Thursday, December 13, 2007

Dec 13 - Commission for Christmas

I'm off and running on a 24 x 18 commission to be delivered on the 16th. It is a German Shorthair named Robi, who was co-owned by a father and son, and who was tragically killed this past year.
I've owned German Shorthair Pointers, and know how loving and silly they can be, and how very "birdy". So it is fun to revisit the breed in this acrylic painting.
Here you see the rough lay-in of the structure and position of the dog, in a characteristic pose, over the underpainting which is composed mostly of Quinacradone Burnt Orange and Ultramarine Blue.
I did a small sketch from images provided by the son, and read his words on how the dog behaved. I haven't decided yet whether or not to put the dog on a familiar couch, or put smaller composite pictures in the negative space of aspects of this bird dog's life. The painting will tell me what to do when the time is ripe.
I'm also working on another commission, which needs to be sent out Monday. Busy! I'll share that one with you soon, in a couple of stages, so you can see the mountain landscape come together. I love making paintings for people that bring moments back to them! I don't think there is a better way to depict a moment in time than through a well-executed painting...so much of the artist's hand and the "life" of the moment comes through that is difficult to capture in ordinary snap shots or digital imagery.

On the Maine painting, I had several wonderful suggestions, and will be working on that one after these two commissions are put to bed. But no boats on the water...sorry!

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