Skip to main content

Great Expectations, A Lesson Painting


It's been a long time since I did a lesson painting, and I thought these puppies were the perfect fit!

This 16" x 7" panel will ultimately star 8 Great Dane puppies. It is tentatively titled "Great Expectations," and is a fundraiser for Ohio Great Dane Rescue - if you are interested in purchasing it, speak up now and be first on the list!


I started with an underpainting - the puppys' skin is pink and warm, so I chose a brighter value of magenta. I placed very general guidelines on the panel to represent the placement of the puppies.


Next up came some local color to represent the negative space in the painting - yellows and lime green for the foreground, and darker greens for the background. See how the pink reads as orange when placed next to the other colors? There are some fantastic color vibrations happening, even at this early stage.


I began loosely placing the pups' forms, using a broad brush and unblended marks. I want to get a sense of their body volume and weight distribution, so that I can make necessary adjustments now. For instance, I am going to slide that pup in the lower corner up and back a bit, and the one center back row needs to be bigger. I can also tweak legs, bellies, ears and all that right now, before I've invested hours of work into the piece.


I continue sculpting the forms with my brush, and add additional layers to the back- and foregrounds. I'm not worried about local color (meaning the actual color of the dogs), but I am focusing on values and form. By doing this, I've started to highlight the pups' different markings/coloring without limiting my color choices, and unified the surface by scattering bits of similar color fragments across it.

Do you see the "X" in the composition created by the rumpled blanket in the foreground? and the "+" that anchors the center of the canvas? and how the dogs at each end bracket the others with their countered visual weight? these are key compositional elements that will make the finished piece far more than just cute little puppy faces.

Tonite's another late night painting session - let's see if I can't tie things up and share a completed "Great Expectations" with you tomorrow!

Here's a link to the finished painting.

Thanks so much for sharing my art with your friends and family,
Kim

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tabby Kit

"Tabby Kit," 5" x 7", acrylics on a museum quality panel, depicting a tiny little orange striped guy from Morgue File . This painting can be yours for $289, which includes s&h inside the US. And in case you didn't see it, a little doodle of him is also available for sale here . Inquires may come directly to me .  Although it certainly doesn't FEEL like spring here (snow and ice and wind chills, brr!), I can tell that spring is coming. The mercury is rising a wee bit each day and the days are getting longer and brighter. Over the weekend we drove with the moonroof open just to feel the sun's meager and oh-so-very-welcome warmth (although the heat in the car was cranked, too, in the interest of full disclosure!). I wanted to work with spring-like colors today, and this little guy was still on my mind , so I grabbed a small panel and got to work. Of course, I also have Poppy to finish and some changes to make to another po
“Rapt (Shadow),” from the Larger than Life series, 16”x22”, acrylic black lab mixed breed pet portrait on gallery wrapped canvas, $699. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. This is Shadow, who went missing on Sunday night. He belongs to a friend of mine, and has been a fixture in our community for many years. Errant fireworks scared the silly old guy into running off, and his family is busy searching for him. (If you happen to be in the Lake Orion/Oakland County area and have seen Shadow, please call 248-391-0867 or 248-391-6817) I’m confidant that he is safe (somewhere!) and awaiting discovery, but meanwhile, couldn’t help myself from posting his portrait as today’s dog a day painting . He’s constantly on my mind, and probably will remain so, until he finds his way back home. Hug your four legged guys while you can! Thanks, as always, for looking. And for sharing these paintings with friends and family, Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/ dis

NEW! Etsy Store

One of my favorite unsold paintings from 2008, "Lashes & Corkscrews," 5" x 8", acrylic on canvasboard, depicting a tobiano buckskin curly horse, $289. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com (but read further on how you can get a special deal on this painting!). Now it's ridiculously easy to browse my painting archives. All you have to do is visit my Etsy store . Etsy has a Shopping Cart (so you can pile it high with purchases from a variety of artists), is integrated with Paypal (although you may still pay by check if you prefer to), and is terribly simple to navigate. When the week has ended, I will have listed almost 100 of my favorite (UNSOLD!) paintings here, grouped loosely by subject matter. During 2009 I'll update the shop regularly, and add non-Dog-a-Day pieces as a bonus, thus making it easy to search for that perfect gift. Watch my daily postings for announcements, promotions and discount codes. If you do not receive the Dog-a-Day emails (