Sleepy Dog - II

Guess who's back.. Back again. 

As you know, last week I began working on a new so-called 'project' with the Sleepy Dog and this week I'm continuing on that topic. It's still not quite finished, a work under progress indeed. Below you can see where I was left off last weekend just as a quick reminder;

It's still fuzzy due to the brush I am using - so don't worry, you don't need glasses - and will continue to be fuzzy throughout this post so just beware, I am not that far along yet. This week I decided to tackle the rest of the wall, begin working on the table top and do a little detail work on the dog itself.  

First of all, I finished the wood panel work and the sign on the wall to the extent that I won't have to return to it until the 'fine detail' stage and you can see below how I have added a yellowish color to the diner sign in order to make it look beat up and old. I also retouched the wear & tear marks on the letters. After doing this, I went on to tackle the coffee pot, which is quite tricky with the glares and the distorted figures and I still haven't finished it for good, I had to remodel the coffee pot a bit since it looked a bit deformed to be a functional coffee pot. I added some color to the hand holding the pot and added detail to the dog's face and fur with a finer brush. 

I still have a lot of work to do around the areas mentioned earlier, but I won't get back to them until I have somewhat finished the table top and worked on the dog's paws - which dare I say are perhaps the most challenging part of this whole project. I have made an effort below to begin on the table but it's still not up to my liking, I really do want that glare that you get on those old fashion table tops in diners. 

Above I have started working the table top by setting my brush to a size around 5 and began dabbing away at the table, giving it a more 'marble' - if you can call it that - type of look, which hasn't worked out too well for me so far. I added a new layer just in case I decide not to commit to the changes I've made and I set the opacity to about half, so I can use darker and lighter colors without altering the bottom layer too much. I do admit that I have been thinking about just leaving it more fuzzy but then again I really do wish to make it look credible so I think I will just have to leave it for next week's post. 

 I've started working on the paw on the left, which turned out to be a challenge as well, I'm finding the shadings particularly difficult and I haven't even began on the right paw but I do believe that it will be easier, since it won't need as much shading as the left one. Those pesky things.. 

Anyway, below you can see where I am left off now and will be continuing from next Sunday..

I've managed to begin on the right paw/leg and I've smoothed the shadows on the table; I haven't gotten too much further from the previous image unfortunately. Now, if there is anything I absolutely hate to draw or paint that just has to be mugs. They are so simple but so complex! I can never get the form correct to make them look realistic which is the worst part of it all. I mean, you'd think they would be a piece of cake to draw right? I think I might be the only one facing this type of problem; for crying out loud who in the world simply cannot paint a mug? However, I will do my very best to try, just for you. 

All in all, I can say that I am almost satisfied with the background and the dog's head, which won't need too much work anymore other than a few final touches and a little tightening up for the lines. You can't see much difference when it comes to where I was left off last week but believe you me, I have put about 4 hours into this, I honestly don't know why it is taking me so long to make such slow progress. The color images tend to throw me off a bit I guess. However, I do want to keep this painting on a more 'painterly' basis instead of a realistic representation which allows me quite a bit of freedom when it comes to the table top and the dog; always a good thing when it comes to my preferences. 

I'm sad to say that this is all for this week, next week I hope to have this project finished and starting on something fresh and maybe slightly more serious. Tune in next Sunday!