Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Poised for Play

Friday, March 28, 2008

Poised for Play

The Bichon Frise Club of America Health Foundation commissioned a painting of Bichon puppies for their 2008 National Specialty as a fund raiser. The title of the painting is "Poised for Play."

A copy of the breed standard was supplied to me upon my request so I could study the breed before beginning the painting. Even though the standard discussed adult dogs - the foundation information was applicable for puppies.

The most enjoyable part of the process was receiving and evaluating all the photos that were emailed. Naturally, the photos were awesome - how could they not be!! Sweet white fluffy dogs I could look at all day Thank you to the Bichon Frise Club of America for the honor of working with them. They are a wonderful group.

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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!