Couple of years ago I was starting my professional life. I started to work in a company and I realized that life is not all rosy in the garden as I imagined. I felt so sad being aware that have a work means spending more time with coworkers instead of spending time with the ones you love; like your husband, kids or even your dog. So I decided to call this piece "Dead dreams" to remember myself that usually life is not like you imagine, but still you have to continue, come up with a Plan B and be happy.

I love dogs specially German Shepard. So I wanted to make it look so real but the same time to emulate an oil painting but digitally. So I analyzed real oil paintings aesthetic, the use of brushes, color mixing, etc. Then I try to replicate what I learnt from my study in my digital portrait.

I used Adobe Photoshop for this portrait. I started to draw a quickly sketch of the dog. Once I'm happy with it I started to paint the dog with random colors to make the canvas rich in color variations. Then I paint a basic shape with real tones. Final step is simple: just add detail and detail and more detail until you're happy with the result.
I usually try to have breaks to rest my eyes so I could find things to improve or correct. Also flip the canvas help a lot.

People really like it! Always there is something new to learn, specially when you do what you love. This time I learn a bit of dog face anatomy, oil painting look and feel and how to paint fur that look real and at the same time painterly.

Lina Porras

I'm a freelance concept artist, illustrator and graphic designer currently based in Medellin, Colombia. My professional background had led me combine diverse techniques in order to create stylized and realistic pieces. Over the years I've worked for important local and international clients such as Disney and Woodblock creating concept art, illustration and visual development for print, commercials, tv programs, etc.

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