create a softer line. For my tutorials, I leave the lines darker for visibility. But for my own paintings, I prefer a more subtle effect. I plan to use a size 12 brush for the background. To begin, we will make some colors. The background is a pale beige hue. I'll start by using yellow ocher as the foundation color. Since yellow ocher is quite vibrant, it's a yellowish brown. I will add a small amount of the complimentary color, ultramarine blue, to tone it down and create a more harmonious palette. Normally when mixing yellow and blue, you would expect to get green. But in this case we will achieve a nice neutral yellowish brown color. The reason for that is that a yellow ocher, which is our base color, is already a yellowish brown color. And ultramarine blue, which we're using to mute it down, has a red undertone. Essentially we are mixing yellow, brown, blue, and red, which results in a muted neutralized color. The more blue we add, the more neutralized the color will become. If you want to create a color that is very similar to the one in the reference photo. You can add more blue and dilute your paint more. However, I personally, One to keep the colors of my painting warmer than in the reference photo. So I don't want to add too much blue, just enough to neutralize the yellow ocher slightly. Additionally, I'm adding a tiny touch of permanent rose to my mix. This will shift the color towards a pinkish hue, which is my preference and my idea for the background. However, this is a personal preference and you don't have to add pink if you don't want to. I think that it's always good to reflect some colors from the main subject in the background. And that's why, as you can see, my background is actually a gradient from yellowish brown at the top to more pink at the bottom. To start, add a significant amount of water to your paint mix. It should be very watery because we will be painting wet on dry. I will be using a size 12 brush for the background. A large brush is ideal for painting the background because it allows you to cover large areas quickly with fewer brushstrokes. Make sure to use a brush that is big enough for the area you are working on. Load your brush with the paint and begin painting from the upper part of the background. Keep in mind that we are using the wet-on-dry technique, which requires a very watery paint mix and a large brush. If the paint is too dry, it will not create a smooth wash of color. The paint should be wet enough that a bead of paint gathers on the edge of the wash. You can also keep your painting at an angle to help guide the paint in one direction. Don't be concerned if you go over the lines. As this can be even beneficial, as we will see later. After the first quick wash has been applied. Quickly go over the entire background again with the second layer. This time adding more permanent rows at the bottom. Work quickly, keeping the painting at an angle or tilting it to ensure the paint is moving on the paper. This will create a smooth wash and the gradual color transition from yellowish brown at the top, two pinkish brown at the bottom. Once you've finished, clean the edges and make sure that there is no excess paint on the edges. Leave it to dry. You can either wait until the paint loses its shine and then use a hairdryer or leave it to dry overnight. Once it's dry, you can move on to applying the first layer on the dog. 3. Tea Wash: Before moving on to the next step of painting the dog, it is crucial to ensure that the background is fully dry. Before we begin painting the dog, we need to do one more important step, smoothing out the edges. For this, we will use a scrubber brush. A scrubber brush can be any synthetic brush with slightly stiffer bristles, but not too stiff. I'll be using Winsor and Newtons Galleria brush size for which I've been using for a long time. And it works perfectly for my needs. First, the brush in water and remove the excess water by dabbing the bristles on a paper towel. Using this clean damp brush, smooth out the edges in those places where you overlap the pencil lines earlier. The reason for overlapping the lines earlier is because when we paint the dog now, it will integrate nicely with the background and we will not have any gaps between the dog and the background. This will also create a nice, smooth, soft edge of the dog in some places, especially at the top of his head. Now that we have smooth edges, we can start applying the first layer to the dog. I'll be using a brush size ten. It may seem large, but it is important to use a big brush at this stage to prevent getting too much into details. Let's prepare the colors we will need. Will definitely need a nice reddish brown, so that would be burnt sienna. We will also need ultramarine blue, which will act as a neutralizer to make our colors less intense, will also need a neutral yellowish brown, which can be achieved by mixing yellow ocher with ultramarine blue and a tiny touch of permanent rose from the previous stage. Load your brush with a very, very watery burnt sienna. Start from the ear and apply it to all the places where you see this brown color. The general idea for this stage is to apply a very light tone of the final colors without going too much into details. We're using a very watery paint called T wash because it