Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: A portrait of Dudley

Thursday, December 5, 2013

A portrait of Dudley

This is Dudley. He was a rescue that went into his forever home as a senior. His last few years were spent in the most wonderful home with a loving family. It always breaks my heart to know a senior dog needs a home. Fortunately for Dudley, his previous owner was able to place him where they did and did not just have to walk away from him. All dogs deserve at least that.

The reference photo had Dudley laying on a red leather piece of furniture. The red of the furniture took some of the focal point off of the subject (Dudley), so in the painting, the artist liberty was taken to change things a bit. It is important to me not to simply copy a photo, but rather use the photo as a road map to ensure I am capturing that animal specifically.

Thank you to Dudley's family for giving him such a great life in his final years and for choosing me to paint him!

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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!