I have been working for several days on a new painting called “Sweet Dreams” of 2 wolf pups drifting off to sleep. When working on animals with so much hair the tendency to paint every hair is very strong (at least in me :)).
I think the key to a good painting is to know when and where to add detail and when to keep things at a minimum. Take a look at this painting in progress:
I was not completely happy with the result when I was finished working yesterday. I thought about it a lot!! And decided it needed some big changes. I felt like the leg of the sleeping puppy was too prominent and that the rear of the other puppy was also too prominent. They both needed reworking. I decided to remove the fur on the arm and rework it with much less detail. I also blended the other puppy more into the background.
here is the result! I am very pleased with the outcome. I need to finish the foreground and also blend the right side of the puppy into the background. I think they look much better now and the focus is more on their faces not all that fur!