Painting a Dog a Day - Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

[Kim Santini]

    

FROM LEFT: "All Squared Up," 6" square, and "In Profile," 4" x 8"; both chihuahua portraits in acrylic on canvasboard, each painting $249. My client will pick one, but the other is up for grabs. Inquiries may come to ksan...@turtledovedesigns.com .

 

I tried something interesting with these two. The long and skinny canvas I toned a bright pumpkin orange, the square canvas I toned in a peachy flesh color. Then I laid the paintings down overtop the wet underpainting. Consequently, the smaller painting seems bolder - those snippets of orange add a firey glow to the piece. The square painting carries more softness, I think because of the lighter ground.

 

I also used the exact same structure of colors, painting these side by side and simultaneously. I primarily used blues and oranges (compliments), yet the saturation is very different in each. The bolder underpainting demanded similar points of equal intensity. The softer underpainting allowed for a density and variety of edgework.

 

Oddly (not sure this was intentional or subconscious), the less confrontational profile design has brushwork that is dominant and pulls your eye around the painting, while the more confrontational head-on composition demands your eye via the dog's gaze and the brushwork becomes secondary.

 

I'm pleased with my mini lesson for the day. Now I'm back to the easel to play with these ideas some more.

 

Thanks, as always, for looking.

And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family.

See you tomorrow,

Kim

 

 

Kimberly Kelly Santini

www.paintingadogaday.com

come.  sit.  stay.

enjoy the art.

 

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild

www.canineartguild.com

the gateway to canine art on the web