DAY 7: Charles Fluffy Ear

Welcome to Day 7!

So far in this challenge we’ve tapped into creative joy by painting mostly delightful flowers, and today we’re venturing into something I paint every day: pets.

My pet portraits are highly sought after and I’m lucky to have a long waitlist of commissions to paint beloved dogs and cats. This has been my speciality as a fine arts painter for over a decade and I love what I do. Today I’m sharing a tiny piece of this with you so you can dip your toes into painting a beloved dog by sharing a fluffy ear with you. We’re only focusing on painting the right ear, the highlighted area in the portrait below.

The Painting Practice

Remember to turn off your phone notifications before you start.

  1. If you want to draw an outline so you know where your smaller canvas is, please do so.
  2. While looking at your reference photos as your inspiration, sketch out the ear. do a simple outline of the flower on your paper. Just a rough sketch will do.
    • Start with the top left corner and draw the outer outline of the ear. It’s ok if it’s not the exact same shape. Dog ears all look different and Charles is allowing us to simply use his left ear as an inspiration.
    • Next, draw the inner outline.
  3. Choose your colors, they can be whatever colors you’d like. Charles ear is mostly a blend of Raw Sienna, Unbleached Titanium and Mars Black. You can choose different colors if you don’t have these on hand. Even painting this in various tones of gray will work too.
  4. Grab some water and your brushes, and don’t forget a towel to clean off your wet brush.
  5. Now, set a gentle timer and paint for 20 minutes for some meditative joy and playful painting. We’re going for some fluffy fun today and honor the love we have for our beloved pets.
  6. Claim your creativity and honor your journey of showing up for yourself by signing your art work.

If you feel called to continue painting past 20 minutes, please do so and let us know when you share it.

SHARE YOUR CREATION:

Take a photo of your finished challenge and share it on social media (tag #studioeriksdotter so I can see it!), and tell me: How did this challenge feel? Can you resonate with the sentiment of this tulip? What colors did you choose and why? Let me know when you share your photo.

HOW TO PAINT A DOG PORTRAIT online course

If you’re interested in continuing to paint and learn how to paint a dog portrait, check out this course. Enrollment opens soon!