Progression of a transparent watercolor
dog portrait
Bosco -German Shorthaired Pointer



















Here's the photo that was used for the watercolour portrait.








The following closeup views of the German Shorthaired Pointer painting show how transparent watercolor is layered. The first few layers are dilute washes of paint. These layers provide a foundation of color and form.


Like any other part of a transparent watercolor painting, the eyes will require several layers of paint to look their best. Despite the fact that Janet Wissmann has painted over 600 animals, she finds that it is still a relief when they turn out as planned!


The image becomes more three-dimensional as more layers of paint are added. At the same time, some areas of the painting are intentionally left lighter.



Learn how to
commission a
watercolor pet portrait »

____________________________________________________________

If you found the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.
Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

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Progression of a watercolour cat portrait
Niles -American Shorthair Cat




There is nothing like an Original...
In a transparent watercolor painting, the white of the 100% cotton watercolor paper shows through all but the very darkest of the layers of paint. The above scanned images appear a little washed out or overly bright (compared to the original painting) because the bright lights of the scanner bounced off the white watercolor paper surface behind the transparent paint.
The picture below shows the quality of the original watercolor painting a bit better; it's taken with a digital camera under natural light, and under these conditions you can see that the colors are richer and fuller. Yet neither method can really show the quality and richness of an actual original painting...some reproductions are quite good, but there truly is nothing like an Original!

Click on images to see fine detail.


You can see the entire painting of Niles in the Clients' Gallery »








"How long did it take you to paint that?"
By now you've seen that creating a transparent watercolor painting takes more effort than simply painting a few brushstrokes on paper. One of the preliminary steps in watercolor painting is that of paper stretching.
Actually, the paper isn't really stretched. The single sheet is soaked for a few minutes in water so that its fibers can expand, then the paper is taped, wet, onto a board where it will dry and become taught. This is done so that the paper won't buckle later when the watercolor paints are applied.
Janet writes,
"Here's a photo that shows a painting in progress, still taped to its board (click on it to enlarge it). You can also see the conditions under which I paint: nothing all that fancy, really. That's one of the nicest things about transparent watercolour."

So, are you impressed yet? You should be. When people ask Janet how long it took her to paint a particular painting, these days she can honestly tell them, "Oh, about fifty years.

These reference photos were provided by Niles' owner.



Learn how to commission a watercolor pet portrait »

Progression of a transparent watercolour portrait
Topper -Bernese Mountain Dog

Click any picture to enlarge.

Below: the finished painting

Unpainted watercolor paper has a wonderful texture and brightness, and is a beautiful background for a painting like this. Unlike paintings using other media, watercolors don't need to have every inch of the substrate covered with paint.

Janet intentionally left the running-dog portion of the painting lighter and less detailed than the main head study. See more of her finished watercolor portraits of pets here.

Janet writes,
"I used no white paint in this painting; any white you see is the unpainted surface of the watercolour paper. I love painting dogs that have their mouths open; the tongue, teeth, and gums have textures and shapes that are different than the fur-covered parts of an animal. Such variety adds interest to the painting."
Read more about Janet's transparent watercolor painting technique here.


Photos used for painting of Topper -Bernese Mountain Dog

Topper is a remarkable obedience dog who prances in a very Berner-like fashion while running alongside his owner. The client chose these two poses from amongst the seventy photos of the dog which Janet had taken at a dog show.
Learn how to
commission a
watercolor pet portrait »







____________________________________________________________

If you find the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.
Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

____________________________________________________________

.

Progression of a transparent watercolor portrait
Figgie -Golden Retriever


Janet Wissmann's watercolor portraits are usually begun by using light washes of paint. As more and more layers of paint are added, the painting begins to take on a depth and glow that can only be achieved by her slow and patient method of painting. You can read more about Janet's method of painting with transparent watercolours here.

Click the picture above to enlarge it. Note the layers of paint and the negative painting that defines the texture and color of the fur here. There is no white paint in this painting except for the highlight in the eye. The lighter areas simply have less paint applied. Janet says, "When I'm painting like this, I need to be thinking both positively and negatively at the same time: I'm painting around areas to be left light and I'm painting over areas that need to be darker."

Learn how to
commission a
watercolor pet portrait »

Details of a painting of a black-and-white dog
Zasu -Border Collie

When Janet paints black-and-white dogs like Zasu, she actually use some blues and browns to help make the black more interesting. Just as when a white dog isn't really pure white due to reflections of light, a black dog isn't pure black either. You may see some of the blues and browns if you look carefully at the nose. Learn about Janet Wissmann's watercolor technique and how to commission a portrait of your own dog here.

Learn how to
commission a
watercolor pet portrait »

Border collie art, watercolor painting of Border Collie, commissioned Border Collie painting portrait, dog watercolour portraits, dog watercolor paintings, pet portraits in watercolor, pet watercolour portraits by Janet Wissmann

____________________________________________________________

If you found the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.

Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

see more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

____________________________________________________________

Anatomy of a Bird Portrait Commission
An In-Depth Study of a Watercolor Painting

Janet writes,
"Being a watercolorist who often paints furry animals, I am always delighted to have a chance to use some of the brighter colors on the palette when it comes to painting the psittacines many people keep as pets. The Yellow-fronted Amazon at left required the use of sap green, Hooker's green, and cadmium yellow, while the Scarlet Macaw gave me some experience with cadmium red and alizarin crimson.

"It is not only vibrant color that provides a change of pace when painting birds. The shape, texture, and placement of feathers also present nice diversions. Yet painting birds is not without its challenges! On a healthy, well-groomed bird, the feathers interlock and overlap to form a perfectly smooth and aerodynamic flying machine. Feathers do not just occur randomly on a bird; they grow in tracts, with each part of a bird's body growing feathers of a specific contour and size. Even the location of the midvein of a feather is very specific to the feather's location. (For example, the midvein of a bird's primary wing feather is distinctly offset from the center line. Any bird enthusiast should be able to look at a given flight feather and identify which wing it came from.)

"In order to show all the colors of this magnificent Scarlet Macaw, I decided to paint him from the back. The foreshortening of the wing feathers added a bit of drama to the composition, and the tipping of his head allowed his face to be shown as well. By painting him in this pose, I got my chance to use just about all the colors in the rainbow. Colors here included cadmium red, alizarin crimson, sap green, Hooker's green, cerulean blue and ultramarine blue. There's a touch of cad yellow in there too.

"The Blue and Gold Macaw's pose came about out of necessity. This bird is a feather-plucker! As many pet bird owners know, some pet birds develop a behavior disorder where they pick out their own feathers, a disorder they often have for their whole lives. This macaw's entire breast was bare of feathers! So, in order to show his "best side", I had to paint him from the back; the other option would have been to paint in those missing front feathers. But if I had done that, would the owner have recognized her own bird? Possibly not!

"And then there was the silly African Gray Parrot. Yes, it was pretty much back to mundane grays and blue-grays for this one. But this bird made up for it by being a real character. It turns out that one of his favorite things was to hold an ice cube in his foot. We have no idea why he enjoyed it, but it did serve to give his humans a source of constant amusement. So this is the way I portrayed him in the painting.

"While the painting was still in the compositional stage, the owner added one more bird to her flock. She sent me a photo of the fledgling's profile, so I added it at the bottom of the painting. I think the final composition turned out quite nicely."

Learn how to commission a watercolor pet portrait »

Painting Dogs' Eyes
This photo shows the granulation of the paint and the layering perfectly. Click to enlarge. How to paint dogs' eyes with watercolor, by Janet L. Wissmann.
Here you will see how Janet layers the transparent watercolor in as many as twenty layers of paint. There is no white paint in this painting; it's always the white of the paper showing through the transparent medium. Be sure to click on the image to make it larger; you will see these initial layers of paint very clearly. You will also see the minimal amount of pencil marks that Janet made in the preliminary drawing stage. Here's how to paint animals' eyes with watercolor paint. How to paint cat eyes.

Dogs have different shapes of eyes, depending on the breed. There is also some variation within a breed.













If you are a student of painting and you wish to paint dogs' eyes well, please consider purchasing one of the many dog original paintings Janet offers for sale on her Dog Original Paintings Gallery, HERE ». For about the price of a good watercolor painting book, you can have your own original watercolor painting to study.
Or, commission your own watercolor dog portrait by Janet »



Maggie
You may be thinking of commissioning Janet to paint your dog. Here is a good reason to do just that! Below are a few closeups of a recently commissioned portrait. Janet paints eyes beautifully, and the sienna-colored eyes of Maggie are no exception. Janet expertly applies the layers of watercolor in a crisp and brilliant manner, and the results are excellent clarity and depth in the dog's eyes.

Note that there is no white paint in this painting. Janet has loyally followed the tradition of transparent watercolor, painting Maggie so that all the light areas--including the highlights in her eyes--are due only to the white of the paper showing through the paint layers.



Learn more about commissioning
a watercolor dog portrait by Janet Wissmann »

____________________________________________________________

If you found the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.

Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

see more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

____________________________________________________________

About the Original Watercolor Painting
Sun Conures
Wow! There is nothing as bright and colorful as a Sun Conure! Two Sun Conures at the zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, inspired this watercolor painting.
The artist Janet Wissmann elaborates:
"Birds like this prompt me to paint with colors that I rarely get to use with dog and horse art: cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, and sap green. I had some fun with textures, I dropped wet in wet, and encouraged the very dynamic payne's gray to bleed and blossom a bit."
Click on the picture at left to view an enlarged image. It's only then that you will be able to appreciate the texture and flow of the various paints. Janet continues, "Note the dark blue in the upper right corner. This is Payne's grey -- a mixture of ivory black and ultramarine blue. The ultramarine blue component is well known for its reactions while painting wet in wet, and when a bit of pure water is dropped into an area of wet Payne's gray I am rarely disappointed. The intensity, size, and direction of the blooms can't be predicted with precision. This unpredictability is one of the main facets of transparent watercolor's timeless appeal. If you look even more closely, you can see a bit of the lovely granulation for which Payne's gray is also famous."
True to form, there is no white paint in this watercolour painting. Even the white of the tail feathers' midveins are just the white of the watercolor paper left unpainted! This painting has been SOLD.







