November 2022

Three lessons I learned from my painting of my neighbors’ dog, Jack:

1. A simple composition can be impactful. Though counterintuitive, limiting a composition to a few simple shapes can work very well in a painting. There is something pleasing about an arrangement of just a few large shapes. A simple design doesn’t even allow the viewer to be distracted by competing bits of information rather he is drawn into these elements and consequently sees “within” those large shapes in greater detail.
2. White is never white and monochromatic is never monochromatic. This is the case because light does such interesting things to an arrangement of forms. Colors shift in interesting ways as elements are illuminated or hidden in shadow or reflect back color from nearby objects.
3. Photographs play tricks and offer challenges. The range of values become narrowed in comparison to life within a photograph that has areas of strong light and/or shadow. Forms can be distorted or hidden by obstructions. Observing these challenges is just the beginning. Overcoming them, a bit more difficult.

As an artist, I see inspirations around me or am struck with ideas literally all the time. I think this is the one trait all creative people have in common: that shared experience of the creative spark. It was about two years ago that my neighbor posted to social media about the dog she loved so much and tenderly cared for in his final months. The idea and the photo both stuck in my mind. It was such a simple composition: a casual reclining pose in very dim but clearly directional lamp light. There was something about it I loved. I thought about that image often but waited until I felt I was ready to tackle the image as a painting. I wanted to do the best job possible to create the vision I already had in my mind.

Here is the original social media post and a photoshopped version where I sought to brighten and enhance the color.

I gridded my reference and my blank gessoed panel and sketched a line drawing in charcoal. I loved it right away but knew it would be a challenge to work with such neutral warm colors. Yet, I saw the potential to play with the light and add some extra drama that wasn’t so apparent in the photo.

To play with the color and values a bit more, I used some tech tricks to break down the image a bit more into shapes of color and value.

I quickly blocked in the average local colors for what I saw in the dog, pillow, blanket and background, the four large elements that create the composition. But while focusing in on that striking arrangement of shapes, I lost the perspective of what I was seeing. It took the critique of a fellow artist for me to see the alterations that needed to be made to the form. Wrinkles in the blanket near the chest combined with a foreground camera angle distortion in the photo meant that adjustments needed to be made to more accurately represent the chest, leg and face. It was a struggle, but I was happy in the end that the form appears more anatomically convincing.

From here, it was a game of playing with the effects of the light and shadow on what were essentially monochromatic elements, shifting the colors slightly warmer or cooler and using the understanding that nearby colors would naturally be reflected in my decision-making as I added details. And, lastly making some slight adjustments to the size, placement and details in the eyes helped make Jack as Jack-like as I could make him.

 

“Jack”
14 x 14 oil on wooden panel

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