Hunter on Silk Charmeuse

Hunter on Silk Charmeuse 18" x 12" Oil on Hand-dyed fabric on board copyright K Widger

This is number five in my developing experiment of painting on my hand-dyed fabric. I glued a piece of canvas to prepared board, let that dry, then glued the silk charmeuse over that and folded it over to the backside and put several coats of medium over that.  The painting has the texture of the charmeuse, very subtly so.  I think you can sort of see it in the picture, and I used it  to advantage when I applied the final highlights on his cheekbones and other places, dragging a light-loaded brush over the areas I wanted to highlight.
I tried to use as much color as I could, given both the reflective and absorbent quality of a very black, shiny dog.  And I just have to say, that he is such a handsome dog!  I hope his extreme good-looks and his genial personality come through in this painting.  And, in painting him on such a "refined" surface as hand-dyed silk charmeuse, removed from nature, I also want to suggest the idea that we have removed domestic dogs from their natural habitat and put them entirely in ours.  Big, black dogs, like Hunter, still enjoy a fierce reputation, made even more believable by their training as dogs of war and criminal apprehension.  I hope here to soften that reputation just a bit.

Six of one...

I've been wanting to figure out a way to incorporate my vast quantities of hand-dyed fabrics, from my fiber-artist, art-quilt days, into my new work in oils.  First, I tried painting a couple of small pieces on nice, decorative paper, glued to a board and covered in acrylic medium.  That was pretty successful; I've got a picture in the files somewhere of Indigo Pete on an orange printed paper background. Looked pretty neat.  And the technique seemed sound.

 

Ken shot the photos of Hunter last summer, I think, out in the garden.  The background was all washed out, looked almost white in the photo, but the images of Hunter were good.  I've been hanging on to them, waiting for the right opportunity to figure out what  I wanted to do with them. Thought they'd made a good "pair".  And I had two 10 x 8 gallery wrapped canvases I bought on sale.

 

So, I rummaged around in my fabric boxes until I found just the right piece of silk to serve as background.  Spent most of a Sunday afternoon "gluing" it down to the canvasses with acrylic medium. Silk stretches when its wet, so had to keep working it over the canvas to keep it tight, and miter the edges around and onto the back of the gallery wrap.  When I was satisfied, I let them dry then coated them with 3-4 more coats of medium.  That gives them sort of a waxy appearance, and a good ground for the oils.  Pretty flat and slick without much texture except the brush strokes from the medium.

 

I drew the images first, scaling both the photo and my drawing to sight-size, in fourths, with diagonal lines for the eyes and head tilt.  Then I transferred the outlines of the drawing to the silk ground and painted them, using the "posterized" photos as my guide. Each one took a whole day.

I got the image on the left a little bigger than the image on the right, but I think they turned out pretty cool.  What do you think?  Something I should pursue?  I sure have lots of hand-dyed fabric stashed away!

 



 

 





Alex Vom Haus Chavez

His call name is "Max". His immediate ancestors hail from Germany, where the German Shepherd Dog originated and is still bred best. He lives on a ranch in the stunning southwestern region of NM, near the town of Magdalena, just west of Socorro. His kingdom consists of vast acreage to oversee, beautiful vistas to admire, and a pack of seven, including sons and daughters from his mate, Catey.
He is Hunter's father, and it's quite obvious that my wonderful young "acorn" didn't fall far from this strong and magnificent "tree".
I painted Max on commission from his owners, Bill and Sherry, who obviously adore this handsome fellow.
It's on their gate that I first saw the sign, along with the image of a German Shepherd Dog, warning potential trespassers: "I can get to the gate in 3 seconds: Can you?" Having met Max and spent some time with him, I can attest to the fact that, yes, he can, and no, you don't want to challenge him to a race to the gate! No better companion, protector and watch dog could ever be found! Max, you sweetheart, thanks so much for the fantastic genes you passed on to my Hunter!
Oil on linen covered board
16 x 20
By Commission
www.katywidger.com

My Body Guard

A young dog in training. He is focused, alert, intense, powerful, loyal and devoted and gentle as a lamb with his little pack mates and other critters. A sign on the gate bears the outline of a German Shepherd Dog and says, "I can make it to the gate in 3 seconds; can you?" Makes me sleep a lot better a night these days!

16" x 20" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Inquiries welcome at

www.katywidger.com

Hunter at Seven Months

Finally! Got a painting done of this wonderful dog.
He's only seven and a half months old, but just look at his expression! He is focused, calm, gentle, kind, intelligent, devoted and oh! so beautiful! Can you just imagine how magnificent he will be in his maturity! Can't wait to paint him then, again, and again and again!

I need a name for this one! Any suggestions?

11" x 14" oil on canvas
Dog Portraits in Oil
www.katywidger.com