Here is a painting I recently "finished". However, every time I walk by it I get the feeling it needs more work. It just looks unfinished to me but I can not quite put my finger on the solution. I am posting it here not so much for comments from others, but as a way to force me to think about exactly what I need to do to finish this painting.

Sit

I revised the drawing of the dog's face to get the angle of his head correct. I also had to adjust the placement of the paw that is on the ground.

This is the final photo of the painting. I decided to call it "Sit".

I am currently working an a small painting of a dog. It is from a photo I took the last time I was at the Immanel Mission in Arizona. He was a friendly little guy that followed me around the mission. It seems like every time I looked around, he was sitting there looking up at me.

I have always thought about documenting a painting in progress. The photos herein show the progression of an oil painting on masonite. It is 22 1/4" x 19 1/2".

I started with a line drawing in green on the white gessoed board. I typically do a neutral-color wash at the beginning of a painting, but I wanted to keep a clean white base for this subject.

After I roughed in the dog's shape I washed in a thin layer of green (Cad Yellow Lt and Cobalt Blue). I applied the brush strokes in a arc around the subject. I wanted to give the illusion of growing grass as well as accent the circular composition.

Once the background was roughed in, I began defining the light and dark shapes of the dog. I used Cobalt Blue mixed with a bit of Alizarin Crimson for the shadows and Cad. Yellow Lt. with Titanium White for the sunny sides.

I added more definition to the the foreground and softened the background. I also exaggerated the coolness of the background and warmth of the foreground to give more depth.

In the last photo shown I have added color and value variations to the dog's fur. I am currently finishing up with the rendering and details. I will post a photo of the finished piece soon.