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“Scottie Study (Marley Jo),” 6” x 12”, Scottish terrier portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $80. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

SOLD.

As I often do, when prepping for a larger painting, I find myself working certain issues out on a smaller scale. The dog-a-days are the perfect platform for just such exercises, which is what today’s painting is.

Meet Marley Jo, a delightfully sassy bundle, despite having had surgery a week prior to our meeting. While my client is considering whether a simple portrait of Marley Jo will suffice, or to add a second grinning face to her painting, I’m busy “simmering” ideas here in the background. (By the way, she does get first dibs on this painting, but being as I haven’t heard back from her yet today….. not everyone is as attached to their computers as I am!!)

So today I wanted to work out my palette. Marley has black fur, but if I painted just with tube black I’d get a flat and terribly uninteresting surface. (Here’s a quick exercise – the next time you see a black object, really stop and study it, and see if you can’t pick out all sorts of violets and blues masquerading there).

Instead I mixed a dense and deep dark with raw umber, pthalo blue and alizarine crimson. By increasing the amount of blue and red as I tinted the base mixture, I was able to build all those interesting middle values. I had fun playing the with the texture of her fur, too, and laying in the fringes silhouetted against the ground.

On another note, thank you very much to returning client Connie Ciak for purchasing last Friday’s “Goin’ for a Swim.” And welcome to new collector Beth Gordon, who purchased the pit bull study of Dana. Dana was featured in June’s Shelter & Rescue Week, and a donation to the Second Chances Pit Bull Rescue will be made in Beth’s name.

Also I’d like to extend another warm welcome to all the new dog-a-day readers.
Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,
Kim



Kimberly Kelly Santini

www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

www.paintingadogaday.com
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

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