Tuesday, January 26, 2016

THE NOBLE BEAST


                    
                                     Scooter   Pastel | 16 X 20

It was love at first sight for me. A friend posted a photo of their dog and I immediately had a mental picture of a library with roaring fire, the noble baron swirling his bandy snifter while his faithful dog stared lovingly into his eyes.  I saved the photo; years went by till I was invited to be in an upcoming show, Bark! - celebrating all things canine.  I knew is was time to paint this particular lovely beast.  Having spent weeks on this painting, I feel like I have spent weeks with Scooter and come to love him ever more. 

Painting Notes: I chose Ampersand Pastelboard for this larger format painting as the stiff backing and nice surface made the whole process a pleasure to paint. Never did I feel I was fighting the substrate; rather it seemed like the image and the substrate were made for each other.  The drawing was intensive work and took several sessions. I applied an underpainting of dark aubergine hues around the dog's outline, then concentrated on the dog til he was mostly finished before ever starting the background. His pose was such that I felt the need to make the chair he is draped over as realistic as the subject.

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