Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Pastel Painting of Ethan

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Pastel Painting of Ethan

I've never met Ethan, he lives in Australia. The good news is, I've met Ethan's number one fan. Not sure he would call himself Ethan's dad. Though, my husband is the "dad" to our dogs. So, I'm going to call Ethan's human, his dad.

Last year, I met up with Ethan's dad at a show (we'd known each other for a while). I was working on a commission there at the grounds. Ethan's dad is a real hoot - a character - a man oooozing with personality. Not sure exactly how it happened, but Ethan's dad ended up at my easel feigning to be working on my painting in progress. The antics were captured in this photo and then promptly forwarded on to the owner of said painting - who lives in New Zealand. Would she be in fear of what Ethan's dad was doing to her painting? We all had a great laugh.

So, while on these fun "goings ons" were happening, Ethan's dad showed me this picture of Ethan that was on his cell phone (dad's phone, not Ethan's). Would that photo be usable as reference material for a painting. Of course it would!!

In the photo, Ethan's eyes totally captivated me. I couldn't wait to paint them! He just melted my heart.

This painting was finished last month and it will be headed to Australia in the near future. A huge thank you to Ethan's dad for trusting me to paint his special boy.

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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!