Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Golden Retriever Painting

Monday, November 10, 2014

Golden Retriever Painting

This painting has been a while in the making. I'd photographed the dogs over a year ago and their owners were going back and forth on which photos would best represent their furry family members.

The oldest one, Blonde, is the image on the top. Misty, is on the left, and Cruiser is bottom right. During this decision making process, the family lost their beloved Blonde. She was a veteran dog in her senior years. The loss hit the family hard and put the painting on hold. No matter how long we have our dogs - no matter how old they live - their time with us is never enough.

Once Blonde's family was ready to tackle the project, it was discussed that the family didn't want Blonde and Misty shown as old as they were. So, one major goal was to paint the dogs looking younger. Secondly, the day had been quite windy when the photos were taken and the dogs were all squinting. I used other reference photos to give me a clear idea of how each dog held their eyelids when the wind was not gusting. The painting reflects the dogs with calm expressions and no squinting.

Below are photos of the finished painting as well as some of the reference photos for the painting.

It was so special to paint the dogs for this lovely family and I hope the painting brings smiles to their faces each time they look at it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

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!