resembles a t, which is essentially tinge to water. This is what we need, water changed with some colors. We can also call this stage mapping out because we are creating a map of our colors. While you are painting, keep an eye on the edges. When you apply the paint, quickly rinse and blot your brush and soften the edges with a clean, damp brush. We want to see nice soft colors that are either blended with the background or with other colors. In darker places like under the ear. Use more ultramarine blue. It may be difficult to mimic every brush stroke that I make, but that is not the goal here. The goal is for you to understand what we're doing and why. So that you can focus more on your painting and paint mindfully, knowing what you're doing. It's difficult to keep the paint at the same consistency at this stage. So you may see blooms like here, but don't worry about them. This is just the very first layer and all imperfections will be covered under subsequent layers. When painting the dark, it's important to remember that less is more when it comes to the number of colors used. It actually applies to every painting using a limited palette. We'll not only simplify the painting process, but also help us to achieve a harmonious color composition. For this specific painting, we'll primarily be using yellow ocher, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and permanent rose. By limiting the number of colors, we can easily mix and match different shades to get the desired tones and Hughes without the risk of over complicating the painting with too many colors. Furthermore, a limited palette will also give the painting a cohesive and consistent look, which makes the artwork more visually appealing. So let me recap once again what we're doing now and why we are applying very light towns of the final colors to the painting. When applying colors to the dog, use burnt sienna for reddish brown areas. Yellow ocher neutralized by ultramarine blue for a lighter places, and a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for dark or black areas. Avoid painting the eyes and nose for now, as we will address them separately at a later stage. When painting the firm, it's important to take note of the different colors that can be seen in the reference photo such as blues, pinks, Violet's, yellows, blacks, whites, and even greens. However, it's crucial to remember to use as few colors as possible while painting. For this entire painting, we will mainly be using those four colors I mentioned earlier. Later. We will also add a small touch of green to the eyes and Payne's gray for blacks. That's all. Using a limited palette. We'll simplify the painting process. And more importantly, it will help to create a cohesive color composition by applying the light colors. First, we aim to establish a broad spectrum of tonal values. Starting with the lightest tones on one end of the range, allows us to gradually add darker tones until we reached the limits of the value scale. As we progress through the tutorial, we will add the darkest tones to our painting. And these towns will define the limits of the value scale. This approach gives us a clear understanding of the range of values we have to work with, allowing us to make decisions about how dark we can go with the other colors in the painting. Watercolor painting is a technique that involves building layers of paint. And this layering technique involves applying thin layers of paint one on top of another, gradually building tones and color. In my experience, this approach is better than using a dark thick paint straight away. By layering, the final result will have a beautiful transparent watercolor periods. As the layers are thin enough to allow the colors from previous layers to show through. After applying the colors, it is crucial to allow them to dry completely before applying another layer of paint. This is a really important. Leave the painting to dry for a few hours to ensure that the paint is completely dry. Before moving on to the next step. 4. Second Layer: It's crucial to ensure that the previous layer is completely dry before you start painting. Now, I will apply a second layer using a brush size ten as a larger brush is necessary. To avoid getting caught into details. At this stage. Begin by preparing your colors. On your palette is dry, activated by spraying it with clean water. We'll be using the same color mixes as before. And neutral yellowish brown mix of yellow, ocher, ultramarine blue, and a touch of permanent rose, as well as burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. Start by using burnt sienna with an addition of ultramarine blue. As I mentioned previously, we're reducing our ultramarine blue to neutralize the colors. Burnt sienna on its own is very vibrant. So we need a less saturated version. I can even notice a slightly pinkish brown here. So I'm also adding permanent rose to my mix. It is important to remember that while trying to follow the colors from the reference photo, it is not essential to re-create the colors exactly. The most important thing in any painting is the tonal values. Think in terms of how dark or light your colors should be. As tonal values create forms and bring life to your subject, making it more realistic. Even if different colors were used, the