Art of the Dog: Dawn Secord: family dog

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!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Saki - A very special dog

This is Saki. She is 11 years old and has been the best friend of a young man for that many years. Two weeks ago this young man went off to college for the first time.

His father had contacted me many many months ago and asked me to paint Saki. His goal was for the portrait to be completed by the time his son went off to college so his son could have the painting of Saki to take with him. What a heart breaking situation.

The painting of Saki is now off at a college somewhere, hopefully reminding a special young man of his very special friend. That young man also has a very special father.

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

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!