Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Monet - Rusticwood Spellbound

Monday, February 2, 2009

Monet - Rusticwood Spellbound

Monet just received her third point towards her AKC (American Kennel Club) conformation championship. Monet is our third show Irish Setter - but not our third Irish Setter.

Her aunt is Jewel - my heart dog. Actually, that is the reason we wanted Monet. She was our little piece of Jewel since we never bred Jewel.

Coincidentally - Jewel had her third point when she was 27 months old - and Monet is 27 months old. Monet (Rusticwood Spellbound) has also won a Puppy Best in Show and a Best in Sweepstakes. She is a wonderful girl and we are thankful everyday she is in our home. She is an extreme dog - extremely smart - extremely good - extremely naughty and extremely nice.

In the near future she will be featured in one of my paintings. To see my artwork please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/.

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!