Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: J Paul Getty Villa

Friday, February 19, 2010

J Paul Getty Villa - Malibu, California

One of my friends, Kriste, and I went to the J Paul Getty Villa in Malibu today. What an incredible art museum it is. It is built in a canyon right off Pacific Coast Highway and literally at the Beach.

Mr. Getty had the villa modeled after the Roman villa, Villa dei Parili. The villa was originally built in 1974 to house his European antiquities. The villa was closed in 1996 to be later opened in 2006 after 250 million dollars in renovations.

The art was amazing. The architecture was amazing. We had to have reservations in advance to visit the museum. If you are in Southern California - or plan to visit here, you must consider visiting the Villa!!

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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!