painting would still look good as long as the tonal values are correct. The aim at this stage is to be more specific when it comes to both color and value. We already have a foundation. And now we can work on building those tones and colors. At this stage, I'm looking at the local colors, the main colors in the reference photo, and trying to use similar tones. However, this will not result in the same tonal value as the reference photo. Yet, as watercolor paints, always dry, paler, but this is not the final layer. So at this stage, I'm not aiming to achieve the final tonal value. I'm slowly building it layer by layer. At this stage, we want to darken our colors and begin adding details. We will work on smaller areas using shorter brushstrokes in certain places to suggest a fairy texture will also start defining our shapes more clearly. I'll also be more mindful of the edges of my brushstrokes. In some areas, I'll soften the edges to blend the color with the previous layer. While in other areas where I want to define the furry texture, I will allow the edges to remain sharp, to enhance the brushstrokes and help build the furry texture. We will continue to use a large brush to maintain a focus on broader areas. Will also continue to use the same colors as in the previous layer. Repeating them and slightly changing them as needed to create more color variety and interest. Our goal is to use the same colors and slowly built depth. In areas where the texture is clearly defined. We will also use negative painting. This is an inevitable technique when painting with watercolors, as it allows us to achieve the effect of light hairs on top of dark hairs. With oil or acrylic paints, we could achieve this more easily by painting the dark areas first and then using a lighter paint to paint the lighter hairs. However, in watercolor painting, it is just not possible to paint light on dark. And that is why we need to use negative painting. An example of this technique is when we take a look at the ear, specifically at a certain part of the year. We can see that there are lighter hairs on a dark background with oil or acrylic paint or gouache. Even we would paint the background first, then paint the lighter hairs on top. However, with watercolors, we need to think differently and use negative painting. We will first paint the light tones, starting with the browns of the hares. And once this layer is dry, we would then paint the background using the negative technique, which involves painting around the brown hairs to bring out their shapes. This is the tricky part of painting fur and Bird's feathers. But with practice, it will become easy. For a single hairs. We can use gouache, which we will use at the end of the painting. So continue applying the second layer, darkening each part of the dog, suggesting free texture with shorter brushstrokes and hard edges, and darkening larger areas using the same colors as in the previous layer. When you finish, leave it to dry completely. And when it's dry, we can move on to the next step, which is adding the darkest tones. 5. Dark Tones: In this step of the painting process, we will be adding the darkest tones to our painting. There are two main reasons for applying the darkest towns in the painting. Now. The first reason is that we need a reference point for our tonal values. In order to know how dark we can go with our color, we need to have a limit and the darkest tone in the painting will serve as the limit by applying the darkest tone. Now, we will have a range of tones in the painting that we need to create. We already have the lightest tones. And now by adding the darkest tones, will be able to determine how dark we need to go in-between them. The second reason is related to the way the firm looks. If we apply the dark marks now and then add another layer on top, the edges of the dark tones will become slightly softer. This subsequent layer will blur the dark lines a bit. Creating that softer look that is characteristic of for. This is crucial in order to create a realistic and convincing representation of for in the painting. In order to achieve the darkest tones in our painting, we'll be introducing a new color, Payne's gray. This color is a deep dark blue. It's not gray. And I often use it to darken other colors. When mixed with the burnt sienna, it creates a perfect black. In addition to this, let's prepare a mixture of ultramarine blue, permanent rose, and yellow ocher. Further next step in the painting process, I'll be using a brush size ten to apply the black tones. Pick up the black and start applying it under the ear. As I apply the paint, I'm being very careful and detail oriented. Carefully selecting the areas where I want to apply the dark paint. Because it is difficult to lighten dark tones once they are applied. I'm striving to avoid any mistakes. Notice that I'm also leaving some spaces for lighter colors which will be filled in later. Additionally, I'm using the negative painting technique to bring out the shapes of the lighter hairs. This technique involves painting around the areas that you want to remain light rather than painting directly on them. This helps to create the illusion of firm by using many short brush strokes. To create the impression of firm, we will be using short brushstrokes. By