Photograph of a female blue merle shetland sheepdog

Reference photograph

Kenzi - Shetland Sheepdog pencil portrait

BLUE MERLE SHETLAND SHEEPDOG

This beautiful little Shetland Sheepdog was part of a trio of portraits all produced in Coloured pencils. There are the 2 younger little girls, this one is Kenzi and the older gent, Sam, all such charismatic little dogs. I went up to meet them all with my camera so I could capture some quality photographs and spend a bit of time with them too to get an idea of their personalities, it makes such a difference to the final Artwork for me as it allows me to just observe them and their nature, hopefully capturing all their qualities and personalities in the final Artwork - I was so excited to get a chance to draw these lovely dogs and all that thick fur too.

MEDIUM: COLOURED PENCILS
SIZE: 10" X 12"
SUPPORT: Tan 220gsm Ursus
COMPLETED: JANUARY 2014

THE COMPLETED PORTRAIT

Final artwork of a coloured pencil blue merle shetland sheepdog pet commission

close up of detail in a coloured pencil pet portrait of a blue merle shetland sheepdog

CREATING THE PORTRAIT:

working the early stages of a pencil portrait depicting a Blue Merle Shetland Sheepdog portrait in Coloured pencils

Creating the fur of a Shetland Sheepdog portrait in Coloured pencils

showing close up details of a coloured pencil portrait of a Shetland Sheepdog

As I had taken the photograph of Kenzi myself, I tried to ensure that the lighting was balanced and so there was little adaptation needed although the reference image was cropped from the original photograph and the quality of detail had broken down because of it but I had many other reference images and ensured her fur tones and flow of fur corresponded to the reference image. My favourite part of this image is the mottled effect on the left side of her face, it is so striking!

Close up details of a Blue Merle Shetland Sheepdog eye being created in Coloured pencils

Fine pencil details on a Blue Merle Shetland Sheepdog pencil portrait

close up details of the mouth on a Sheltie pencil portrait commission

TESTIMONIAL FROM THE CUSTOMER:

Thank you for the wonderful portraits of our gang, especially of Sam now he is no longer with us, it will be a lasting memory and fitting tribute to a wonderful dog who gave us so much. Thank you again!

Additional Orders:

Here are the Commissionee's other 2 portraits that I worked on at the same time plus the latest portrait of Jaxx their new boy. All were completed in Coloured pencils

Please click on any of the images if you wish to find out more about the progress of these pieces and see how they came together too.