dogs drawings: masterpieces of the dog museum

[cyrillejubert]

:p Could you imagine that I would say that these drawings from the-dog-museum are not masterpieces ?

I drew them :D

... and my ego is sometimes a bit hypertrophied :cool:
but my talent too :p
is not it ?

mmmmm ?

[smkie]

Have you more work? Would love to see it.

[cyrillejubert]

Hi
I just come back from Palm Beach Florida, where I have been invited to give a watercolor workshop.
In fact my students were from very different levels in watercolor and even drawing, but I succeed to teach something to each one. I tryed to show them that you could paint anything with only four different pigments: ochre yellow, red magenta, cobalt blue and indigo (dark blue).

First lesson was a study of white. Mixing the 3 first pigments, we painted white hounds. Surprise ! It worked perfectly.
Second lesson.. mixing yellow, magenta and indigo, we could get a wonderful black to paint black dogs or anything. I chose a riding helmet.

Third lesson was to learn "to see". To see the reflections of disfracted light in real life, in photos and in paintings. See the blue, the yellow and the red reflects and the shades red-yellow, violet-blue, purple ....

Then I show how to paint a whole dog (always with my 4 pigments) exagerating these defractions.
I show you first a black & white image of this portrait
and then the original colorful portrait

[cyrillejubert]

I show you first a black & white image of this portrait
and then the original colorful portrait

Sorry the image did not come up
here it is

[cyrillejubert]

Now here is a detail of the eye.

I painted this during the workshop... that means that I was painting in demo but at the same time, I had to get up and go to help one student who was drawned, with too much water on her paper for her watercolor... the other one was lost in details instead of painting the whole subject, or the third one ... well ! it was difficult to be concentrated on my own painting.

Nevertheless ! this study shows rather well how to give volume and depth in a dog 's eye. There are about 10 superposed glazes.

[cyrillejubert]

idem

I showed my students how to paint a humid dog nose.

You can see that there are a lot of tiny details and at the same time a real depth in the humidity of the nose, a strong light and a real shadow.

Once more, this has been painted with only 4 pigments
cobalt blue, ochre, magenta and indigo
look at the mustache...

Even if I did not have so much time to work on this dog... you have a lot of details.

[cyrillejubert]

This is still a study.
I was in Florida for a week. I started this portrait the third day in the afternoon... just showing light reflections here and there.
I Started the right eye and the nose the day after during the afternoon, explaining my work. The more you explain, the less you paint.

As I had an appointment with a gallery on monday, I really worked on the dog when the workshop was over, on saturday and sunday. No beach and no sun, too bad :) Sometimes, you have to give priority ...

So even so, this painting will stay a study. You cannot paint in 2 days what should take a week... but it is an interesting study.
You could find more dog portraits or dog paintings on my website...
and if you want to learn more about painting with three colors, go and see my watercolor lesson from my home page.

[smkie]

I wish I could have been in your class, you are inspirational. Thank you for a fabulous post!

[Renee750il]

I'm very glad your class went so well, Cyrille. The language didn't pose the obstacles you feared, did it?

Your work really is marvelous. Even this 'study' catches the steadfast nature of the dog you've chosen to depict.

[cyrillejubert]

I'm very glad your class went so well, Cyrille. The language didn't pose the obstacles you feared, did it?

You are kind to ask... no ! as I arrived on friday in PB, I had time to speak a lot before the class on monday, so my english came back quickly.
Anyway, american accents are easy to catch not like english ones.
I felt rather shy the first day, but it is perhap's the same when different personalities meet for the first time. The second day, I knew exactly what I wanted to teach to each one. I had then a total confidence in me.
:p it is better so.

Do you paint, Renée ?

[Renee750il]

I only frustrate myself if I try to work in two dimensions.

For quite awhile I made jewelry, mainly small faces, beaded and decorated with semi-precious stones or wee, tiny little ornamentations I made from Fimo. I've loved the Deco and Art Nouveau style since I was a child and most of the pieces have that influence. I hand cast the faces, clean and fire them, then apply the colors in layers to build up the complexion I want each one to have. I use special chalks to add "make up" then indulge myself painting the features. The eyes take several layers to get the right depth, complete with the striations in the irids. I love finishing the eyes in a lush fringe of lashes using a brush with only a few very long, thin strands. The lips also take several layers.

After the face is dry and sprayed with a good fixative I use a clear gloss liquid sealer over the eyes to bring them to 'life.'

Then, an only then, do my little ladies tell me what their costume is to be . . . some are quite lavishly surrounded by intricate beading, Austrian crystals or other ornate acoutrements; others are more subdued, some are quietly elegant, and every now and then one turns out to be a complete fantasy. One of my favorites wears overpainted jaguar "make up" and is surrounded by fiery orangey-red and dark chartreause bugle beads, gold seed beads and a fringe of dark green feathering.

