Very Big and Very Small

Friday, August 28, 2009

Two new dog portraits at opposite ends of the size spectrum: a great dane and a toy poodle. I'm referring to the dogs' sizes, not the portraits' sizes.


"Eamonn" - 7" x 8", mixed media (ink, watercolor and color pencil) on Ampersand Claybord

Click here to see the video of the steps in creating this portrait. It explains the process and how I work with the different mediums to create a full color portrait like this one. I haven't done very many of these portraits on the Aquabord, but it's a great surface when a client wants a full color, realistic portrait (as opposed to a full color "Petzazz" style portrait like the one below). The surface is textured (it was formerly called Claybord textured) and can be scratched to add detail.


Reference photo provided by Eamonn's owner

Next is the painting I did of Missi, who was the mascot at Dancing Dog Productions in Auburn, CA. I first met the owners of Dancing Dog when I showed my art there during an Art Walk many years ago. They're wonderful animal-loving people and we've become friends. When I first met them, they had Sipsy, a poodle mix. After Sipsy passed, they acquired Missi, a toy poodle. Sadly, Missi has passed on also. She was a funny little dog, and the photo I used for reference was one I took during an Art Walk. A friend and I were getting her to beg for food which is the reason her ears are "flying" back. That goofy look led us to call her the Flying Nun (those of us of a certain age remember the TV show starring Sally Field).


"The Flying Nun" - 4" x 5", watercolor on Yupo


My photo of Missi

I know the color is pretty wild, but I really wanted something vibrant to capture Missi's fun spirit. I used red, orange and yellow for her hair and then a smattering of blue color pencil on top of that to help bring in some depth.

Read more...

Snow Leopard Drawing

Sunday, August 16, 2009



No creative title for this drawing (just called "Snow Leopard"), but I'm very pleased with the result. It's a small drawing - on a 4" x 4" piece of Claybord - but there's still quite a bit of detail. Claybord (yes, that's the correct spelling) is a brand of scratchboard made by Ampersand. I've been using it lately since the scratchboard brands I was using have either changed drastically (EssDee) or are difficult to get (Scratch-Art's Paris professional). I have a stash of the old EssDee and the Paris, but I'm reserving those for pet portrait commissions and special projects. The Ampersand is easy to find and is a nice surface, so I'm using it for not-commissioned pieces such as this leopard and the orangutan. I've also started using it in the classes I teach.

I took the reference photo of this leopard at the Sacramento Zoo.


A detail of the drawing

I tried a new way to frame this piece - the Claybord is a 1/8" thick board and can be framed without glass if it's sprayed with Claybord Fixative. This was the first time I tried the fixative and it worked really well. So I just affixed the drawing to a 5" x 5" piece of black mat board and set that into a 5" x 5" wooden frame. Simple, not very expensive and no glass to clean! I really don't enjoy framing, so this was a great way to handle it.


Framed drawing

The drawing will be available at the Auburn Old Town Gallery (the artists's co-op I belong to) sometime early this week.

Note cards with the image are available on-line in my Bonanzle shop.

Read more...

Abba - Dearly Missed

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

My latest little portrait is of Abba, a parti-color (two- or three-toned with white) Cocker Spaniel.

Abba - 3" x 3", in graphite pencil on bristol

Abba had passed away and her owner (I know him from the Auburn Old Town Gallery) asked if I could do a small portrait of her to go on the box that holds her ashes. I'm honored that he asked me to create this memorial portrait of his dog. I never met Abba, but I know she meant a lot to him. She was a beautiful girl too, as evident from the photos her owner provided - look at that shiny, wavy coat! I settled on this photo to use, since it showed her face best:



I rotated the photo a bit, so her eyes were level, and I cropped it so that the circle on the box would frame her face. However, I drew the portrait in square format. Her owner will get the original portrait as a square, and a print that he can put in the circle on the box.




This is the greyscale version, so I can see the tones better.

These types of portraits are bittersweet to do - although I never met the dog, I know all too well how difficult it is to lose a beloved pet. I'm aware of that as I work on the portrait and often think of my own pets that have passed. But I'm also happy to provide a piece of art that captures a cherished animal friend.

Read more...
- - - All art and images ©Ann Ranlett, unless otherwise credited. All rights reserved. - - -
_________________________________
"This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and analyze traffic. Your IP address and user-agent are shared with Google along with performance and security metrics to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics, and to detect and address abuse."

___________________________

  © Free Blogger Templates Nightingale by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP