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ARTIST'S NOTE NOVEMBER 6th: I reworked Quito's portrait - scroll down to see the changes!



“Quito,” black lab PAWS puppy, 6x8, acrylic on canvasboard. Quito is another Paws With a Cause puppy-in-training. This painting is the result of a gift certificate given to Quito’s foster parents (yes, I offer gift certificates!).

I had thought Quito’s painting was done prior to my leaving for class tonite. However, when I returned home and saw it with fresh eyes, I recognized some needed changes. But, I still had an obligation to share a daily painting with you (and not enough time to make those changes and get the piece posted!). So take a peek at tonite’s attachment, and see if you might be able to anticipate what I will be repainting.

I wish that everything I painted was perfect the first time around, but I make a heck of a lot of mistakes. That’s how I learn. There are many paintings that never see the light of day, and that’s important for those of you who are artists to understand – it’s ok to throw pieces out. I do it all the time.

And while I see some areas of this painting that work really well, I see other problems that are seriously detracting enough to warrant a bit of retouching. One of the hardest things for me to learn was to not overlook errors because another part of the surface was nice.

Tomorrow, the entire surface of Quito’s painting will read more closely to my inner vision of what it should be. I’ll post the revision on my blog.

Meanwhile, I need to thank new collector Andrea Dube for her purchase of Aussie’s painting (from yesterday).
And thanks also go out to a second new collector Joanie Howard for her purchase of “Fraidy’s Circle,” the latest installation in the Dog Tag series.

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family.
I will be back tomorrow!
Kim


QUITO, PART II



When I returned to this painting last night, there was not enough supporting information for the focal point, which should have been Quito's eyes. I also saw some drawing problems. So this morning I sat down and did a couple of things.


I glazed overtop 2/3 of the surface, leaving just his nose and eyes visible. I then moved the nose up, shortening his muzzle, and emphasized the fall of light from the left side of the canvas. I put more color into his eyes, so that the viewer's eyes didn't restlessly roam the painting like they could last night. And I left the sense of those huge floppy ears that needed growing into, but I wiped out much of the detail in them, alluding to their drape with brushwork alone.


I'm much happier with this painting now!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
http://www.canineartguild.com/
the gateway to canine art on the web
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