Pet Portraits Charcoal - Meet Jupiter the Cocker Spaniel Update - Now released on The Eyecon Gallery

Meet Jupiter a litttle Cocker Spaniel puppy just one of my Pet Portraits in Charcoal. The photo and artwork was kindly provided by an SAA artist, Lesley Homes. I had been asked to produce a charcoal of a cocker spaniel puppy and Jupiter fitted the bill.

A client had asked to see a sample of my work of a Cocker puppy and following repeated requests I decided to add her to The Eyecon Gallery. where I have released a limited number of signed Giclée prints.

I thought it would make an interesting story for the blog as well as you can see the various stages being completed. There are several tutorials now in the blog some of which I have linked to below. This is more a catalogue of the various stages of development.

Stage 1 Day 1 Sunday 07/01/24

Setting out and first layers added

Day 1 Setting Out and getting the composition right

Stage 2 Day 1 Sunday 07/01/24

Detailing and building.

End of Day 2 Jupiter is coming together but I hate the rug

That’s it for now lots more work to do before she is finished but we are getting there.

I will show the finished article by the end of the week. End of Day 1.

Stage 3 Day 2 Detailing & Refining

So as with all my charcoal work I find I have to leave it for a period of time to keep looking at it and seeing where it's right and more importantly where it's wrong. Reviewing Jupiter this morning I decided I hated the rug she was on which was too dominant and creating a contrast conflict. So first job the following morning was to lighten the rug. I was reasonably happy with the basic shapes but now it was time to deepen the darks and bring her closer to the original B&W.

So here we are at the end of Day 2. I spent about 4 hours on Jupiter, 8 hours overall but I hope you can see we are now nearly there. A nights sleep, another review and final touches on Day 3.

Rug redesigned and more detail added to Jupiter

Stage 4 Final Finish & Fixing

The finished Artwork of Jupiter the Cocker Spaniel

Visit the Eyecon Gallery to view artworks by Marco for sale.