pet portraits Archives - Elizabeth Lisa PetrulisElizabeth Lisa Petrulis

Dog with floppy ears and a loose scruff looks sideways at an others noes protruding from a medical collar. High contrast black and white painting by Elizabeth Petrulis

Megaphone, 2014-15, Medical Collar Series, acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 36″, Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis BEFORE

Black and white painting of two dogs, one seen only by the tip of its nose through his medical collar.

Dino and Mookie in Megaphone II, revised 2017, acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 36″, Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis AFTER

I have updated the video on the making of “Megaphone. Since I last posted a video showing the progression from drawing to finished painting, I realized I was not actually finished. As you will see, near the end, I dispensed with the strict technique of layering black washes on a white surface. Instead I began mixing values adding white, gray and black over each other. At this point I had also begun using acrylic mediums (particularly glazing and mat mediums) another departure from painting the Original Dog Studies. It may be subtle but there is more detail and refinement. Here then is the updated video.

Learn more about the paintings on the Medical Collar Series portfolio page. See the video on the making of Ghost.

Ghost (Medical Collar Series), 2015 revised 2017, acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 24″

See the painting Ghost, from the Medical Collar Series, progress from photos to finished painting.The video below uses stop motion or stills to show my process from composing with reference photos through drawing and layering paint. Today I do most of the photo manipulation digitally. And I have a much better camera. Since the painting evolved over 3 years it also represents changes in my painting technique. Mind you I was not painting on it the whole time. It was several months, even a year, between paint applications. It began with just black acrylic washes layered to build up the dark areas. Then the technique evolved into mixing values, using various acrylic mediums, and interleaving white, grays and black. Though I appreciate the discipline of a strict technique, I felt freed up and relieved to be able to correct areas.

I went back into the painting after I thought I was finished because something was not right. Something was bothering me. You can see I changed the angle of Dino’s head and added highlights on the eyes and faces of Mookie and Doug. Here are a few images showing key changes along the way. Find the video below these pics.