Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas!!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas!!

This model is our new puppy, Faith. She turned 18 weeks old yesterday. We've been working on "stay" and "wait" for her modeling career. My dogs are used for models for my paintings and it is never too early to start teaching them.

I put Faith under the tree with no decorations and no ribbon on her and told her to "wait". It took just a few tries to get the idea into her baby mind. Then I put the gifts around the tree and the bow around her neck.

All was going well until our young cat, Lacey, decided to get under the tree while we were taking photos. I took over 100 photos and Faith got up only twice (once enticed by the tricky feline).

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

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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!