On the way to the National

stopped for gas in Needles CA $4.89 a gallon...ugh

Irish Setter Puppy Painting

This painting was just finished yesterday. A few years ago a friend sent me a photo of this sleeping pup. I asked her if I could use it for a painting and she agreed. Sometimes photos are taken out of perspective. The reference photo for this painting was perfect.

It is a mini painting and the frame was made by a friend of mine in back East. He does amazing things with wood. I love that the frame is hand made right here in America.

Hope you enjoy viewing the painting as much as I did painting it!

Borzoi Commission Completed

Primary Reference Photos Side by Side

Additional Reference Photo Finished Painting

This portrait is of three Borzoi who live in Norway. Their owner is a fabulous photographer and to my good fortune, was able to supply amazing reference material for the painting.

The dog on the left is the dam followed by her daughter and her son. One of the reference photos had the mother and the daughter. Another photo had the son. In his primary reference photo the lighting was different than in the photo of the mother and his sister. An additional photo (second photo of him) had lighting that was consistent with the photo of the girls.

That third photo was my reference to change the lighting in the painting to be consistent with the photo of the mother and the daughter. The third photo had the dog looking an entirely different color than the first. After looking at many photos of him, it was clear this third photo was not consistent with the coloring of the others. Tiny obstacles!

It is funny how your eyes can play tricks on you. After some trial and error, all came together and there is the consistency of lighting I strove to achieve on all three subjects.

Thank you for taking a peek!

Oil Painting Finished.

This is a painting that I just finished and is drying. The above photos show the process that my paintings go through.

I always start with a sketch. If it is an oil painting, I secure the sketch with black oil paint. Then I glaze a neutral color over the entire canvas. With this painting the base coat is in burnt sienna.

Then colors are layered gradually allowing for drying time between each layer. During the painting process the painting may be rotated upside down or sideways to allow ease of painting the fur etc.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Tri Setter Specialties in Dixon, California

We had a great time with the dogs in Dixon this past weekend. Drew went Winners Dog for a 4 point major under respected breeder judge, Dr. John Savory.

Faith went Best Puppy under Dr. John Savory and the following day in sweepstakes went Best of Opposite Sex.

The art sales were good and we had fun seeing friends we hadn't seen in a while as well as meeting new people.

Thank you so much to the clubs for putting on these shows (Irish Setter Club of Central California, Irish Setter Club of the Pacific and Irish Setter Club of Sacramento).

To see more pictures of our dogs at this show or pedigree information please go to our website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/renditionirishsetters.html

Oil painting of a cat in process

BISS CH Farpoint Effervescent Gem, CD (Irish Setter)

Ruby is a remarkable girl. I met her an ISCA National Specialty. Ruby's owner approached me to commission a painting of this beautiful dog as a surprise gift for her parents.

There were a few changes that were needed to be made to the photos that were taken of Ruby. The wind was blowing her hair which I chose to lay down softly. The sun had been in her eyes and she was squinting in the photos. It was necessary to open up her eyes a bit. I had taken some photos in the shade and had reference material of her eyes not squinting. We can never have too many photos. It is amazing how one photo that seemingly is unimportant ultimately provides me with needed reference material! Lastly, in the photos, Ruby was ten years old and due to being spayed her coat had lightened. In the painting, her coat was darkened to a richer mahogany.

Ruby's owners were very pleased with the final painting. When the gift was presented, the recipients called me right away to thank me for the painting. It was a wonderful call and so enjoyable to hear fun stories about Ruby. She is truly a special dog.

Faith's first show picture

Faith is six months old in this photo - almost 7 months. It was her second day out as a show pup. She went WB, BOW and Best of Breed. She is quite a handful at times and I was very proud of her for keeping "four on the floor"!

Drew helps with the painting

I am doing this cat painting a little bit differently than usual. It is a pretty dark cat and there will be several layers of under painting.

