Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Chelsea

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Chelsea - an English Setter

This is Chelsea - a beautiful English Setter. My journey with her owners began with a painting of her house mate, Tate. I was commissioned to paint him a while back. His owners were so happy with his painting they decided they wanted a matching painting of Chelsea.

Since we do not live in the same area, they provided me with a photograph of Chelsea. I'd been fortunate to meet Tate and personally photograph him for his painting (always love when that happens!)

http://www.dawnsecord.com

Portrait of Chelsea

Here is Chelsea's painting, her photograph and the painting of Tate so you can see the pair of paintings. They are mini paintings. I just love the mini paintings. The minis are just a perfect size to put anywhere in your home or display on a table top easel. I have a mini painting of my girl, Monet, in my studio on an antique dresser that houses art supplies.

Hope you enjoy the paintings - I sure enjoyed painting them!!

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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!