Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Wille the Orange Tabby Cat

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Wille the Orange Tabby Cat

This is Wille. He has a heart warming story.

His human parents live in Southern California. While volunteering at a local shelter, they met Wille. Wille had been released by his former family. It seemed that he had a very sensitive stomach and was prone to urinary tract issues that could be life threatening.

Treating Wille's medical issues proved too much for his former family so this eight year old cat was given up. There is no explanation for the loss of his eye. Wille was at the shelter, an older cat, with medical issues and one eye. Definitely not an easy adoption candidate.

Well, Wille's new family fell in love with his personality and had to adopt him. Volunteering at the shelter gave them an opportunity to get to know Wille and they just couldn't stand him not having a family. He has the most adorable personality. It has taken some time to find the right food to balance his urinary tract issues, but this has been accomplished and Wille is flourishing. It was a pleasure to paint Wille's portrait and his human family are the most wonderful people. A story of true unconditional love.

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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!