Border Collie

This border collie commission was a joy to work on. Collies have the most expressive faces of any dog breed in my opinion — those bright intelligent eyes and the classic black and white markings.

I used pastels and focused heavily on the eyes first as they really set the tone for the whole piece. The black fur has so many different tones in it when you look closely — blues and purples and deep browns. The white areas catch all the light beautifully.

The owner wanted a close-up portrait style and I think it really shows off the character of this particular dog perfectly.