applying many short brushstrokes, we are able to create the texture of four. Without painting every single hair. It is important to keep some areas of the painting soft and smooth while defining the very texture in more prominent areas. This creates a balance of soft and hard edges in the painting, which enhances the final result. When creating the illusion of fur, it is important to not overwork the painting by painting every single hair. At least that's my approach. I think this can lead to the for appealing wet or overworked. Instead, leave some areas soft and smooth and define the hair in more prominent areas. This creates a softer and more fluffy illusion of fur. As I continue to paint, I am slowly and patiently adding more and more black strokes, creating more depth and defining the darkest areas of the painting. I also painted the nostrils and the darkest parts of the nose, but we will leave the eyes and nose for later. It's important to remember that every painting goes through an ugly stage where it may not look as polished or complete. However, it's important to persevere and keep going as the final result will come together nicely. Let the dark paint dry completely before moving on to the next step. 6. Unifying Glaze: In this part, we will apply a unifying glaze to bring together the different tones in the painting. A unifying glaze is a layer of color that serves as a bridge between two elements, in this case, connecting the dark and light tones. Another role that a unifying glaze can play is to change slightly a temperature of certain areas, or change hue of certain areas slightly. We will also add more details and dark uncertain areas. To achieve this, we will use a brush size ten and focus on applying colors to large areas rather than details. To begin, we will use a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. It's important to note that when applying the paint, the dark paint will appear to be blurred. This is normal and exactly what we want to see. The paint you're applying now is wet, which activates the dark paint beneath it, creating the desired soft and blurred effect. At this stage, it's important to look at the reference photo from two perspectives. First, focus on the overall shape and large areas of the subject, such as the ear, rather than getting caught up in the details. Second, pay close attention to the correct tonal values and strive to achieve them in your painting as if it was the final layer. Keep in mind that the paint will dry lighter than when it's wet. After applying the paint, use your brush to soften the edges in some areas while leaving them hard in others to create more defined edges and hair. This will help to create depth and realism in your painting. Painting for can be challenging. This is one of the reasons why we are applying so many layers in this painting. Each subsequent layer allows us to define edges better. Darken areas that need to be darker, create more depth in color and tone, and paint more and more details. We are following a general to specific approach, starting with big washes, big areas and light colors. Then we gradually go darker using darker tones and adding more layers. We then apply the darkest tone to define the range of tonal values in the painting. With each additional layer, we become more detail oriented. By using this approach, we maintain the transparent properties of watercolors. Because we are using very thin layers of paint. We are building depth and creating realism. While at the same time allowing the viewer to see the brush strokes, soft and hard edges, and all the colors that are showing through. This is my preferred method of painting. I want my paintings to be realistic about, not hyper-realistic. I want them to be recognized as paintings, not photographs. The top of the head, use your brush to apply yellow ocher along the edge and then use a clean damp brush to soften that line. This will create a nice soft edge. And this is also an example of why I prefer to use a kneaded eraser to lighten some of my pencil lines. If we had a dark pencil line here, it will be difficult to achieve this soft edge effect. When painting, it's important to be mindful of the colors you're using. If you're unsure of which colors to use, it's best to start with something neutral, such as a mix of burnt sienna with ultramarine blue or yellow ocher with ultramarine blue. This way, you can always make adjustments. Later stage, e.g. if an area needs to be slightly more pink, you can apply a light pink layer on top to shift that color in that direction. That's how the technique of glazing works. By using a very thin layer of paint, you can suddenly change the color of certain areas. If you are familiar with digital painting, it's very similar to working with layers in digital painting. Software such as Photoshop or Procreate, where you create a new layer, set the blending mode to color, and use a brush with a 50 per cent opacity or less. When painting differ, it's important to follow the direction of the fur and pay attention to the physical shape of the subject. Your brushstrokes should indicate the curves of the dog's body. To create a fairy texture, focus on painting only the most prominent areas that stand out at the moment. Use permanent rose and ultramarine blue around