Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Oil painting of Drew

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Oil painting of Drew

I've been having a lot of fun playing with my oil paints. Between paintings I decided to take a break and do something outside of my regular activities.

It was Drew's birthday so I decided to do an oil painting of him. I have not painted a dog in oil since 1992 - 18 years - so it was kinda fun and kinda scary to see what would happen.

Here are the results. Painting in pastel has really allowed me to develop some skills that flowed over to my oil painting. It was interesting to see how many things were "changeable" with a wet medium. With pastel - there are only so many changes that can be made so it is important that each stroke be accurate. I absolutely love painting with a palette knife so all the reeds are done with the knife and not a brush.

Hope you like the painting - and Happy Birthday Drew!!

No comments:

Post a Comment

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!