"ROSCOE" 11023, daily painter dog portrait © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"ROSCOE"

This is a commissioned pet portrait.  Roscoe looks like a happy guy.  I had a good reference photo to work from with strong light and shadow.

I remember my portrait project from a year ago where I painted 100 portraits from photos I received by email.  I had to stress over and over the importance of taking a photo with strong light coming from one side so there would be shadows across the face.  I actually told people to go outside at dawn or sunset and take a picture with the sun lighting only one side of the face.

That's one of the reasons many professional portraits are boring.  Flash, flash, flash.  No shadows on the face.  There is no reason to light up the entire face as if it were a mug shot or an object in an advertisement.

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