Uptown Girls

"Zoe and Friends", 18" x 30" oil on canvas. Copyright 2017 K. Widger

Four little precious souls!  One of the most delightful things I get to do when I'm asked to paint someone's sweet dog or cat is to meet these little sweeties when I photograph them.  We took about 200 photos of these girls and ended up with a dozen or so that served as reference for this painting.
It is done in shades of gray, with color only on their soulful eyes and pink collars.
From Left to Right:  Shyla, Isabella, Zoe and Layla

Reina in Red

"Reina in Red" copyright 2017 K. Widger, 12" x 12" oil on canvas

This is a commission piece  given by one good friend to another for their birthday.  The recipient's home is decorated in contemporary decor, so we decided to go with this, more graphic rendering of this beloved Schnauzer, Reina. It was tons of fun to paint!

The Boys

"The Boys", 18" x 24" Oil on Canvas, copyright 2017 Katy Widger

Biscuit was a sickly little runt of a pup, only 6 weeks old when he was dumped.  Shannon and Tom rescued him and gave him the very best life any blind dog could have ever hoped for!  He's a "talker" who loves to visit on the phone with his grandmom,  and anyone else who'll listen.  Face rubs, butt scratches and tending to his vast collection of beloved stuffed animal "babies" make up the rest of Biscuit's happy days with his family.

His best friend for life, Boomer, is a "typical" German Shepherd Dog in that he never stops "working".  He has to know what is going on, inside and out, every minute of the day, just in case his services are needed.  That green tennis ball is his other favorite thing in his life.  He fetched and fetched, relentlessly, until his teeth were worn to nubs and his mom and dad were exhausted.  

The Boys have never spent more than a few hours apart in their entire lives, and we all pray that it remains so.  Warm, happy days on the beach, good dogs and a loving family makes up the best that life has to offer.  God bless them all!

Katy Widger Shares Her Passion For Painting Her Furry Friends

Athena

"Cody's Girl, Athena", 18" x 24" Oil on Canvas, copyright 2014 Katy Widger

I knew Athena, but only as a casual acquaintance. 

Her boy, Cody, had long since grown up and gone on his way.  She had the air of someone waiting patiently for her master to return.  Her mission in life had been to protect and to serve, and she performed her duty as a true servant, longing for his occasional return, calmly transferring her loyalties and service to the remaining family members.

She lived with my dear friend, Deb, on a ranch in central New Mexico.  Deb is an artist and she gathered together her artist friends on a regular basis.  Athena was always there, an imposing presence, alert but not intrusive to all the conversation and activities nearby.  Sort of like one of those body 

guards or SS men who are present but blend into the background and keep constant watch over 

everything happening that might in some way impact their charge.  

Athena was large, big-boned, with a  golden ruff you wanted to bury your face into.  She was elegant, classy, aloof, well-trained, polite and deeply loved.  And you knew that she knew that if necessary, she could take you down.  I spoke to her  respectfully every time I saw her, but only after many visits did she ever acknowledge me, and I felt honored for the nod.  

It was a privilege to paint her, and I am thankful for the opportunity.  Her amazing, powerful 

presence filled my studio as she came to life on the canvas, and more than once my eyes filled with tears, remembering.

Joy Ride

"Joy Ride" 16 x 20 Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas copyright 2014 Katy Widger

Wyatt is undoubtedly the happiest dog I've ever had the pleasure of loving!  Going to the park just adds to his daily dose of joy!  His deep, dark eyes shine with anticipation!   Once on the ground, his long, elegant, fluffy tail goes down level with his back (less drag, you know) and off he goes, running faster than you would imagine he could, to the end of the soccer field, spinning a 180 and meeting us halfway back as we, in comparison to his agile flight, lumber clumsily along, burdened with the affliction of two less legs.  

Zeke, on the other hand, gives it his best shot, and don't get me wrong, he can move, especially when   a motorcycle roars by on the highway and he gives  hopeless pursuit with all his short legs can muster (inside the fenced park).  But Wyatt can run easy circles around us all, joyfully, with much enthusiasm.

I composed this painting by doing some creative editing from several photos taken on the same day as we headed to the soccer park.  Ken was actually operating the car, of course, but Zeke was in his usual spot on his lap, paws on the center of the steering wheel, intent on the destination.  Wyatt, on his center carpeted console, kept interjecting his happy face into my photo, insisting  that I change the center of interest for at least one of the paintings.  

So here's to you, Wyatt, you Happy Dog!  

Shelby and Chico

Shelby and Chico, 9" x 12" Oil on Canvas Board copyright 2013 Katy Widger

This painting is a birthday gift for a very special Veterinarian from his thoughtful and loving wife.
Both dogs have passed over that Rainbow Bridge this past year, having lived out the last years of their lives with said Vet.  Both belonged to clients, and both came to live with the Vet and his family because he has a kind heart and loves dogs.
Shelby's owner's life took a turn that made it impossible to continue caring for her, so he asked his trusted Vet to take her in, and he willingly did so, having loved collies all his adult life.
And Chico's elder owner just simply died, and the Vet made good on a promise he had made to the old man, but had forgotten about, until the call came that a little dog needed him, now.
We look to our trusted vets to provide good care for our critters, but some are willing to go far beyond that call.  God bless the man who practices in his life the good care and loving concern for critters that called him to his profession in the first place!  And Happy Birthday!

Wyatt's Perfect Day

Wyatt's Perfect Day 16" x 20" oil on hand-dyed fabric on canvas copyright K Widger 2013

Another in my series of paintings on hand dyed fabric.
Fall is my favorite time of year here in New Mexico.  It's Wyatt's favorite time, too.  Crisp, clean air, just a bit on the cool side.  Lots to do outside to get ready for snow, hopefully!
Wyatt loves to run and play hard. He's very athletic, long and lean and muscular.  His tail is always "up" and he carries it proudly.  This wonderful dog is a joy to be around. He gets up happy every day!
His enthusiasm for life is infectious. You can never be down when Wyatt is around!

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.

Sophie and Woodruff



Sophie & Woodruff 11 x 14 oil on linen board copyright 2013 Katy Widger

This is a commission for a surprise  gift for a brother's 50th birthday from his sisters and mother.

I really enjoyed painting these two best friends.  They grew up together and lived their whole lives as each other's best friend.  They're both gone now, having journeyed over that Rainbow Bridge at separate times, but with every certainty, they are best friends still.  Deeply loved, mourned in passing and sorely missed, but they live on in spirit and in this special gift.



Tibetan Hues: Earth, Wind and Thunder

Tibetan Hues: Earth, Wind & Thunder, 18" x 24" Mixed Media Oil on Canvas

 

 

Before I was an oil painter, I was a fiber artist who created her own specialty fabrics by hand-dyeing, painting, printing and otherwise designing the surface on all the fabric I used in my chosen format of "art quilts".  Since I've been painting in oils, in the back of my mind I've wanted to find a way to incorporate some of my gorgeous fabric stash into my paintings.  I also designed rubber stamps for use on fabric for many years, and the idea of using some of those images was also intriguing.

 

This painting does all that.  I  permanently glued a piece of my fabric onto an 18" x 24" gallery-wrapped canvas, mitering the edges around the corners.  The fabric was a gold-to-purple mottled coloration that ranged from deep purples to dark browns, orange and golds and values from mid- to dark.  I used three of my ogee-shape rubber stamps from the Elements collection:  Wind, Earth and Thunderstorm.  In an abstract sort of way, they represent the three Lhasa Apsos in the painting, and I chose them to correspond with each particular dog's personality. I stamped them onto the fabric using white acrylic paint.

 

Next step was to gesso over the fabric and rubber stamp design with multiple coats of matte acrylic gesso, with fine sanding in between coats.  The gesso darkened the fabric a little, and it stayed that way when it was dry. 

 

I painted over the prepared canvas with oils, using a palette of deep purple (ultramarine blue plus Q. red) and gold (Indian yellow, mostly, along with some transparent white and some ochre and sienna)  with all the variations in color and value between those two hues that I could find.  Many of the painted layers were done using transparent washes, created with Res-N-Gel.  I used more Gel towards the end, creating thicker layers and more opacity in certain areas.    But the final layer was almost all very thin, transparent washes, however, to darken and unify areas of the painting.   The colors float around and through the color sphere from golden yellow to darkest violet, but have no true blue or green anywhere to be found. 

