Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Lhasa Apso

The portrait of Andy, a Lhasa Apso, is finished and it was so much fun to paint. Before beginning the painting I went over to get some swatches of Andy's fur and to visit him. He is the sweetest doggie soul you could ever imagine. There is gentleness about him that is indescribable.

Andy's owner was very happy with the painting. What touched her the most was the painting captured Andy's expression and personality. I will miss gazing into his eyes daily while working on the painting. Thank you Andy for being such a good and cooperative subject!

To see more of my work please visit my studio at http://www.dawnsecord.com/. In addition to dog art there are galleries of cat art, horse art, bird art, people portraits, still life, landscapes, beach scenes and floral paintings. A there are also original paintings available and a few limited edition giclee prints.

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

Dawn Secord

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!

Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Lhasa Apso - Pastel Painting

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