How to Paint a Dalmation

MATERIALS

Paints

Burnt Umber
Cadmium Red Medium
Cadmium Yellow Light
Payne’s Gray
Titanium White
Ultramarine Blue
Yellow Oxide

Brushes

no. 1, 3 and 5 rounds

Reference photo

Sketch

Our Dalmatian, Katie, is the subject of this demonstration. Dalmatians are unusual dogs, both in appearance and in behaviour. They’re alert and active during the day, but once they are bedded down for the night, they do not like to be disturbed! They like their routines and are almost catlike in their adherence to them. Dalmatians are so different from other dogs that, as a family joke, we refer to them as aliens.

1. Establish the Form and the Dark Values

Draw the dog lightly in pencil onto the panel. Use Payne’s Grey thinned with water and a no. 3 round to paint the main lines and values. Use a no. 5 round for the broad areas of shadow on the dog.

Mix the black for the ear and collar with Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue (you’ll add the Dalmatian’s spots later). Paint with a no. 3 round.

Mix a pinkish brown for inside the hind leg with Titanium White, Cadmium Red Medium, Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue. Paint with a no. 3 round, using parallel strokes and feathering the edge so that it will be easier to blend into the next colour.

2. Paint the Middle Values

Mix the bluish shadow colour for the dog’s coat with Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber. Paint with a no. 3 round with smooth strokes.

3. Paint the Light Values and Add the First Few Spots

Mix a warm white for the Dalmatian’s coat with Titanium White and a touch of Cadmium Yellow Light. Paint with a no. 5 round, using smooth strokes that follow the contours. With a separate no. 5 round and the bluish shadow colour from Step 2, blend where the colours meet. Switch to a no. 3 round for the details. Soften and integrate the bluish shadow areas by dry-brushing the warm white over them with a no. 5 round.

Blend the pinkish brown shadow on the inside of the hind leg with the bluish shadow colour, using a no. 3 round. Mix a bit of the bluish shadow colour with the black, then use a no. 1 round to paint the buckle on the collar. Looking at the reference photo for placement, start painting the Dalmatian’s spots. Use a no. 3 round and the black from Step 1.

4. Paint the Finishing Details

Finish painting the spots, then use a no. 1 round and the bluish shadow colour to paint highlights on the nose and collar. Paint the white markings on the ear with the warm white and a no. 1 round.

Mix a dark brown eye colour with Burnt Umber and a bit of the black. Paint the eye with a no. 1 round. Apply a light blue highlight (Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and a touch of Yellow Oxide) with a no. 1 round.

For the muzzle, neck, chest, legs and around the eye, mix a pink from Titanium White, Cadmium Red Medium and Yellow Oxide. Paint the areas sparingly with a no. 1 round, keeping the amount of paint and your brushstrokes light. Blend with a separate no. 3 round and the warm white from Step 3.

Add a few more shaded areas in the white part of the coat with the bluish shadow colour and a no. 3 round. Mix a bit of the bluish shadow colour with a bit of the black to paint darker shadows on the legs, chest and neck.