Cocco, Labrador Retriever, Commission Example

MEDIUM: Digital Painting | STYLE: Painterly Realism | SIZE: 8 x 10 | ORIENTATION: Portrait | AVAILABILITY: Commission Example | Request Commission Information

A chocolate Labrador Retriever painted in Painterly Realism, captured mid-smile with warm amber eyes and a glossy, richly textured coat. Set against a soft blue sky and layered greenery, the natural backdrop lets Cocco’s expression carry the piece — an example of the warmth and personality Shadowmyst Art brings to commissioned pet portraits.

ARTIST’S PROCESS: Cocco, Labrador Retriever was painted in Procreate on a 13″ iPad Pro using the Apple Pencil Pro. The portrait began with structural drawing, followed by color blocking, value refinement, and detailed fur texture work, with multiple layers used to build up light across the coat. The natural setting was developed to complement Cocco’s coloring, placing the warm brown coat against cool blue and green tones for contrast.

CHALLENGE: A solid chocolate coat offers none of the natural pattern breaks that help define form in multi-colored fur. The challenge was building depth and muscle structure using value and light alone — warm undertones in the shadows, cooler highlights along the top of the head and shoulders — so the coat reads as dimensional rather than flat, while still preserving the deep, rich brown that defines the breed.

SUBJECTS AND THEMES: Dog Portrait — Labrador Retriever — Chocolate Lab — Character Study — Painterly Realism — Outdoor Setting — Fur Texture Study — Animal Portraiture — Natural Setting — Digital Painting — Procreate Artwork — Commission Example