A Flower-Loving Golden Retriever: Creating the Illustration

A client asked me to paint an illustration of her adorable golden retriever. My approach is to develop a scene that represents the personality of the pet and reflects interests of the owner.

It just so happens the owner enjoys colorful flowers and this beautiful golden has a quirky habit of pulling colorful summer blooms out of their planters! So began the idea of the illustration. Here's more on my creative process.

The Reference Photos:
My client provided me with several, yet I seemed to gravity toward this one.

The Rough Sketch:

A Tighter Sketch, with whimsy:

An Adjustment:
The flowers are now in a pot versus growing directly from the ground.

A Close-Up:

Considering Flower Color Combos:

My Client Selected Pink! (yay!!!)

Painting:
Under-painting in gouache then color-building with Prismacolor pencils.

"Abigail and the Flowers", gouache and colored pencil, 5" x 7", by Cheryl Kugler

Shop For It:
Shop in my online artist store for super fun products adorned with this illustration such as quality cards, prints, plates, napkins, cutting boards and more. Find it here: Cheryl Kugler Artist Shop

Another sketch idea my client and I were kicking around because her dog loves belly rubs too... (maybe next time!)

Thanks for stopping by my art blog. Hope to see you here again soon!