Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Mickey Sue and Ophelia

I have two really lovely sisters - and a wonderful family!  Today's paintings are of my sister Nancy's two dogs, Mickey Sue and Ophelia (otherwise known as Oaf Pie).  First I sketched them out on the 6 x 6 inch black primed gessoboard.  Today I used Ampersand's gessoboard and I really like how smooth it is.  I used the 1/8 inch flat.  I had been using a canvas-covered board, but I think I will be using a nice smooth masonite in the future.  Anyway, as you can see from the picture, I like to draw a grid so as to get the sketch as accurate as possible.  I have been reading my dad's Andrew Loomis books and Loomis used a grid system.  Also, one of my painter hero's, Frank Brangwyn did the same.  So if it's good enough for them ...
 The lovely Oaf Pie.
 The adorable Mickey Sue.
 
Then, I painted them both in oils, looking for areas of color - not trying to "paint a dog," per se, but just blocking in the values as close as I could.  I find it really helpful to paint right in front of my monitor.  That way I can mix up a color and then hold it right up to the screen and check my value and color.  Today I painted my modem with a nice bright splotch of orange - whoops!
 
 I should have made Oafie's head a bit smaller so they would work better as a pair.  Oh well, I'll bet I end up painting this dynamic duo again : - )

These cuties are for you Nancy!

1 comment:

  1. And I thought I was the only one painting in front of the computer! I'm sure your sister will like them very much.

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