dog portrait, the process

Another dog commission. This time I took snapshots along the way. Enjoy (and forgive all the "thens").

I started off with a pencil sketch, something which I don't typically bother with. Then I traced over the soft graphite with black paint. Then began filling in with color, starting with mid-tones, then with the lighter, highlighted areas. The second to last shot is nearly to a finished state but does not look close enough to the subject in the reference photo---all that's left is details. Final shot is the finished painting.