the nose and soften the edges. Use a neutral yellow ocher to suggest the shape under the nose where the whiskers grow. Be mindful not to paint over the lightest parts. As these areas will become pinched with some light colors when you soften the edges. It's important to note that I am not covering the entire head with paint. I'm intentionally leaving some of the lightest areas and painting. These areas are still tinge with light color as when I'm softening the edges, some paint is pulled into these white areas. This technique allows me to create a more natural and realistic representation of the for, highlighting the light and dark areas and creating depth and dimensionality. As you paint, it's important to look at the entire painting as a whole and make constant adjustments as needed. For instance, if your darker in one area, it may make another area look too light. So you will need to darken that area as well. This process is a constant back and forth between different areas, adjusting and recreating to what's happening in other areas. This part of the painting is now finished, but as you can see in comparison to the reference photo, there are still many details that need to be added. However, these details will be added at the very end. Now let's move on to painting the nose. 7. Nose: In this section will focus solely on painting the nose. We'll begin by using a brush size six, but may switch to a spotter brush later on. First, let's prepare some colors. The nose is generally speaking red, but it's more of a brick red and it's not overly saturated. To achieve this color, we will mix burnt sienna with permanent rose. This will give us a nice reddish hue, but on its own, it's too saturated. To make it less saturated. We will add yes, ultramarine blue. We are also adding a lot of water to dilute this color. The reason for that is because we want to achieve the lightest color possible on the nose. This will be the color. We start with a very watered down version of a mix of burnt scan up Permanent Rose and Ultramarine Blue. Use this very light tone and applied to the entire nose. You can see that this is the color of the highlights, the lightest tones on the nose. When you apply this layer, make sure to let it dry completely or use a hairdryer to speed up the drying time. Now that the first layer is completely dry, we can move on to the details. For this. I'll be using a spotter brush. I have two sizes, a size two and a size zero. And I'm not sure yet which one will be better, but I will start with a size two. You don't need a spotter brush. You can use a regular round brush to. However, spotter brushes are great for painting details and also for creating a certain texture effect, which you'll see in a moment. In this step, we will use the brick red color we prepared earlier and apply it everywhere where we see a darker tone than in the previous layer. Paint around the highlights. Don't worry if the color appears to orange or too vibrant at this stage. Remember that we can add more layers and adjust the colors and tones as we go. The tonal value is still too light. So this means we will have to apply more layers, which in turn means that we will have an opportunity to change the color hue slightly as well. Now here I'm starting to creating this Pacific, I'm texture. I'm using the stippling technique. And this technique is similar to pointillism, where you apply many dots next to each other, creating a specific visual texture. This works great for creating the texture on the nose. A spotter brush is suitable for this technique, as it does not have a sharp tip like silver black velvet brushes, which are difficult to use for creating this kind of spots, because they are tips are like needles. The upper-left edge also has a hint of red. After applying that color, soften the edge. Some areas are more reddish than others. So in those places, I add more permanent rose. Once this layer is applied, it's time to focus on the details and adjust everything. I really enjoyed this part of the painting process as it's a very mindful, slow, and meditative process. I compare my painting with the reference photo, trying to achieve a similar result. I add more color, darken some areas, and I may leafed out some paint to decide whether the edges should be hard or softened. This process is relaxing for me and I enjoy seeing the object I'm painting come to life. As a reminder, use the same colors all the time and avoid introducing new colors unless it's necessary. In this painting were mainly using burnt sienna, permanent rose, ultramarine blue. But for the darkest parts, I am also adding Payne's gray to mix black. This process can take some time, but I would like you to really take your time and do this slowly and mindfully. Find joy in it. If you are a very impatient person, take some breaks. You don't have to finish this painting today, tomorrow, or even in a week when you are getting impatient, take a break or pain, something else. But give this painting 100% of your attention. As you can see, I'm applying really tiny amounts of paint. I'm making a single brush strokes, small dots here and there. I'm skipping from one area to another. It will take time, but it's really worth it. Watercolors have taught me patience. 