This is an oil painting just finished of an Irish Setter named Giddy.
When discussing the painting with the owner and the photos she had sent me, the conversations really showed her love for the beach. She had several photos of Giddy at the beach and I created some composition choices of making Giddy larger or smaller at the beach. Was the painting going to be a painting of a landscape with Giddy being part of that scene? Or, was the painting going to be about Giddy with a landscape behind him? Ultimately, it became a combination of the two.
With the landscape being important, I asked if she wanted an oil painting or a pastel painting? For the most part, if my paintings are a head study, I love the pastels. If my painting is going to be a landscape, an oil painting is a lovely choice. Diana went with the oil painting.
Wanting to provide the beach and cliffs a texture with dimension, I chose to paint on board with an ever so slightly sanded surface. There is a visible as well as touchable dimension to the painting as a result. I love using a palette knife when working in oil. As with most of my oil paintings, this painting was completed with palette knives as well as brushes.
In the reference photo, there are not any clouds in the sky. I chose to change that and give a movement of air by introducing a slight flow of cirrus clouds. The goal was to make sure the viewer's eye found something interesting to take in while looking at the sky. For the cliffs, brush work and palette knife work made them another fun feature to bounce around in. There is nothing like a palette knife to give an artist a somewhat controlled but yet uncontrolled feeling when painting rock formations. When painting the water, I inserted more wave movement than in the reference photo while keeping the feeling of a quiet surf with waves gently rolling in. For continuity of water and not to break the painting in half, the water was continued to the bottom of the painting even though the reference photo did not reflect that. I always tell people, I don't copy a photo. The reference photo is a road map to where I am going, but that doesn't mean I won't take artistic liberties to make the painting better.
Of course - our main subject, Giddy. Looking at all the photos of him, he is totally all Irish - rollicking, aristocratic and has the soft facial expression that draws so many to the breed. There was nothing for me to change when painting him. I downplayed the shadow cast across his body by the afternoon sun. There was no need for that dark of a shadow in the painting. His left eye (in the painting) was really obscured by shadows in the photo. It took a while and thankfully all the other reference photos I had of him to pull that eye out of the darkness and show both his eyes in the painting.
I asked his owner, Diana, to share a little bit about him and this is what she said:
Giddy nudges me with his snout and bumps me gently with his head to show affection. When we’re on a walk, if I pat his head he might give me a head-hug/love nudge while we are walking.
He is obsessed with the lure for FastCAT lure coursing. He likes riding with his head out of the sunroof, and is well-known in my area for that. It brings a smile to people.
Thank you Diana for having me paint your special boy. I can't wait for you to see the painting in person!
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