Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: March 2013

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Bloopers on puppy Bling...

Tomorrow is St Patty's day and I always try to take photos of my Irish Setters with a little fun holiday gear on them. This year we have a pup in the mix.   Bling just turned 5 months old and we've been working on her obedience training with a friend and her lab puppy for two weeks now.

My husband ran an errand so I grabbed my camera and took the dogs outside.   I tried a practice run and Bling stayed in place - though she chose to lay down rather than sit.   Hum... why not throw the holiday stuff on the dogs and see what happens.

Bling was a bit distracted by bird shadows on the deck and a kitty cat walking by.   To my surprise, she held her sit stay (except when the cat came along).   The other three, Monet, Faith and Drew are all pretty used to me posing them for my paintings.

If you look at each photo, the older dogs hold their poses for me the entire time regardless what Bling is doing.   It was pretty funny.   This entire session took about three minutes.   For a five month old Irish Setter pup, 3 minutes is an eternity.   Hope you enjoy the photos!

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!