More Animal Aid dog paintings

This terrier started out looking like a cartoon to me. I kept

 layering colors then used the rake or grass brush for highlighting the fur. A

little rake brushwork goes a long way. Also, I'm making a note on

each painting of which colors I mixed. Helpful if I can't paint for a few days.

 

 This dog is Hannah who lives at Animal Aid. 

This is Cody, also from Animal Aid. What a sweetie. I'm taking seven paintings

to Plantiques this Tuesday.

 We babysat the grand boy two days this week. 

It was fun but we had to take naps.

More painting, more learning, more practice

Yesterday I hung about 9 new paintings of Animal Aid pups in

Plantiques.

I'm discovering that painting a glossy black dog is much harder than I'd thought.

Highlights in Titanium white after building transparent white/black layers...now I just

need more practice. I like Black Spinel (Gamblin) for this.

More practice and brush strokes. Also need to practice noses. Today I'll

practice noses. 

 

When I plant a tree

I send a love letter to the future. Hope gets a vote. I invite beauty

in all the seasons she wears.

Planting a tree or bush reminds me where the sun is, and where I can point my life.

My trees have been sleeping all winter, dreaming. In summer they whisper

at night while I sit under rustling leaves. I'm filled with Earth wisdom

and creature secrets. I am quiet and open.

More practice, more dogs

Finally, I've had a few days to practice painting more folk dogs.

This is Skylar from Animal Aid in Hampton, Va.

Looking for a forever home.

  

 And here is Sierra, my blogging friend's dog.

I got such good vibes while painting this sweetie.

Some dogs smile, that's all there is to it.

And this is Little Boy, my cousin's dog. She has two of these Australian Heelers.

Amazing and very serious. If you have to herd

cattle I guess you need a big attitude. They also adopted Pearl,

Little Boy's mother at the same time. Good people.

When I was little a Weimaraner lived on our block. I always thought

it was a ghost dog and gave it wide berth. It's 

sometimes called 'ghost dog'. I just learned this looking up

the correct spelling.

 

 .

Oils and using time available

I now know why I'm enjoying painting in oils so much more than in acrylic. Most days

I have small blocks of time to paint. There are several stages of preparing a canvas, 

putting down the preliminary drawing, sealing the graphite, value study in thin oil color,

then layers of paint and hopefully finding a way into the dog's personality. 

These are still what I'd call "folk art". I'm learning my way around

painting from the basics. Oil paint is forgiving and using a bit of Liquin

speeds the drying time. I'm looking at brushstrokes of very good paintings.

Two paintings have sold in the past couple of weeks they've been in the shop. At this

rate I may be able to pay for paint and canvases as well as donate to the dog shelter.

 I think I've found the best medium for the few hours I have to work at this point.

I

Seeing beyond fear

About 20 years ago I had a nightmare experience involving my big

old mutt dog, my neighbor and her two pit bulls. The neighbor let her

dogs run free and they hadn't had any training. Anyway, not to relive that

nightmare, my dog who was named Big Dog, was injured almost to death.

So, I have a life experience with this breed of dog and am afraid of them.

My cousin has had several bulls and she tells me they are trainable and can be

 great dogs. I've been painting some bull dogs and am amazed at the soul behind the

strong body. This guy began to look back with his intelligence awake!

Sometimes painting a creature gives me more insight into who they are. All I can say is
although I won't put my small dog in a room with one I now see their beauty and power

without anger or prejudice.  I do think art can heal. Painting these dogs has helped me

to move beyond my terrifying experience.

Real dogs looking for homes

This is Reba who lives at Animal Aid in Hampton, Va.

And this is Cathy who lives there, too. I'll be framing these for sale at
Plantiques and part of the profits will go back to Animal Aid.
Hazel takes wonderful photos of the dogs and they have given
their permission for me to paint from her photos.