8. Eyes: The nose is complete and the surface is now dry and ready for the next step. Painting the eyes, which are the most critical aspect of this artwork. To paint the eyes, I will be using a spotter brush size to. Let's begin by applying a light tone of ultramarine blue. In this first step, we will apply a light tone of the final colors to the eyes. I'm applying ultramarine blue to the entire iris as a CIA reflection of the sky and a building. There are clouds in the sky. So while applying ultramarine blue in the sky area, I'm leaving some gaps for the clouds. I can also see some greens. So in those greener areas, I'm adding green gold, and that's a new color that we need to introduce. Now, using a very light tone of my black mix, a combination of burnt sienna and Payne's gray. I'm carefully applying the paint around the eye in the black areas. I'm using a very light tone now because I want to be precise and make sure that I'm applying the paint in the correct areas. And this is a very small area, so I have to be really careful. If I make a mistake, it will be easier to lift out this light tone. This also gives me a good foundation and the roadmap for the subsequent layers. As I will be more confident when applying the darker tones, I even speak more carefully because I'm stressed that I will make a mistake. On the right-hand side, there is in the corner of the eye there is some kind of a membrane which appears to be more purple. So I'm adding permanent rose mixed with ultramarine blue. The first layer on the left eye is ready, and now we can repeat the process. On the right, I start with ultramarine blue and green gold, and then shift to black and paint the darkest elements. It is essential to emphasize the importance of taking your time and focusing on the details while painting. Trust me, you will appreciate the fork you put in later. Once you've finished applying the light layer, allow it to dry completely. Once it is dry, we will apply another layer. I will once again be using a spotter brush size to begin by applying black. As we have already established our foundation. And to know where to place it. Take a bold approach and use the darkest tone to fine tune the details. This specific starting point is not crucial. The important thing is to cover everything that should be black. Next, mix ultramarine blue and permanent rows to create a muted purple hue for the membrane. The color is not too saturated as it has an addition of black. But this is fine for the desired effect. In the iris, incorporate a variety of colors by using not only black, but also ultramarine blue, and green gold. This will add depth and dimension to the iris. There is a reflection of the building, perhaps some trees and the sky in the iris in the eye. So we have to reflect those colors. Paint the sky with care, using a blue hue and blending the colors to create the appearance of clouds. It's important to establish a clear division between the light tone of the sky and the dark tone of the building. The sharp contrast between the two, we'll make the eye appears shiny. When painting shiny objects, the more hard edges and contrast between dark and light tones, the shinier the object will appear. On the other hand, using more soft edges and less contrast will make the object appear more math. In this case, we want to create a striking, shiny effect for the eye. So it is important to use a strong tonal contrast. Repeat the same process on the other eye using the same colors. This time you may want to incorporate more green. As this eye appears more greenish. Don't be afraid to add multiple layers of black. If you feel that the black is not dark enough. The eyes are almost finished about today still lack a few details. We will add these in the final stage. Now let's move on to the next step and focus on painting the details of the firm. 9. Details: In this stage of the painting process, we'll focus on adding details to defer using a variety of brush sizes. Starting with a spotter brush size two. We will also use a size zero and a regular round brush. Our aim is to paint the most prominent hairs and darken any areas that are still too light. We will use the same colors we have been using so far, including a mix of burnt sienna and Payne's gray, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue, yellow ocher and permanent rose. This stage will take some time as it's important to focus on the details. The more precise you are, the more realistic the painting will look. But it's important to remember that the goal is not to create a photorealistic painting unless you want it. Instead, aim for level of realism that is pleasing to your taste while still maintaining the recognizable qualities of a painting. When painting differ, use short, dark brush strokes, taking your time and not worrying about recreating every single hair. The goal is to capture the essence of the fur and create the illusion of short hair. Pay special attention to the ears as they shall look fluffy. And 30, use lots of short lines to create a furry texture. It's important to keep in mind the direction of the brush strokes. When painting differ, I switched to a smaller spotter brush size zero for more precise and thinner lines. Here I switched to a round brush, size six. The reason for this is because the silver black velvet brush has a super sharp