Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Drew (Irish Setter) gets his first point.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Drew (Irish Setter) gets his first point.

Drew turned 11 months old exactly on the day he was awarded his first champion point. "Drew" Willowbrook Artist's Rendition, is our fun little boy. He also was awarded best Irish Setter puppy and went on to win a Group 4 in the puppy sporting group (his second puppy group placement).

He weighs 70 pounds and is constantly trying to get in our laps. My father in law was visiting this past weekend from Santa Barbara and had taken a seat on our living room sofa. Drew went up to him and slowly climbed in his lap. My mother in law was laughing and we could barely see my father in law who was hidden from view by Drew's body.

We have great hopes for Drew in the show ring. More importantly - he is a member of our family and is an absolute dream to live with.

I have some plans to use Drew in future paintings. To see more pictures of Drew please visit my website and scroll down to the bottom of the main gallery page and click on "Dog Show Photos".

Have a great day!

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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!