Troy Grayson - Labrador Retriever - Original Pet Painting

This is a painting recently completed of Troy Grayson.  Grayson is his middle name - not to be confused with his family's last name.   I always give our dogs two names (Bling is known as Bing Bing at home as an example) so it tickled me when he was named as he is.

Troy is 8 years old now and I've known him since he was a pup.   He actually stayed with us for a few weeks when he was a baby while his owners went on a lengthy vacation.  He is everything we love about Labrador Retrievers.  He is fun, loving, gentle spirited, and a great family dog.   

For this painting, Troy has been photographed several times and we have been waiting for the perfect photo that would show his personality.   When the reference photo had been taken, I was in California for an art show and was staying with Troy's family while there.   It is much more fun to stay with a family than a hotel!   We took photos of Troy for the painting and this reference photo was the one that touched his owner's hearts and would be used for his painting.

Last summer Troy was diagnosed with lymphoma.  He had a roller coaster of a time going through the treatments.   He is in remission and his family couldn't be happier.   Modern medicine? - miracles? - maybe a combination of both.   Thank you to Troy's family for having me paint your special boy.

This is a painting of Bandit and Coors - two litter mates.  I know their "brother" Troy.  He stayed with us when he was a pup for a few weeks as a favor to a friend.   Labrador Retrievers are such great dogs - clowns while loyal, intense while casual - they are just great dogs (not to be redundant) but they are.

Thank you to Christen and Andrew (and their Aunt Suzanne) for having me involved with this special project.  I asked them to share some information about Bandit and Coors.  Below is what they had to say.

Dawn,
Thank you for capturing our dogs’ unique features, although they are always truly brother and sister and
love to be right next to one another, they have such different personalities. Our Blonde girl “Coors” is
such a tomboy and has no idea how big she is when she sits on the couch next to you or when she ends
up putting her big muzzle on the pillow next to your face early in the morning.
Our boy Bandit has such a deep bark on all muscle frame but wants nothing more than to be loved on
while he stares at you with his big brown innocent eyes.
These guys together have the routine down to with in minutes of the first meal, big bone when we
leave, what time I am supposed to be home to feed them dinner and then the long stare for when It is
time to go on our evening dog walk, maybe they have trained us. We love taking them on vacations and
well as eating donuts together on the weekend. Bandit and Coors are usually so well behaved until you
show them any sort of water and then all bets are off for, they never want to get out no matter what
temperature it is outside.
We love them as our own children and wish they will never grow old but at least we will have this
painting to remind us of how much they mean in our lives.
Thank you again so much
Christen and Andrew Lee

Here are the reference photos for the painting.

A painting of Jenny and Troy

This painting had been planned for some time.  The family lives in a canyon with an abundance of beautiful plants and scenery.  After a few trips walking around their grounds we found the perfect setting.  We'd have the dogs sitting on some steps under an arbor.  The only down side, was the foliage wasn't in bloom.  So, we waited for Spring and the flowers blossomed and we had our background.   During one of our discussions, hummingbirds were the topic.  It was clear the owners of the dogs had a fondness for hummingbirds.  We talked about including a hummer in the foreground and everything just fell into place.

We took photos of the dogs, separately, in a number of locations.  It seemed they were really most photogenic and relaxed in the foyer, so those were the photos used.  

I'd asked Jenny and Troy's "parents" if I could work on their painting as a demo at the Kennel Club of Palm Springs and they agreed.   I'd worked on the painting off and on during December and then finished it in January.  

This painting was absolutely a blast to  plan and paint.   Jenny and Troy are amazing dogs and really were cooperative throughout the process.   Thank you to Suzanne and Don for having me paint their "fur" kids!

Jenny Willow - Yellow Lab

This is Jenny Willow.   She is the sweetest dog you'd ever want to meet.  I've been fortunate to have painted her portrait twice.

In this painting, her owners wanted her playing at the beach.   If there is one thing that is important to Jenny Willow (aside from treats!) it is her orange ball.

We had a taken a number of photos of her near her home and her owners had some photos of her romping at the beach.   Initially, I thought we'd use one of the land photos I'd taken and I'd simply put a beach scene behind her.  However, one of her owner's photos was awesome.  It had great lighting, great waves, and a fabulous reflection of her in the water.   The only thing missing was her orange ball!

To create her painting it was necessary to use a number of photos.   There was the beach scene of course, then we decided to not have her bandana on in the painting necessitating the use of a photo with no bandana, and of course....a photo of the orange ball.

My easel had all these wonderful photos taped around it.   In the end we had Jenny Willow in her element - at the beach with her orange ball.

This painting makes me smile - hope it does you too!

Labrador Retriever Painting - Reference Photo

This is Buzz, a yellow labrador retriever. He had been a dog in rescue and his foster parents found they couldn't part with him. We took Buzz to a dog beach in Southern California so I could take reference photos. There is so much energy and fun to this photo, Collectively, his owners and I thought this would be the perfect photo to use as reference for his portrait. There are a few changes that would need to be made. His painting would not have his collar on. There is a funny roll on his shoulder that I would not include in the painting and most importantly, his owner wanted to see more of his right rear leg. We were throwing a doggie floatation toy around on the beach which is what he is looking at.

