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I have always been drawn to my subject’s eyes. I cannot explain why – something pulls me into their gaze, and I cannot extricate myself. The husband of the first artist I ever studied with recently told me his wife commented on that same fact – that even when a child I used the eye as a means of illustrating the animals’ character.

To me the eye is a simple pairing of lines and shapes – the curve of the lids, the depth of the pupil. Then you get the reflection off the curvature of the eyeball and just a flicker off the lid or lashes. But the best part of all is the color, all the color, in the eye itself. I love to saturate the deepest color here, lay purples against oranges, put a splash of green next to a hint of red, just let my palette go a little crazy when it comes to the eyes.

So tonight I did a little bit of that with a pair of retriever eyes. The model was a chocolate lab, but I think that part is secondary to the gaze itself.

“Retriever Eyes,” 6x6, acrylic painting on canvasboard, $60. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .
SOLD.

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with friends and family,
Kim


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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