“Saluki Study,” 6x8, dog portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $80. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. This one was a HUGE challenge for me, on a number of different levels. First off, the scale is such that the dog’s face was only an inch long. By my usual standards, that would be the size of an eyeball. It also means that my typical loose and gestural brushwork had to be reined in for fear of compromising important details. And secondly, there is far more landscape in this painting. I’ve been studying landscape for awhile now, and as one of my mentors ever so gently reminds me, the landscape (or background) is just as important as the focal point. It will not carry as much detail, but it should be just as carefully thought out and rendered. I created a diagonal “horizon” to play off the direction of the wind, and I used the brushwork in the background layers to suggest blurred motion, even though the dog is standing still. It’s a good juxtaposition for this particula...