Preparation for Painting Five Dog/Cat Canvases 11/2013

This is a Shetland Sheep dog with an Abyssinian cat, they will both be white, a soft caramel and a little darker brown around the head and ruff of the dog. 

While spending a week with my Granddaughter in Oregon I was able to complete the drawing portion of a project I'm working on.  I am going to paint five canvases, 24"x30", some portrait others landscape.  The finished paintings will hang in the new Olympia Veterinary Cancer Clinic that is presently being worked on.  They are remodeling an old historical house in downtown Olympia and also building on.  The 'Grand Opening' will take place some time in January 2014.  We are fortunate to have a clinic available in the area that specifically treats cancer in animals. 

This is a French Bulldog, he will be black and white, his companion will be a domestic shorthair black cat

The Veterinarians at the clinic, a husband and wife team, own a Burmese Mountain dog, so of course I had to paint one of them.  He will be black, white and rust, the cat is a Maine Coon and will be all white, like our Mylo

Here we have a smiling Chihuahua that will be white grey and a little black with hints of caramel, his companion is an older, chubby grey Tabby cat

Here we have a little Orange Tabby kitten with her paw on the leg of a black and white Border Collie.  I haven't painted a lot of animals so this will be a challenge and a learning experience for me.

I plan to post pictures later of the painting process at different steps and then the finished paintings.  At this point what you see is the pattern taped at the top with painters tape.  I used graphite paper to transfer the drawings onto the canvas.

All of the canvases were given two coats of white Gesso and then two coats of a light grey background color.

As with the Tuscan landscape paintings I have posted elsewhere in this blog, I will be using my hutch as an easel and my dining room is my 'painting studio'. :D