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