[Renee750il]

Oh, I remembered what I wanted to tell you, Cyrille! What, I believe, makes your work - and SMkie's (you should look at her downloads in the threads on this forum!) so outstanding, moreso even than your amazing techniques and the artistic skills the two of you have developed to such a high degree, is your ability to really See what you are depicting. You are observing so much more than the average person ever really looks at; you note the details and also the heart of your subject - which is what separates a work of art from a mere rendering, whether it be an amazingly lifelike picture or one that is the heart of the artist interpreting what he or she sees with the artists' eye.

I can't put what I see onto canvas with paint and pencil, so I must resort to mere words.

[smkie]

Oh Renee, I am not even close to this man's ability. I do have good strong skills with a pencil but in painting i am basically a newbie. I have learned so much from this post that I am going to try exactly what he said to do. I know that the human eye sees magenta, cyan and yellow because of the three nerves that vibrate. I know that we can only see 1 tenth of the spectrum that is really there. If there is a heaven for me, I want two things more than anything else, to be with the ones I love and to see the other 90 percent. Wouldn't that be awesome? Could you tell me please exactly (i paint in acrylic) what red ..crimson for example,and the other three that you use, or does it make a difference? A humble student am I. Thank you again....you are going to make me work much harder than i did before I saw your work!!!!!!!!!

[Saje]

Renee, that is exactly what I said to Smkie in a pm. That she sees the world differently than I do. She sees colours and shapes in a way that I can't possibly imagine. Of course, I see copy-right laws very clearly as well. LOL I'm so funny. :)

I'm really not an artist.

[Renee750il]

Smkie sees to the heart of what is. She also sees the whimsy and delight in everyday events. Things that aren't events to other eyes, like a boney hound scratchin' fleas, she sees and brings them to our attention with her deft hands and reminds us of the importance of every spontaneous moment. And she sees things in her world of imagination and can translate them for the joy and edification of the rest of us mortals. I imagine Dali would love her work.

[Saje]

I still think she sees colours and shapes differently :P

I love those little moments. Like the old granny on the porch swing. I love those pictures. (I try photography quite regularly).

[Renee750il]

Oh, she must see the colors and shapes differently. I can only think Smkie sees the essential, elemental shapes, stripped of all the complications and distractions. I think all truly gifted artists must be able to do this.

[Saje]

Yeah. I can't even imagine. Well, I can imagine but I can't 'see' it like she does (you do, smkie)

[smkie]

humble humble wag wag i love art..and colour, it is my happy place.. Like looking at clouds or finding four leaf clovers.seeing something in the grain of wood... I have no idea what other people see. I have always drawn, my mom has a very big scrap book. I started when I was two.I drew a woman with breasts. The two year old perspective. I could never be anything else. IT's my life, Not a rich one by any means, but I just don't care anymore. Im happy, my art is happy.If I make other people happy (isn't happy a good word) then that is alllll the better. That is my whole goal in life. I am painting rabbit rocks tonight.I need some market money. I am teaching Aaron's 18 year old girlfriend how to paint ladybugs. She will take over my daughter's place at the farmer's market. It is a little trade for her, but she will always have a way to make some money on her own. when my daughter comes back I am going to teach her to make silver rings with simple settings. How far she takes it after that will be up to her, she will then have a way to make extra household money and she is going to need it. Teenagers and young adults are having a very hard time in the work market right now. Jobs that use to be standard teen employment are now filled by older citizens. So this has been our family life. Aaron has helped sell since he was a little guy of 7 years old. Bronki always helped load up..picked out his bandana, oversaw the trips to the car. happy happy dog The kids sell more than I do. It is best if I just leave the market, take the dogs to the dog park, pick out next weeks rocks, and we all go home a little richer. i will be a factory for the next month. I hope to get enough done to run two markets and maybe I can get caught up. Spring is my hot season. I do frogs, turtles, fish, cheshire cats.....dogs are a hard thing to do with a rock, but I have made one doberman and a boston bull dog that was life size. When different family members go with me to the rock place, it is hot and they are heavy....i usually take someone with me,,,anyway they start to see a turtle rock there, and is this a good rabbit? I get to see them begin to "see" the way i do. One lady at the scout meeting brought me a very small rock that fit in the palm of her hand, and she said "this is a cat isn't it?" I painted it just like her cat..we saw the same thing and it was fun for me. MY biggest seller,I can't keep any in stock, are lizards. The first one i saw was my best. It was a missouri collared lizard, the ridge of the rock was exactly that, all the ridges where the legs and tail were perfect. Even had an little hole the perfect shape of the eye. That was the one i kept for myself. I use to take it to market to show children..and my daughter accidently sold it...When i found out i told her to not expect it in the will then because the artwork is all i have to leave them.she felt so bad, she's really good at market and i have grown to appriciate her efforts there....children like to watch..if i stay i usually rough some stuff out..i sell more when i do.. and i have had an apprientice (SP?) or two. My favorite was a little Amish girl i taught brush work to every sat morning for a whole season. I have the rock she painted for me, it is a favorite.
If I get some good rocks i will post them for just for fun. I have a fish that I found walking at the Shawnee dog park. That one I am not taking out of the house..thought I have considered taking to a gallery, it is the same on both sides so I could paint it fully deminsional. I swore last season that I was never painting another rock again, ever. Now I am enjoying it after so many hard dog portraits. The portraits are hard for me. I am not a fast learner, but I am steady. I try so hard to always remember, the lyfe so short, the craft so long to learn. My momma says I am a strange child, but she wouldn't change a hair on my head. She wrote in a letter to my grandmother when I was small. IT feels so good to meet people like you, u make me feel like what I have to offer others is of some value. That is a good thing to feel i think

