Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Borzoi

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Borzoi

This is Jazzy a Borzoi. She was the most gentle soul you could ever meet. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person and getting to know her. When I went to take photographs of her she lived on 5 acres. Her owner and I sat in the yard and watched Jazzy while we discussed her portrait, her personality and how Jazzy came to be part of their family.

It was like watching a ballet performance. She had this effortless gait and floated as she moved gracefully across the beautifully landscaped property. In her earlier life she had been a show dog and once her show career was finished she was placed with her current owner. Jazzy had an absolutely wonderful life in one of the most loving families I've had the honor to meet.

This is the second painting I have done of Jazzy. She recently passed away and her owners wanted a painting of her with her ears up and looking gently into your eyes. To see Jazzy's other portrait or any other dog art please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/.

Thank you for looking at my art and have a great day!!

Dawn Secord

Fine Art Dog, Cat and Horse Art

http://http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Blogspot - enjoying the journey

http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com/

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Pastel Painting in Progress - French Bulldog

Here is a painting in progress. The pastel paintings are done very much in the same way an oil painting is done. I start with a base color. Usually I work with a precolored surface. With oil painting I would lay in a foundation color so the white canvas wouldn't show through. So this is the same basis. Since I am right handed I work from left to right unless it is a landscape or still life in which case the entire surface is worked uniformly. With pet portraits, so I don't damage an area that is completed, the surface is worked from left to right. While working an area of the subject I lay in mid tone values first - then work light to dark. With pastels an artist can "fill the tooth" of the surface so it is important not to over work any areas. Once the entire subject is painted I go back and reinforce the lightest lights and darkest darks. My greatest area of interest is the eyes. If the eyes aren't right the entire painting will look odd. If the painting is about a sleeping animal it is important to convey the comfort of the animal.

Oil Painting in Process

The following pictures show an Oil Painting in process. The first images show my beginning sketch. I use a common pencil, ruler and an eraser. Once the beginning sketch is satisfactory the sketch is secured with a layer of black oil paint. When the first layer is dried I apply a base color over the entire canvas. I love working on a burnt sienna foundation. There are paintings where I start just working directly on the white canvas and there is no base layer or foundation. It really depends on the painting. From the base foundation I start layering colors. It is a slow process due to drying time. This is where it really becomes fun. I should really make a recording of my husband saying, "You're done - stop messing with it!" Thanks for taking a peek. This painting is of a cat named Lynxy!