Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: August 2022

Friday, August 26, 2022

Holly - a pastel painting of an Irish Setter by Dawn Secord

This is a painting of "Holly" - Meadow Run Walk of Fame.

I met Holly years ago in Southern California. She was a lovely girl. I always knew she was competition for my girls when I showed against her. Some dogs just stick in your mind. Holly was one of those. She was really a beautiful dog and I always loved her gentle expression.

When her owner contacted me to inquire about commissioning me to paint her, I was thrilled. We set about getting reference photos from her owner emailed to me. As much as I really don't like computers, they are a great assistance when getting photos back and forth. I remember earlier days - 20+ years ago when I had to take photos of a painting, have the film developed, and then mail the photo of the painting to the person who commissioned me. Email is my friend!

There was this lovely gentle photo of Holly on the edge of a sofa looking down. It was her owner's favorite and I loved it instantly. In the photo, Holly was bunched up a bit in a corner. For the painting, I took that out and had Holly's head, neck and shoulder only. She was to pretty to look bunched up. The head and expression in the reference photo were perfect. Nothing was changed there. It is my job, as the artist,

to see what to include from a photo and what not to include for the painting.

I asked Holly's owner to share a little bit about Holly and this is what she told me:

I always said she was an easy keeper. Laidback and easy to live with. Rare.

Thank you to Holly's owner for having me paint her beautiful
girl. She was a special girl and we all loved her.

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!