Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: Working Dog

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Great Danes

I've been working with the owner of these dogs for some time.    When the painting was first commissioned, the pups were quite young.    We had some adorable puppy photos.   We were working out which photos of the pups would go best with the photo of the dam as reference material for the painting.    Life just seems to fly by and all of a sudden the pups were seven months old.    Sometimes my commission waiting list works out best for all!

The reference photos of the pups were wonderful.    One of the pups had her ear down, so that needed to be corrected.   One of the nice things about paintings - we are not limited by what is in life or photos.   Changes can be made where ever needed or desired.

I love painting Great Danes.   There is such a solid regal beauty to this breed.    Thank you to the owner for choosing me to paint them!

To see more of my work, please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"A Great Moment" Great Dane

The Great Dane painting is finished. I switched things up a bit. Usually, with pastel paintings, I work from left to right so my hand doesn't interfere with anything I've already laid down.

The background is started first and finished last. However, with this piece, I painted the subject first and then decided upon the background.

Originally, the background was going to be an a prestigious entrance to an estate. Hours were spent photographing entries of beautiful homes for this purpose. I have the most amazing carriage house type entrance from Rhode Island that was considered along with the latest photos taken.

In the end, simplicity won out. The background is a quiet antique"ish" feeling of an old landscape painting. I hope you enjoy viewing "A Great Moment" as much as I enjoyed painting it!

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!