Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: February 2018

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

California Otter Pup

In June of 2016 my husband and I traveled to Morro Bay, California to pick up a kitten (who will be 2 years old this week - where has the time gone???) and to my delight there was a bay full of sea otters with pups. I took literally 100s of photos.

http://dawnsecord.homestead.com/Wildlife-Art.html

Here is the painting that was created. The painting is small, 6" x 6", and is on sanded board.

The painting is a combination of several photos. The otters were floating on a kelp bed. The goal was to have a direct view of the pup's face in the painting. I absolutely love painting the eyes of the animals. The tiny paws of the pups were adorable and they just had to be in the painting.

For the sanded board, I took an acid free coated board and put an additional coat of toned gesso for a gray / taupe colored under painting. Then I took "pastel ground" a textured acrylic primer for grit to get a deeper tooth for the pastel. I used a thick brush to apply the layers of gesso for even more texture. It was not an experiment but rather a direction to create some unique feeling to the pastel painting. In viewing the painting close up, one can see brush strokes in it. When I paint in oil, I love to see the brush strokes. My goal here was to give a brush stroke feeling to the pastel painting.

Hope you like it! The painting will be on exhibit the last weekend of April 27th thru 29th, 2018. If you will be in Southern California (San Dimas - which is about 1/2 hour from my home in Chino Hills - 1/2 hour from the Ontario CA Airport) please come by! Would love to visit.

Here are a few of the photos taken in Morro Bay, California that were used for the painting.

http://dawnsecord.homestead.com/Landscapes.html

Friday, February 23, 2018

A painting of Jenny and Troy

This painting had been planned for some time. The family lives in a canyon with an abundance of beautiful plants and scenery. After a few trips walking around their grounds we found the perfect setting. We'd have the dogs sitting on some steps under an arbor. The only down side, was the foliage wasn't in bloom. So, we waited for Spring and the flowers blossomed and we had our background. During one of our discussions, hummingbirds were the topic. It was clear the owners of the dogs had a fondness for hummingbirds. We talked about including a hummer in the foreground and everything just fell into place.

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

We took photos of the dogs, separately, in a number of locations. It seemed they were really most photogenic and relaxed in the foyer, so those were the photos used.

I'd asked Jenny and Troy's "parents" if I could work on their painting as a demo at the Kennel Club of Palm Springs and they agreed.   I'd worked on the painting off and on during December and then finished it in January.

This painting was absolutely a blast to plan and paint.   Jenny and Troy are amazing dogs and really were cooperative throughout the process.   Thank you to Suzanne and Don for having me paint their "fur" kids!

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

https://www.facebook.com/DawnSecordArt/?timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=1377402551&pnref=lhc

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

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A painting of Finn

Here is a painting I've just finished of Finn. I had the pleasure meeting him in person and taking photos of him. The pose everyone liked of him the most had his ears flying in the wind. His leash and collar obstructed clean lines of his neck. I little adjusting here and there and Finn was staring back at me from my easel.

I asked Finn's human mom to share a few words about him. Here is his story!

CH Captiva One Last Time, BN, RN, RA, THDN, TKN,CGC

Sir Finn is my heart dog, best friend and soul mate! He is the kindest most gentle soul you can ever meet. He loves me unconditionally and shows me that every single day. Finn reads me like no other and is there for me always. When I lost my mom, he was the one that helped me through it all and then loosing Liam too. Finn’s therapy work excels with Alzheimer patient. They can grab him or be rough and he will just lean into them and look into their eyes. This boy of mine will try to do anything asked of him. When people come to our home, Sir Finn is the dog they want to take home. I am truly blessed to have him in my life!

Thank you Dawn for truly showing the love in his eyes. It is just perfection!

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!