Painting Action - moving objects - speed

Someone asked me recently how I manage to put Movement and Speed in a painting.

Thought it best to use this painting of a running dog to explain

1.  Firstly, The Angle is important  - For this example I have chosen for the dog to be racing downhill, so I haven't drawn it 'straight/flat across the page',

but sloping down with the dogs back slightly higher.

2.  Also note that the dog is almost running 'Off the page' - this indicates speed to the viewer.

3.  The hind legs are raised a little.

and

4.  I prepared the paint and did the brush strokes quickly with All the Brush Strokes go to the left.  

5.  There are also 'action lines', which indicate movement.

~ Hope this is a useful tip for you all ~

Painting eyes

It can seem like a daunting thought, how to successfully paint eyes.

Well, I'm here to tell you it is only in the detail and that DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DIFFICULT.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Here's an example from a little sketch I did of Hamish the cocker spaniel.

The viewer is drawn to the eyes, as we are with faces generally.  In this example it looks complicated, but here's a close-up to show you it is purely small hints of colour and leaving some white paper.

Sometimes the things that seem to be the most difficult

are the easiest.