The first layer is identifying the original sketch of the cat. This is an outline painting in black with some dark greys in the bigger mass areas. Then, I'll do an under painting of translucent brown over the entire surface of the canvas.

Drew was a big help holding brushes for me. What would I do without him??

While the under paintings dry I'll get back to my pastel painting.

Drew and Monet help in the studio

I'm just starting the sketch on a 3' x 3' close up of a tabby cat in oil. Our dogs are always in the studio with me and I have a big brush that I use to dust the eraser off the canvas with.

I put the brush in Drew's mouth and posed him next to the canvas. He spit the brush out a few times and then figured it was kinda fun to hold the brush. He decided the brush was his new toy and "I" couldn't have it. Monet had to see what all the fun was about and decided to get off the sofa and peek around the canvas.

Better get back to work and stop playing with the dogs!

Baby Faith goes Best in Breed

Yesterday, Saturday 3/12/11, was Faith's second show and her first outside show. I totally expected her to be wild and playful since she is only 6 months old. To her, outside means playtime.

She was the only puppy at the show for the Irish Setter breed. There were three adult dogs and two adult females in addition to the Champion dog and Faith at the Irish Setter ring.

Faith was such a good girl. She stacked for the judge, didn't move a paw and resisted any temptation of running in the ring. She won her first point (our youngest dog to get a point to date!) and then went on to win over all the boys going Best of Winners and then to our surprise, Best of Breed. She is the youngest dog we've ever had to win Best of Breed, with competition, at such a young age.

We did take her in the group ring for two reasons. One, we felt it was respectful to the judge who gave her the win, and secondly, it was a great opportunity to practice in the ring for the pup. As a six month old pup we truly didn't expect her to win anything. She was as a real trooper in the group ring and didn't put one paw out of place (other than jumping on the other handlers if they only gave their dogs a treat! But she's six months old - what else could we expect with food involved!!)

Landscape Show opens tonight!

Three of my paintings are included in the landscape show at Pinnell Gallery. Rich and I took Faith with us to the gallery. She enjoyed meeting the gallery owner, Jennifer.

The show runs through April 2nd.

Irish Painting is a surprise

Just finished this painting. It is a gift and a surprise so I can't show the entire dog until the gift has been given.

Can't wait to hear what the recipients of the gift think of their present!

Drew in the Field

Rich wants to put a junior hunting title on Drew. Several weeks ago Rich took Drew to join some friends who were hunting locally. Everyone said Drew was a natural and had a blast.

Jumping three weeks later, everyone wanted to take Drew out again and let him actually find a bird. Of course, this was a great photo opportunity for me to take some additional reference material for future paintings.

We met up with our friends at 7 AM and it was the most beautiful day. The hunting fields are about ten minutes from our house. We've had a great deal of rain lately here in Southern California so the grass is very green. The skies were clear and gave us a beautiful view of some of the mountains.

Drew did find his bird. It was amazing to see how he found it and pointed it. This was my first time in the field and seeing a dog work naturally. Thank you to Dave and Cathy for taking us along and working with Drew!

Trooper - English Setter

Trooper is an English Setter - specifically a Llewellin which is used for hunting. He is eight years old and in absolutely magnificent condition for a dog of his age.

The photos used for this painting had been taken in the field when Trooper was actually working. For additional reference material, Trooper was brought to my studio so I could meet him and take more photos.

He was a joy and full of personality. It was fun to see him working back and forth in our front yard looking for birds. We live very close to a training facility and I think he recognized the scent in the air and thought our yard another field to work (not that our front yard is that big but it wraps around a corner with a lot of hedges).

The photos I took helped me to see his markings. His hunting collars somewhat blocked my view of the markings at the top of his neck. The background was adjusted a bit to strengthen the composition. The actual photo didn't have any height variation in the foliage and we wanted some more pizazz to the background. Hope you enjoy viewing the painting as much as I did painting it!!