Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: German Shepherd Dog

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

German Shepherd Dog - Parker

This is Parker and she was a German Shepherd Dog. Parker passed away three years ago. I understand Parker was a wonderful and loving dog. Her best friend was a pug named Pugsley.

When Parker's owners came to view her portrait at the gallery they had tears in their eyes. They expressed how surprised they were that I could capture so much detail from the photos they had. Many times people don't take photos of their pets with regularity. When they decided to have Parker's portrait painted they found they had very few photos of Parker and none that were what we were looking for as far as ideal photo reference material. Right before I started the painting they found a photo, long forgotten, that turned out to be the perfect reference. The photo was small and old - but valuable!

Monarch butterflies have great significance to Parker's owners so I put a Monarch in the painting at their request.

Sure wish I could have met Parker.

To see a larger image of her painting please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/.

Thanks for taking a peek at my work!

2 comments:

Patrice said...: Parker's portrait was beautifully painted. Parker's story make me realized the significance of taking photos of our pets regularly for us to have a simple keepsake.; May 16, 2009 at 7:15 AM
Fruitysquerrle said...: That dog is great!
I love how you captured his fur!; December 9, 2009 at 1:28 PM

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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!