Lacey and Monet

Lacey (Lynx Point Siamese) is now ten weeks old and fitting into our home quite nicely. Monet (Irish Setter), who is two years old, is quite intrigued with her and is trying to clean both ends of this little kitten.

Monet loves cats and her new little girl is a constant source of amusement for all of us.

Monet and Lacey are very much a like - fearless and friendly. It will be interesting to see what kind of bond develops between them as the years pass.

German Shorthaired Pointers

This painting was a very exciting piece to complete - and quite a project. Of the six dogs (five german shorthaired pointers and one labrador retriever) three of the dogs were deceased. My client had very limited photos. Some of the photos were perfect and some were not.

The mountain range in the background is called the "Three Sisters" in Montana. The client wanted a cameo of her husband in the tree line hunting. The foreground reference was from a photo I had taken while driving cross country at a fort in Wyoming. Between her photos and mine I had two pheasants, six dogs, one husband and great landscape material.

The composition took some time to plan. Of course I didn't want a mid break in the surface either horizontally or vertically. Ideally I wanted some uniformity in the dogs head positions and certain dogs were to be primary in the painting while others were not.

A larger image of the painting is on my website under the dog art gallery specifically the german shorthaired pointer page.

Have a great day!

Siamese Kitten - Lacey Secord

This is our new kitten, Lacey. She is eight weeks old and is called a "Lynx Point" Siamese. This is actually a breed in Great Britain, but in America it is simply a color variation of the Siamese cat. The Lynx Point color was established by breeding a Siamese with a Tabby. With Lacey, she has the classic tabby markings which are circular rather than striped.

Lacey was adopted through "Cats in Need" a local cat rescue organization. She was pulled out of a local animal shelter, along with her brother, by this rescue organization. One of my friends ended up adopting her orange tabby brother when she went to visit Lacey at the foster home with me!!

I'm looking forward to using Lacey as a model in my future paintings! To see some of my current cat paintings please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/ and click on the cat art gallery.

Have a great day!

Pug Portrait is Finished

Pugsley is finished! Pugsley, the Pug, was so much fun to paint. He is always sitting in the garden surrounded by flowers so Pug's owners wanted his portrait to include an atmosphere of him being outside with a few flowers. I didn't want the flowers to become a focal point so I had a hint of pink behind him with just a few flowers loosely implied in front of him.

The upper part of the composition is light to be in contrast with his dark mask. The lower part of the composition is dark to have a contrast with his light fawn coloring.

Thank you for taking a peek at my work.

I will be putting a larger image of this painting on my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/pug.html. The painting may not be up for a few days - so please check back if the link doesn't work.

Have a great day!

Dawn Secord

http://www.dawnsecord.com/

http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com/

Pug Portrait in Process

This is Pugsley and his portrait is in process. He is a therapy dog and just an awesome all around companion. He lives in Southern California and I had the delightful experience of meeting him when taking photos of him for his portrait.

He had recently had cataract surgery so most of the photos we took of him were in the shade to keep his eyes comfortable.

In the primary reference pose he is leaning towards the left. His expression in that particular photo was fabulous - we all agreed it was a wonderful photo to base his portrait upon. For the portrait I sketched him with his legs straight under him eliminating the leaning to the left which had made his left shoulder look a bit odd.

He is just as sweet as he looks!!

Dawn's Etzy Store

Well, I took the plunge and created an on line store. (Actually - this was done by my husband, Rich and this is his project.) The store is hosted by the website "Etsy". This site specializes in hand made items such as art.

If you are interested in visiting our new store the address is:

http://www.monetsecord.etsy.com/

We were having a little fun and set the site up under our dog, Monet. Don't ya just love the internet!

If you have a moment drop me an email and tell me what you think!!
fff@linkline.com

Jewel in the Art Booth

Jewel is always in my art booth. She is retired from the show ring and currently a therapy dog. For the most part - I take her everywhere.

This is her convertible and how most people see her when she is at the shows with me. What else can I say about Jewel - she is the apple of my eye - my constant companion and the biggest food stealer in the house!!

Irish Setter Puppy "Wanna Play"

This is the fourth and final puppy painting for my upcoming exhibit at the Pinnell Gallery.

The painting's model is an Irish Setter puppy who runs our home and is in charge of all the toy inventory. Monet was about four months old when I took this photo of her on our patio. It was late afternoon and the sun was shining on her at an angle. The shadows cast by the setting sun on this feisty puppy were amazing. It has been two years since I took that photo. I knew it would be a perfect painting some day and that day has come.

Monet's slogan for life is "Wanna Play". She is always up - always happy and always stealing toys. Actually, I "toyed" with the idea of naming the painting "Mine".

If you live in Southern California I would love to see you at the exhibit. Here is the information: Pinnell Gallery, 124 N. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA 92028. Phone: 760-728-8870.