In the Studio with… Debbie Patrick
Painting Tuffy
Debbie Patrick (Golden Gate Marin Branch, California) is an extremely gifted artist who works in pastel, oil, and acrylic. Her exquisite portraits of people and animals beautifully capture the personality and mood of her subjects. “Study in Blues” was featured in the cover article about Patrick in the Summer 2017 issue of The Pen Woman.
“I was inspired to paint Tuffy while working on a series of blues musicians. He seemed to fit my ‘Study in Blues’ theme,” she says. “I chose Canson Mi-Teints pastel paper in indigo since the deep blue is complementary to the rusty browns and golds of Tuffy’s fur. Also, since Tuffy will be on a blue sofa, this paper allowed me to give the illusion of a sofa with only a few well-placed buttons and highlights.
“Even though Tuffy is basically a brown-and-white dog, I used a range of blues, purples, violets, oranges, golds, and whites in my palette. I prefer a variety of Nupastel hard pastels, Unison soft pastels, and Derwent pastel pencils for details.”
Step 1:
Patrick begins with a rough sketch in black and white. For Tuffy’s face, she uses black around the nose, mouth, eyes, pupils, inside the ears, and the main wrinkles. Warm sienna with touches of orange, violet, and gold reflections, plus a white streak with some lavender, make up the pupils. The nose is black and navy with bits of violet, lavender, and pale blue. Purple, pink, and a bit of orange are added around the mouth and muzzle.
Step 2:
She blocks in brown fur areas with umber, with swaths of navy in the shadows. The muzzle is crosshatched in white over pink, leaving small bits of indigo paper showing. The fur is built up in many layers of short strokes, with deep purple, navy, and umber in the shadows and deepest creases.
Step 3:
She blocks in brown fur areas with umber, with swaths of navy in the shadows. The muzzle is crosshatched in white over pink, leaving small bits of indigo paper showing. The fur is built up in many layers of short strokes, with deep purple, navy, and umber in the shadows and deepest creases.
Step 4:
Patrick blocks in brown fur areas with umber, with swaths of navy in the shadows. The muzzle is crosshatched in white over pink, leaving small bits of indigo paper showing. The fur is built up in many layers of short strokes, with deep purple, navy, and umber in the shadows and deepest creases.