Tuesday, March 27, 2007

"Mystery Dog"

"Name Pending"
9X12
Oil on Canvas
Commissioned

Click on each picture to enlarge.

Finished March 26th. Published, then unpublished, now published again. This guy has freckles and markings on his face that were really a bear to capture. The thing about portraiture is just this; capturing the character of the subject, no fudging around the details, precision is key. Unless of course you are doing something other than realism. Then you can play Picasso and put the nose on the navel if you want to.
I haven't met this fellow in person. Did the whole thing from photos. Which of course always gives me a heart attack on delivery, not knowing for sure if I managed to get his personality just right. In this case you paint what you see, throw in some imaginary emotional connections and just pray for the best. The recipients are a bride and groom and their dog is the beginning of their family life together. I hope they will enjoy this painting for a very long time.

Here he is framed. There is a little glare on this from the wet paint, and the color looks a bit darker. He is stunning on the wall. Really handsome! Not bad honors for a rescued dog from the animal shelter!

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