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!

 



 

 





Gracee

Gail said she saw a picture of Gracee on the web at the Oakland SPCA site, and just knew she couldn't be sitting there for a month--she just had to get her out! Gail is one of those VSP's (Very Special People) who fosters and adopts unwanted dogs. Especially older dogs, even geriatric dogs, like Gracee. She was 17 when Gail took her home. She suffered from dry eye and systemic yeast. Gail nurtured and loved this little shih tzu for her two remaining years on this earth, and by the time she passed over that Rainbow Bridge earlier this summer at age 19, her skin was great and her eyes were, too. She had lost muscle mass and was very thin, so when Gail asked me to paint her, I plumped her up a bit and gave her eyes back that shine of youth.

When I asked Gail to describe Gracee to me so that I could get to know her a little bit, Gail told me that Gracee was just the sweetest of shih tzus, her little Angel. Feisty, determined. Loved to eat. Never got into a conflict with another dog in the household. Slept peacefully in her bed at bedtime. Gail said it took her awhile to get used to being held. Makes you wonder what her life had been like before. Was she owned her entire life before she came to be with Gail, all seventeen years, by someone who loved and cherished her, and then passed on? I hope so. That Gail was chosen to see her home is no surprise. Like I said, Gail is one of those VSP's who adopts old dogs....remember her, and Gracee, next time you make a donati0n to your local humane association.

Apso Repose in progress

These are photos of the first three steps of a painting I am currently working on (July, 2011). Working title is “Apso Repose”. My idea comes from a desire to convey the ability of dogs to totally relax, let it all go, enjoy the moment, and luxuriate in something forbidden…master’s bed. My broader concept is to convey the dignity and worth of dogs as created beings deserving of respect and love.

When attempting a painting, especially one of animals in which I am dependent on photos, for the most part, my first step is usually to take hundreds of photos.

I glean those down to several potential ideas, and crop, cut and paste, size, and Photoshop them into a more workable format. It is rare to take a photo that ends up being exactly what I’m looking for all in itself, but it does happen.

Next, I grid the photo and a piece of drawing paper the exact size as the painting I intend to do. I draw the idea to near completion using either graphite or charcoal. (First picture, done in charcoal.) After preparing a support, either canvas or board, I transfer the basics of the drawing onto the support. Detail is unimportant, but placement is, especially as regards facial features. Just a general outline is all I need.

Next, I execute an under painting (second picture) in the same values as the drawing. Sometimes I use only one or two pigments, other times I use several colors, but always concentrate only on basic values.

This is a 16 x 20 board which was prepared with several coats of gesso and stained with yellow ochre. The underpainting was done with yellow ochre, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue, and white. These constitute three primaries, and give a range of values from very light to very dark, close to black.

The under painting is done very thinly, with much of the stain still showing through. When it is dry, the actual painting begins.

After the under painting dries, I begin the work of actually executing the painting, usually in several statements over a period of a week or two. The third picture shows the 1st statement of this painting. I added the colors quinacridone red, cadmium yellow and transparent red ochre to the original colors I chose for the under painting for my palette. The colors are mostly "flat", without much modeling, and more saturated, or bright than they will end up being in the final painting.

I'll let this dry and then continue on with another layer of paint, concentrating on the bedding and more detail on the dog. I've put in the dark background, and it may, or may not, get another coat of paint.

Hopefully, the next picture I post will be of the finished painting!

Zeus

This big, handsome fellow was a delight to photograph and paint. What a sweetie! It's pretty obvious that he has a huge heart, and it's all devoted to his forever person, Lisa. Zeus had heart surgery when he was just a pup, and Lisa has been there for him every step of the way. From the stories Lisa has told me about Zeus, he's been there for her, too, like a true blue, big-hearted, totally devoted best friend should!
This painting was a gift to Lisa for her birthday, from the other man in her life, Ed.



Zeus
Oil on linen board, unframed
9 x 12
By commission: $265
Contact me if you'd like a painting of your best friend!

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