tip, sharper than spotter brushes, which allows me to create thin hairs. And the bigger brush also holds more paint, allowing me to paint more hairs in one, go. Be sure to adjust the color according to the area you are painting. In darker areas use more of the black mix. And in the lighter areas use a neutral beige makes, such as a mix of yellow ocher, ultramarine blue, and permanent rose. Alternatively, you can use just the yellow ocher mixed with black, which will also give you a good color to paint the details in lighter areas. In areas where the hairs are longest, use longer brushstrokes. The length of your brushstrokes will indicate how long differ is. Pay attention to the small changes you are making with each brushstroke. Avoid exaggerating and instead, incrementally, more paint layer by layer, paint the hairs very slowly and use it as an opportunity to test if the hair is in the right direction and if the line is in the right place, if a light brush stroke is in the correct spot, then go over it again with a darker paint and more confidence. Now using the black mix paint the hairs under the nose. This is a tricky area to paint with watercolors. But by taking it step-by-step, we can achieve a realistic result with a short, dark brush strokes. We will create the impression of firms in this area. On the right-hand side, try to create arch like shapes. And on the left, change the hue to a more grayish blue. Apply more black on top. This is a risky move as it may disturb the lines beneath, but it's necessary to darken the whole area. Finally, add more yellowish brown on the lower part to end. Permanent rose to the left and right-hand side. Areas to bring out the pink tones. Allow the painting to dry. The brush strokes were very short. The end, it should dry quickly. You can use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process. Now we can move on to the final part where we will finish the painting by adding the tiniest details. 10. Finishing Touches: I hope you still have some energy to put the finishing touches on the painting. The painting is almost complete, but now we need to add some final touches and refund the dog bit. The first thing I want to focus on is softening some areas of the painting. To do this, I'll be using a size four scrubber brush. First, wet the brush and then gently dab it on a paper towel to remove the excess water. Gently rub the brush over the sharp edges of the paint. You want to soften. Remove any excess paint by gently dabbing the area with a clean paper towel. The softening technique will help us achieve a soft fur effect, particularly on the longer hairs at the bottom. By removing paint from the lighter areas, we create clusters of lighter, softer hairs that look much more natural and add to the overall softness of the image. It may take multiple passes to lift off enough paint. And precision can be difficult if your brush is not stiff enough or has a round shape. Now I'm going to use white gouache. I'm squeezing a blob of it under a piece of paper. White gouache on its own will be way too white and it will appear very cold in comparison with the colors of the dog. So to achieve the desired color and warmth, I will be mixing the white gouache with some of the watercolors I've been using, such as yellow ocher and burnt sienna. I may also add a touch of ultramarine blue to mute the color even further. The reason for using gouache is that it will allow us to add individual hairs and whiskers in a more precise and detailed manner, creating a more realistic and natural look. This will add an extra layer of depth and realism to the painting. Gouache is an opaque paint, which means that it can easily be painted over any area. Even black, still remain visible. When using gouache to create lines, it can be difficult to achieve the right consistency for the paint. The paint should be thick enough to be opaque, but also contain enough water to allow for smooth brushstrokes. If the paint is too dry, it will be difficult to work with. If the paint appears almost invisible after a minute on the paper, it means that there was too much water added and the line should be ray traced with thicker paint. To add even more detail at the individual prominent Harris to the ears. Whiskers can be painted using a Designers brush or a rigger brush with a longer bristles. I don't know why I didn't think about that when I was painting. I am using here a regular round brush size six. For the lighter hairs under the nose, experiment with different colors. On the left side, I added more ultramarine blue to create a bluish mix. And on the right, I added permanent rose to create a more purple tone. With the prominent pairs added, use a clean, damp brush to soften the hairs in the upper part to create the illusion of curls emerging from the depth of the firm. To finish the painting, use the gouache mix us to add details to the eyes and soften the edges for a more natural look. The painting is now complete and it was a real pleasure to paint this dog. I hope you enjoyed the videos and I encourage you to give this painting a try. Now I can remove the masking tape and reveal this nice clean border around. Later, I will remove the staples and cat the borders. Here's a closer look at the painting. Thank you for watching and happy painting. Bye.