Dog Walker
24 x 36
Oil on Canvas
This painting has been through many iterations. I love the little girl...love what she is wearing...such a free spirit! I knew I liked her but wanted to put her in a setting. I decided on putting a dog in the composition then set about trying to compose a background. I am not a landscape painter and struggled with making the painting look like it is deep...like the field is far away. I first put a fence and some buildings back there but didn't really like the result. Then I made the back ground look kind of fuzzy...with the fence still there. I wasn't sure so I sent it to a friend for a critique. She said she loved and and was glad I added the cows to the background. I laughed till I cried when I read that! I wrote back and told her there were no cow in the painting!
I got down to business and studied how to make the background look like it recedes...darker more vibrant colors in the foreground and lighten up the field as it goes back...making sure not to make it look vibrant...just lighter. Blurring out the background and adding some sky and clouds made it look like a background that recedes. I learned a lot with this one. I almost gave up on it multiple times..it has been in a corner in my studio haunting me!
I am starting a new series called "Can if I want." It will feature girls in traditionally male roles. I am still fleshing out scenarios and researching. When I finished this piece I thought it fit the series perfectly. It is not a traditionally male role she is filling...but she is following her own path.
That is the message I want to convey...Can if I want.
