Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Monet and the new fish tank

Monday, August 9, 2010

Monet and the new fish tank

When we were traveling back in the midwest in June, Monet learned to hunt "critters". Now that we are back home in Southern California things have been a bit boring for her.

Last week, we pulled our fish tank out of the garage. It has been sitting in there for about five years. Monet - who is three - has not seen this in our house.

To our surprise, Monet LOVES the tank. She is always in the kitchen "window shopping" at the tank. It is pretty hilarious. Daily, I'm cleaning nose marks off the outside of the tank.

When I go to the pet store to get a new fish or two, Monet goes with me. She is fascinated with all the tanks. Of course, she is slobbering all over them as she attempts to go fishing. When the attendants look away I quickly grab my sleeve and wipe any slobber off the glass eradicating the evidence of fishing with no license.

Monet has no limits when it comes to hunting!! She is such a fun dog.

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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!