Opie in progress 3

I've laid in the underpainting for Opie where his coat is in shadow, and left the golden ground color for his sunlit areas and rust markings. From this point on, all my work will be in colored pencil over the underpainting. Pencil is a "transparent medium", so I've put in the colors that will glow through the pencil in each area. All that dark brown paint on Opie saves me a lot of coloring-in with brown pencil! 

I spent a lot of time studying the different photos Barbara sent and reading what she wrote about Opie, before starting on him. That allows me to feel connected wtih him so I can get his essence across in the portrayal.