Olive and Ernesto

For my sisters birthday in January I offered a commissioned painting of her choice.  Of course I could have guessed she would want a portrait of one of her dogs.  And in fact she requested a portrait of both her dogs (since the commission she has adopted a third dog named Lulu Bell) with a bayou theme.  She sent me a few photos to assist me in my composition but little did I know how much work is involved in a commissioned painting.  Well, after much effort I completed the painting in August but it needed time to dry and I also oiled it out and applied touch up varnish to give it a nice finished look.  I shipped it off yesterday and I hope she likes it.  Below is the final painting along with some sketches and color studies.

Framed painting

Final painting

Original sketch

Color study