Skip to main content

30 Dogs 30 Days - AKC/Eukanuba National Championship


THIS was crazy fun - settle in, here, because THIS is a good story.

In the early part of 2007, the American Kennel Club invited artists to submit artwork for consideration as imagery for the 2007 Dog Show Championships. I couldn't decide on which Dog a Day piece to enter, so I decided to do a compilation. Actually, I did two of them, because I simply couldn't narrow things down.

Using my scant photoshop skills (I am SO bad at Photoshop, still!) and scanned images of my paintings, I built composite designs which a local printer inked onto canvas for me. I stretched the canvases (as I recall they were about 18" x 24", not terribly large), and then went back into them with teeny tiny brushes, repainting the whole surface.** It wasn't a standard paint-by-numbers sort of pass - as I reworked things, I changed out the background on some of the paintings, modified dogs to better match breed standards, added different accents of color, changed the value patterns from one portrait to another, and created a sense of cohesiveness to the individual portraits which now had to read as one whole image. And then I submitted photographs of the final pieces and tried to forget about it altogether.

A few months later I was delighted to learn the AKC had chosen one of my designs, "52 Faces," pictured above. My artwork graced the program cover and posters benefitting the nonprofit Take The Lead were printed. They flew me (and my sister in law) to California to attend the dog show. I met so many wonderful people and their dogs, connected with some DogaDay fans, signed posters till my fingers cramped, took an absurd number of reference photos, and was delighted to welcome several board members as collectors.

Having my artwork represent an organization as historied as the American Kennel Club is a tremendous honor. It opened up a number of opportunities for me to continue to do what I love - paint dogs.

Before I sign off, though, I need to address the idea of "paint overs", for lack of a better term. "Paint overs" are when an artist paints directly over their reference, like what I did here. Said reference is commonly a photograph which the artist transforms into what appears to be an original painting. In my case, I was painting overtop a reference that was my original painting, taking artistic license during the re-paint to improve the composition. Regardless of how my artwork was described or presented, I was always truthful during the entry process and with everyone involved subsequently about it's evolution. It was never my intention to present the pieces I created for this contest as anything other than a compilation of my daily portraits, reworked to match the AKCs concept. At the time of this honor, I got some feedback from other artists that I misrepresented my process, and I certainly do not wish to open that Pandora's Box again!

Warmly, Kim
Please note this post will be updated to Painting a Dog a Day later today, and you are always welcome to comment ther

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 (