Day 26

Blue Duck Retriever, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

NFS

I love this painting. This is my rat terrier Cloud with his favorite toy, in happier days when Blue Duck's head was still attached to his body. Poor Blue Duck. 

I'm back in my comfort zone (painting dogs), but there are some new things: I've never painted a stuffed toy before, and most of my dog paintings have very simple backgrounds. It's funny how when you get back into your comfort zone after being out of it for a while, you notice some improvements in the way you do things. This is what I notice:

• The looser brushstrokes.

• The brushstrokes suggest form better than they used to.

• You can feel the texture of the stuffed toy, even though I made no attempt at all to make it look fuzzy.               

• There is a nice feeling of movement here. 

• The leaves are only suggested, but they look more convincing than if I had tried to make them highly detailed.

It was so much fun for me to paint that stuffed toy, I really feel like I nailed the colors and the textures with just a few brushstrokes. 

I'm learning so much about the nuances of brushwork with this daily painting project, I can only see it improving all aspects of my future paintings.