Scout portrait in progress 11 - The expression will make or break

The expression on Scout’s face will make-or-break the barn hunt pose, the third figure in a triple portrait of Scout.

1

Doing Scout’s forehead.

His smooth head that makes you want to kiss it. 

The little creases in his white blaze on his forehead are extremely important: tiny details but they show his intense concentration.

2

It took me a while to do those shapes in his white blaze. Very slow and painstaking like doing an eye, with a glance at the reference photo every couple of seconds. In this face it is not just the eye that is making the expression. It's the shape of his brow: the eyebrows, the shape of the coat on his forehead, which is most visible by the shapes in the white blaze. It’s kind of an odd collection of shapes there. It wasn’t until I began focusing on portraying it that I realized how much that little area of his white blaze contributes to the expression of concentration on his face.  

To get an expression on a face, it's important to focus on what it is that makes that expression. 

3

There are a lot of details in Scout’s muzzle. This shows how I put in the darks and lights in the muzzle area. Then fill in the mid-tones around them, blending everything together as needed. And in some places I leave the grey paper color showing, that's the color I need there. Or lightly darken or lighten it, if needed.

4

You’re seeing close-ups of Scout’s face, but as I am working, I am considering the look and context of the whole figure. And also, now, the straw — around him and under his nose. Scout is interacting with the straw.

5

All of his focus is in his nose.

Here’s what Annette wrote, after seeing these in-progress pics:

“While I am busy doing my job as a handler - I miss his expressions which really are of intense concentration. He uses "air scenting" to hone in on areas to search. This does require a lot of focus and it is easy to see the difference in skill and ability when watching multiple dogs. Some lose interest quickly and some go right past the hide - even after sniffing the area. Scout is hypervigilant and will go over every inch before giving up but I am more alert to watching his body, keeping up with his fast pace and making sure he has looked in all the corners as he zooms around the field. So I miss the detail on his face. What a joy it is to have it highlighted for me!”

6

Scout’s barn hunt figure is now finished.

Should I do the grass next, or the straw?

If you want to learn more about the canine sport of Barn hunt, see my Sept 12 post.

Triple portrait of “Scout”.

Scout’s Chase RATM RATCh ThD

Commissioned by Annette Riehle.

🎨 Prismacolor pencil and acrylic wash on “Flannel Grey” Canson Mi-Teintes paper

20 x 26 inches.

Scout’s barn hunt reference photo is by Jackie Singer.