Reference photo

I love this picture. The main thing I want to do is bring her head forward and push her body back in the picture plane. Since she is black I will do that by making the black on her head warmer and use a cooler shade of black on her body.

Initial Wash

After drawing the image on 140 lb cold press paper, I lay in the initial washes. I am using a mix of alizarin crimson and winsor green for the black of the dog's coat.Use more alizarin for warmer color and more green for cooler color in the fur.

Second Wash

I begin adding the wood floor with washes of burnt sienna and permanent rose. A touch of blue may be added to tone down the mix. I also use greys mixed with the primary colors(rose, cobalt blue and aureolin yellow) for the white of the dog's coat.

More washes of color

I keep building up the color with different washes. The dog's brown eyes are base coated in yellow and then orange added to make them brown. The yellow adds a glow. I also added blue to the wood floors for the reflections. The coat was darkened with additional washes.

Close to finish

This is pretty close to finished but needs some fine tuning. I love the floor, but it is too detailed and draws attention away from the dog. I will add more washes of burnt sienna to tone it down and unify the color more. The dog needs more shadow on the left side and other details.

Finished painting

I added the washes to the floor to unify it and darkened the background somewhat. I added details to the dog. I am very pleased at the outcome.