Progress pictures

 I don't know about you but I always like to see how other artists develop a piece of work. Recently I've  got into a habit of taking progress shots as I work on a painting. In my earlier post I showed you a picture of Daisy one of my commissions, well as promised here are the progress shots.

After making a quick pencil sketch to get the proportions. I then start blocking in the darkest areas followed by some mid-tones. Then I like to drop in some highlights and start to get the eyes worked in. Once I have the eyes right (the most important bit for  me). Its helpful to get my background colour in before revisiting the tones and adding detail. The background colour can really make the tones look different so its important to get it in early. I am trying at the moment not to get to fiddly with small brushes as I like a looser overall feel with maybe a little sharper detail around the nose and eyes.
Anyway I hope you like seeing the process.