While the pig is not a classic subject for a painting, the animal has grown increasingly popular and has gained recognition through books such as Charlotte's Web and films like Babe. Pigs are adorable and relatively simple to paint, so rendering them on canvas is a good way to challenge your artistic skills and avoid taking yourself too seriously. No matter what setting you place him in, the pig is certain to bring a smile to the face of anyone who sees your work.
Mix three parts black paint with one part white paint on your palette. Dip your brush into the paint. Outline an irregular-shaped, large boulder roughly 5 inches in width in the middle part of your canvas. Fill in the rock with this same color. Clean your brush.
Dip your brush in black paint. Apply paint to the base of the rock and to any parts where natural shadows may occur. Clean your brush.
Mix one part black paint and one part white paint on your palette. Dip brush in color. Apply this lighter gray to the top of the rock and anywhere else where light might hit it to create the illusion of highlights. Clean your brush.
Painting the Pig
Mix two parts cadmium red, one part alizarin crimson and two parts white on your palette. On top of the rock, paint a horizontally-oriented oval that is approximately 3 inches in length and 1 3/4 inches high. Fill the oval in with the same color. This is the pig's body.
Dip brush in this same color. From the left side of the pig's body, paint a downward pointing, soft-angled triangle with sides of 1 inch each. Let the end of the body serve as the triangle's base. Fill in the triangle with this same color. This is the pig's head. Add a stroke or two of paint to the top of the triangle's tip for the pig's upturned snout. Add two outward and upward reaching dabs of paint to each side of the head for the pig's ears.
Mix more of the same red, crimson, ochre and white color. Dip your brush in it. Using downward reaching strokes, add two legs to the left and right sides of the body at its base. Make the legs each approximately 1 1/4 inches long, and allow one of the back legs and one of the front legs to reach out at a diagonal so that the pig appears to be in motion or braced on the rock. Clean your brush.
Mix one part black, two parts raw sienna and one part ultramarine blue. Dip your brush in color. Apply one small dot to the middle, right part of the pig's head for his one visible eye. Clean your brush.
Mix two parts raw sienna, one part alizarin crimson and 1/2 parts white and yellow ochre. Dip brush in color. Apply this color to the two legs that are the farthest away from the viewer, and use it to accent the pig's ears. Apply a few curving, upward strokes to the pig's belly to create the illusion of shadow and roundness. Clean your brush.
