Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Border Collie

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Border Collie

This is Murphy, a Border Collie mix. Her painting has been finished for a few weeks now and I realized I had not yet put it on my blog or website.

Murphy is the second dog I have painted for her owners. I had met them several years ago at an exhibition in Beverly Hills where they commissioned me to paint their golden retriever. One of the greatest compliments as an artist is to have someone come back to me for another painting.

Murphy's owners brought her to me to photograph for her painting. It was wonderful to spend time with all of them. It was a very warm day and I was in Malibu at an exhibit. Murphy didn't waiver in her cooperation. What an amazing dog she is!!

I am so thankful to paint for a living and very little else is as rewarding to me as presenting to a person a painting of their beloved animal.

Dawn Secord

Fine Art Web Site

http://www.dawnsecord.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!