Labrador Retriever Painting in Process

The painting is well underway. Notice I've brought the right rear leg back so it is more visible in the painting compared to the photograph. The dog has been painted and I've added a tennis ball for fun. The dog's photo had the dog looking at a toy that had been tossed into the surf. As a dog owner, one of the favorite toys of my dogs is a tennis ball. The addition of the ball would answer the viewer's question - what is the dog looking at. A tennis ball floats and is commonly used as a toy for dogs playing in the water. In the past, when painting in pastel, I worked from left to right. Lately I've changed that direction. I like to get my subject finished before the background is started. Using a colored surface as my under-painting, this method is bringing me more in line with my oil paintings.

Labrador Painting in Process

The base coat for the water has been painted. Next, I've started adding a wave to lead the viewer's eye directly to the dog. To get a straight horizon line I mark it off with a piece of acid free artist's tape. The tape will be removed to put the sky. The edge of the horizon will be softened between the water and the water. This will be accomplished by using a harder brand of pastels and glazing across the surface of the painting.

Labrador Painting in Process

The painting of Buzz is coming along. The water is almost finished. I'll add some highlights and darks/lights on the entire painting once all the different areas are finished. That is my favorite part - standing back and seeing where the final changes are needed. At this point I return to my really hard pastels and drag them across the areas that need to be softened. The more softer brands of pastel are used to bring the lightest lights to the water and clouds.

Labrador Portrait Finished

Here is the final painting of Buzz. Hope you like it. Thank you to the Buzz's parents for having me paint him. He is a sweetie!

Yellow Labrador Retriever

This is the second painting of Syrah. The first painting showed her as a young dog in a meadow surrounded by brilliant purple blooms.

In this painting the owners wanted to reflect Syrah as she is today - 14 years old. We took a volume of photos of her. We photographed her in her home in several rooms, outside in the front yard, on the side yard under the arbor and the cherry tree blossoms, in the backyard on a chaise lounge. There was one photo that was precious to her owner and it was a photo taken at a down angle. (this was a private photo taken by the owners)

We all went back and forth discussing what photo would best capture Syrah at this point in time. The background of the painting was definitely going to be the arbor and the cherry blossoms. That simple fact knocked out the favorite photo taken by her owners looking down on Syrah (which is used as her computer screen saver).

The final decision was to use all the photos. I had taken a photo of Syrah laying under the dining room table with her woobie toy as a pillow. The angle would work for the cherry blossom background. The favored "screen saver" photo would be used to adjust the chiseling on her face and capture the her beautiful. Working with her owners to accomplish this painting was a joy and we are all very happy with the results.

Labrador Painting is Finished

I've spent some time on this painting. The art collector commissioned two portraits of their Labrador Retriever. The first painting (seen here) features the dog in its adolescence. The second portrait will feature the dog as she is currently at 14 years of age.

The background of this painting is a meadow behind their home. In the reference photo the skyline is almost nonexistent with a slight splash of blue clouds in one small corner. Also, the meadow is laden with the beautiful blooms shown in the painting. However, the blooms were minimized in the painting. The bright color of the blooms combined with the thick blanket of them in the reference photo somewhat stole the show from the dog.

To ensure the dog was the focal point, the blossoms were minimized. The skyline was also greatly increased with a change in direction to draw the view into the focal point.

Gift items with an image of this painting are on my cafepress store at http://www.cafepress.com/dawnsecord

Now off to wrap the painting for delivery and finish portrait number 2.

Labrador Retriever Painting in process

I've been working on this painting for a number of days now - long days (not an hour here or there - more like 10 hours a day. My arm is sore and my eye hurts.... goes along with the territory)

The reference photo is an old photo that was taken on a very sunny morning. As a result one side of the dog's face is too shadowed and the other side is almost whited out. So, my quest is to balance the lighting while maintaining the wonderful effects the light has created with the shadows.

On the right side of the dog's face I've reduced the shadows and brought the eye more into view. On the left side of the dog's face (the right side of the painting) I've found the bone structure of the dog and brought in slight shadows. These shadows will give the dog's face depth and roundness instead of a flat light area.

I've also eliminated the collar. Some people prefer the collars be left on their dogs in my paintings. That is a personal choice - no wrong or right answer. In this particular painting the dog's owners wanted the collar off.

Will post more as the painting develops.

Misty - Labrador Retriever

This is Misty, a Labrador Retriever mix. I met Misty's parents several years ago at a show. The following year they came to talk to me about painting Misty. It was so exciting to hear they had waited a year to find me at the next show and wanted to proceed with the painting.

We scheduled a time for them to bring Misty to my home for photographing. Misty was such a good girl. We took so many wonderful pictures of her it was difficult to choose which was the best candidate for the primary reference photo.

Misty's owners didn't want to proof the painting over the internet - but chose to do so in person. They were very happy with the painting. The kindest and most heartwarming compliment they gave me was to ask me to paint another one of their pets.

To see more of my dog art, cat art or horse art please visit my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/. Thank you for taking the time to view my work!