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“Joey,” 8’x8”, labradoodle pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (Thank you!!). He’s just so darned cute, isn’t he?!

Take a minute, those of you who are artists, and revisit the last three paintings, including today’s. They all depict black and white dogs, and were all painted with the exact same palette, yet each one has a different sensibility to it.

Katie’s fur is full of the reflections of the green grass. She’s lying in a shaded area, and that means that all the light around her is reflected, carrying a green edge to it.

Winnie’s fur carries more blue. It is reflecting the sky, since she’s sitting up, in a more “open” space, and lit from above, as the sun is higher. I used glazes of azurine blue overtop the modeled shape of her body, to exaggerate the color.

Joey’s black fur has more of a brown or red edge to it (natural highlights that occur with the longer haired animals). That is amplified by using a smidge more red in the darkest mixture, and pinking out the highlights. The fuzzy quality is achieved by blurring my edges – there’s lots of dry brushing in this painting.

This week was a bit of a mini lesson in the subtleties of color mixing. (I wish I could amp up my photoshop skills to reflect those subtleties even more so!!).

One final note today – I have published my Summer 2007 Studio Newsletter. It is viewable on my website – www.turtledovedesigns.com/summer2007news.html - and contains a brief summary of what’s happened in the last few months, and highlights what will come as we go into the fall.

Thanks, as always, for looking.And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family!
Will see you tomorrow,
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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