HERMES AND BRUNO
The below blog post details the process behind Brad's first paid commission! This piece was commissioned by Brendan who works at Integrated Support Solutions, as a Christmas present for his partner. The subjects were their gorgeous dogs, Hermes and Bruno! Hermes is the black dog, often referred to as 'Hermes the Destroyer' because he loves to chew anything he can. Bruno is the cream coloured dog and according to Brendan, he has been a 'grumpy old man since he was born.'
This was my first commission so I felt a bit of pressure but I was pleased with how it turned out!
I did find it hard to trust the process, how it looked at the beginning was very different to how it looked at the end! We started with an underpainting using bright watercolours. Then I sketched on top with pencil. Next I painted the dogs, first the grey and black tones before adding more caramel colours. I noticed the brown flecks under Hermes ear. Yvonne says I notice a lot of details other people don’t because I’m an artist. I also noticed all the purple blue shadows on Bruno.
The next step was the trees, the branches went every which way! It was hard work. I used a scrunched up piece of bubble wrap for the leaves, which was an enjoyable break from painting all the branches. Finally I added the tree trunk details, using paint and Posca pens. Look at all the details of the tree trunk! Lucky I’ve got patience!
I feel on top of the world that someone wanted to pay me for my style of painting.
