On to the Soft Pastels

Today I switched to my soft pastels - the Giraults and Rembrandts - and did a third layer on the middle and right dogs.  I also continued working on the water around these two dogs.  There were no new insights today, just more of the same, adding more detail and trying to portray the look of the water and the wet fur.  The front dog, a golden retreiver, has long enough hair that it's floating where his body meets the water, so I portrayed that with very soft strokes.

I think it's working so far.  But I'm going back to my initial concern about there being too much blank space.  The way I positioned the three dogs pretty much rules out significant cropping.  And I can't think of anything else to put in the painting.  Hopefully it will help when I add the bright water splashes because that will effectively "enlarge" the dogs.

I need names for these guys.  I've been referring to the front dog as "he" but now I think of him as a her, so I'll name her Molly, a sweet older girl.  The lab will be Bodie after my dog's golden lab friend at daycare.  I don't know the breed of the center dog.  But I think I'll call him Pepper.  There - all named!