It has been a little while since I have done a dog portrait, so it was fun to do this painting of 2 adorable beagles!
My client Judy had me do this painting as a birthday gift for her husband. The beagles featured are their first beagle (“Starbuck” on the left) and the beagle that started their breeding business! (“Gracie” on the right). Sadly, both Starbuck and Gracie have since passed – making the painting all the more special as a way to remember these 2 precious family members.
Judy, her husband, and both Starbuck and Gracie loved Rockport – so Judy asked to set the painting there. The only challenge is that they had no photos of the 2 dogs together in this favorite location – so it was my task to combine an image of the 2 dogs with an image of Rockport. The reference images I had to work with are below:
The reference photo for Starbuck and Gracie
The reference photo for Rockport background
My first step was to do a sketch of the dogs set on the rocks in front of the ocean to make sure my vision of the final image was indeed what Judy wanted (see below). Judy loved it! Her only revision was to make sure Gracie was looking straight out at the viewer in the final painting.
The initial sketch
With this small edit in mind, I was on to the final painting! Below is the result – which was a huge hit with both Judy and her husband!!
The final painting!