Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Kobe

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Kobe

This is Kobe, Multi BISS GCH Jadestar Ride Em' Cowboy.

I've known Kobe for a number of years and have watched him mature into a beautiful dog. Not only is he lovely on the outside, he is a dream of a dog with a gentle kind heart.

When his owners approached me to paint him, I was thrilled. We met up at a dog show and I took a number of photos of him.   The photos which were my primary reference photos were taken in the shade. He'd really been squinting in the sun therefore, we moved him to get some shots of him in a cooler area.   We didn't want him to become too warm and start panting.

Three photos were used to create this painting. One was his primary reference pose, another was for his eye shape (where he was fully relaxed and not squinting at all) and lastly a photo taken from him sitting in the direct sun for his coat coloring.

Kobe lives in Arizona. His people family wanted a southwestern background.   I have a ton of photos in my reference library from all my trips between California and visiting my family in Texas....so, reference photos of Arizona were plentiful.

Thank you to Kobe's family for having me painting him.   It was a wonderful experience and I'll keep a place in my heart for this wonderful dog!

http://www.dawnsecord.com/commissioninformation.html

http://www.dawnsecord.com/printsforsale.html

No comments:

Post a Comment

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!