Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: A painting of Alec

Sunday, July 10, 2016

A painting of Alec

What a fun painting! After taking photos of Alec for this painting, his owner kept going back to two photos she was having trouble deciding between. So, we did the obvious - painted both.

It truly was difficult to choose the best reference photos for this painting. Alec is so photogenic.

When we decided to use both photos, I wanted to really set the laying down photo away from the head study so I played around with the bottom of the painting. Finally, layering some middle value ultramarine blues did the trick. The fun thing about pastels is that there are so many different techniques that an artist can employ without having to wait for the paint to dry.

Here is a little background on Alec from his loving owner:

BISS GCh./Can. Ch Courtwood Going My Way.

Alec received his name on they way home from Sue Hahnen's home when he was a puppy. My son and I talked about all kinds of names and my son said he sure looks like a smart aleck of a puppy; the name fit perfectly. He became my smart "Alec" and the keeper of my heart.

Sandra Kraft

Thank you to Sandra for having me paint her special boy and to her dear friend, LeeAnn, who was the mastermind behind our project.

http://www.dawnsecord.com/commissioninformation.html

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Pastel Painting in Progress - French Bulldog

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Oil Painting in Process

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