A great dane, a bulldog, and a chihuahua are in the park. A female poodle walks up and says, “I’ll be one of you guy’s girlfriend if you can use the words “liver” and “cheese” in one sentence.” The great dane says, “I like liver and cheese.” “That’s too easy,” says the poodle. The bulldog says, “I don’t like liver or cheese.” “That’s too easy,” says the poodle.
“Liver alone, cheese mine,” says the chihuahua.” “I’ll take him,” says the poodle.
I had a request from a follower on my Youtube channel to paint a chihuahua.
My dad loathes chihuahuas.
The only thing I dislike is trying to spell “chihuahua” – I had to look it up every time I typed the word. I got a kick out of painting this guy – thanks to Didgeman on Pixabay for the reference photo – his eyes make him seem kind of annoyed, just like the real thing.
I thought you might enjoy some step by step photos of the process.
Block in the under colors – what you see underneath the fur:
- wet the subject – avoid the eyes – allow the water to soak in so it’s not puddling.
- Drop in Yellow Ochre, watery, wherever there will be brown. Allow to dry.
- Dampen areas where you see pink skin – drop in a pink mix of Yellow Ochre/Permanent Rose – allow to dry
- Dampen the area around nose, mouth – drop in a watery grey mix of Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber – more blue than brown; allow to dry.
Insert fur markings to create a map that you can follow later:
- around the edges – small flicks of the brush, watery mix of Yellow Ochre/Burnt Sienna
- Grey is created with a watery mix of Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber
Eyes:
- Reflection – part is pinkish – watery mix of Yellow Ochre/Permanent Rose – allow to dry
- Then watery Ultramarine Blue – allow to dry
- In the area that will be brown – Winsor Lemon, creamy consistency – allow to dry, then place Burnt Sienna over the yellow, creamy consistency.
- Create a thick mix of black using Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber (more blue than brown) – place in any black areas, carefully working around the highlights; blend; will revisit the eye later in the process
Nose, Ears:
- Watery mix of black (Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber – more blue than brown) some areas use thicker mix, some areas use watery; blend – you want to see the pink through the black on the front of the nose.
- Ears – After the pink mix is dry, create a watery purple mix of Cerulean Blue and Permanent Rose and begin to build the structure of the ear. Using a mix of Cerulean Blue, Permanent Rose, and some Yellow Ochre, build the structure of the ear with pinks, purples, and some orange – wet on dry and blending. After the inner ear is finished, use a purplish mix of the blue, Permanent Rose, and a touch of Yellow Ochre to put in the hair with tiny flicks of the brush.
- Now the fur map is finished.
Darkest Hues
- Put in the darkest of the darks – flicks of your brush – I do this so I can judge how dark to make the midtones.
- Watery glaze, establish the midtones with mixes of Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber, working around the lightest areas. When finished, you want to be able to see the lightest areas.
Ears – more work on the structure of the ear; Eyes – some Ultramarine Blue in the highlight to represent the sky; richer black (Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber mix) in the black areas; Nose – stippling on top of nose, richer black in darkest areas; mouth – richer black in darkest areas, reinforce the grey hairs around mouth and nose.
Reinforce the mid-tones, and then some of the darkest areas.
Gently go over everything, except for the eyes, with plain water to smooth out the features and fur.
The finished product! Do you have a request? Send a message or leave a comment.
Thanks for visiting!