[smkie]

I forgot to put paragraphs in, and I know I am a terrible writer, im sorry for that..i get in a hurry trying to follow my thought thru..that is the art of a writer and I don't have it! your art Seje, your medium of words. Renee too, how i do enjoy your posts. Eveybody got some art in there soul,don't you think? that's our expression! ME thinks! mary said so..she knows special things.

[Renee750il]

I understand completely about not being able to sell your own work as well as your kids can. It's difficult to sell your own work; you're too involved in it and it's difficult to put yourself forward enough to close the deal. I used to do a juried show and always sold better when I had someone else there. It got to the point where all I did was come in, set everything up the way I wanted it and then sit back and let the now-ex-boyfriend do the selling. He was good for that, if not much else, lol! It worked well, and I'd come close to selling out on the first night, which was a wine and cheese thingy by invitation only. I also found out that if I put higher prices on my little ladies they sold better! Go figure. From that I learned that most people put value on something according to the price.

[smkie]

really I am shy at market..and would rather stand back and watch. People will pick up a rabbit and hold that rock like it is real, or pat their turtle while they pay Jess for it, She smiles so easily and has such good people skills...I just want to take the dogs to the dog park..I feel like my work is done by making it. I do love the children though. I wish you could have all met my little Amish girl. She was special. I would love to see your ladies Renee. Our new market doesn't allow dogs and that is a total shame. Bronki so loved the downtown market. Since it is on the courthouse square I can understand though. AT least the Shawnee dog park is close and we get there about dawn so it is still cool enough for the dogs to romp to their hearts content. So many people show up around 10 and by that time it is just to hot for many breeds. Maybe I should start a thread about the best dog parks? It would be interesting to see where everybody likes to go best.

[Renee750il]

I'm the same way! I'll talk to anybody about their dogs or just about anything else - but I'm a shrinking violet when it comes to dealing with my own work.

You know, I don't think there ARE any dog parks where I live. There may not even be any in Knoxville.

[Barb04]

Cyrille, I was fascinated reading how you painted different parts. Your paintings are magnificent. I just took a look at your web site. It's wonderful how you've captured the expressions on the animals' faces.

[Renee750il]

They are anazing, aren't they? Have you read Cyrille's pointers on getting good pet photos?

[linnie]

I love your work.. Wartercolour is my passion.. if only I could make mine look as lovely I would be thrilled.

You should write a book :D

[cyrillejubert]

Nina and I are willing to give a new workshop in Palm Beach
so come and improve your watercolor ...
I shall before add a watercolor lesson on my website, explaining step by step
how I painted this dog... Nina, just sent me, the scans she did during the week.

I think I shall show the pages within two or three weeks
so keep in touch

Barb ... take the time to read the "guided tour"
first it is supposed to be fun... secundo, it explains a lot.. but in the disorder..
it shows also tiny details and says why they are there..
tell us after that if it was worth it

[gaddylovesdogs]

Those are lovely. The first one looks like a photo to me at first glance.

[linnie]

could be a long LONG trip for me...I live in Australia.
If I could I sure would

[chazhound]

Very nice art, thanks much for sharing. It is stunning.

Chazhound

[Lynn]

You are truly a gifted artist. I am amazed at the details in the painting. I would love to have a talent such as yours. Thank you for sharing it with us. Please post more for us to see. :)

[cyrillejubert]

You are truly a gifted artist. I am amazed at the details in the painting. I would love to have a talent such as yours. Thank you for sharing it with us. Please post more for us to see. :)

Hi Lynn

read the full story of this workshop.. with the teaching..
and the results on my students paintings
You will be estonished ...
and it is fun too

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251712&goto=newpost