Progression of a transparent watercolor portrait
Doug -Harlequin Great Dane
















Learn how to commission
a watercolor pet portrait »




____________________________________________________________

If you found the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.

Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

____________________________________________________________

About the Transparent Watercolor Painting
Up Close -Belgian Draft Horse
Here's a great little painting of a very large subject: a Belgian draft horse. Janet's background in black-and-white photography taught her to appreciate patterns and textures in nature, and in this piece she tried to echo some of that appeal.
Image is 9x12 inches.
Click on the detail images for a larger-than-lifesized view that
should help you understand a bit more about Janet's technique. Look for the layers of paint in both the leather areas and the fur areas, and you will begin to understand how a transparent watercolor painting is constructed. This view of the eye may help you understand more about her technique.

About the Original Watercolor Painting,
On Second Thought

On Second Thought - Timberwolf Original Watercolor Painting
This painting of a lone, pensive wolf is truly a study in the textures of fur. It's also an exercise in getting the viewer's attention. You see, one of an artist's goals is to get the viewer to look at one portion of a painting first and then lead the eye around the painting in a somewhat planned fashion. This can be done in a variety of ways.
Watercolorist Janet Wissmann explains,
In this painting I wanted the viewer to notice the wolf's eyes and face first, so I painted those areas in much finer detail and with more brilliant colors and higher contrast than the other portions of the painting. This is quite evident at the border between the right side of the wolf's face and the fur behind it. The finer detail and subsequent higher contrast in this facial area are what make the viewer's eyes go there first; it stresses that this is the center of interest in the painting.

Click any picture to enlarge for detail.
On Second Thought isn't only a study in painting technique. It's also a study in wolf behaviour. The artist elaborates,
I suppose that may be why so many of my dog clients are drawn to this painting; they all mention that it reminds them of their dogs, be they German Shepherds, Labradors, Corgis, or even Poodles. Of course, who am I to argue? Dogs are virtually identical genetically to wolves, so much so that experts still aren't sure of their phylogeny. And what dog lover doesn't see a little bit of wolf every time Rex lies twitching by the fire at night, dreaming of chasing rabbits--or something bigger?

Learn about the process of painting Bluebonnet Joy,
Bernese Mountain Dog Original Watercolor Painting

Bluebonnet Joy -Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy original watercolor painting by Janet L. Wissmann Just look at that silly, mischievous Berner face! There she is, lolling about in the springtime flowers and teasing you with those big, expressive brown puppy eyes. C'mon and join her...lie on your back in the sunshine and transport yourself back to the days of your own puppyhood! Look for the bunny clouds in that azure blue sky, and pick those fresh, green blades of grass one by one!
Janet explains,
"I painted this watercolor using a couple techniques that I should use more often than I do. One of them is masking. I painted rubber cement-like masking fluid onto the blank watercolor paper to prevent some of the darker colors from filling in the areas that would become the grass blades in front of the pup. After the darkest hues of the pup and the shadows in between the grass blades were painted, I removed the dried mask with a gum eraser. With the mask removed, the grass blades in the front were now white, so I added some pastel greens while being careful to not disturb the crisp edges of each blade.
"While it's true that this painting does not display some of the blackest Berner fur that watercolor paint can deliver, the sheer artfulness and subtlety of the various hues of gray, sienna, and cerulean blue in the dog's coat give it a more painterly and sun-kissed appearance. "
Click on pictures below to enlarge details.

Bluebonnet Joy -Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy original watercolor by Janet L. Wissmann
The original watercolor is matted with a creamy white top mat over spring green inner mat. All materials are acid-free conservation materials. Image size is 11 x 18 inches; framed size is 18 x 24 inches. Satin black aluminum frame.
This is important: Always ask for your original paintings to be matted and backed with rag conservation materials. They cost more but they are worth it, and they should be considered part of the responsibility of owning an original, one-of-a-kind painting.
If you are looking for Berner notecards or business cards, go to Janet's Berner Page, here »

____________________________________________________________

If you found the educational information on this page to be helpful, you may find it even more educational to purchase one of the very inexpensive original dog paintings, shown on this web page » . The artist is clearing out 25 years' worth of paintings, and is offering them at prices as low as $50.

Some of the inexpensive originals for sale to students:

see more educational paintings for sale »
cats » _____ dogs »

____________________________________________________________

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Janet L. Wissmann, Watercolorist
Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin __ph. (608)624-5511 _9am-9pm Central Time Zone
www.janetwissmann.com

email the artist - home - take a commissioned dog portrait tour - how to commission a watercolour portrait - dog prints - cat prints - wolf prints - horse prints - stone lithographs - handcolored wildflower prints
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