Showing posts with label Sheridan Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheridan Brown. Show all posts

Zooming In

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

There are many different ways of catching the viewer’s eye. In painting, obviously, subject matter, color choices and brushstroke all work to render a work more or less interesting. But composition is just as, or even more important to a painting’s success.

Watching Over You 19" x 30" watercolor on paper
by Patricia Hunter
Some artists use a close-up technique in their compositions. Instead of trying to get a lot of information in their painting, they zoom in to an area of interest. You can appreciate this technique in Patricia Hunter’s work, especially her images of exotic animals. When she started painting these animals a while ago, she decided that she didn’t want to do typical animal portraits; she wanted to show something real in an abstract way.

“By painting close-ups of the animals, I can achieve a different kind of composition, and focus on design and texture,” she said. “This technique also enables me to include considerable details in the work, such as the animals’ hair and whiskers.” By the way, Patricia is a watercolor painter, which makes her technique even more amazing to me!


Family Gathering 22" x 30", watercolor on paper
by Patricia Hunter


Walk With Me 8.25" x 10.25"
watercolor on paper
by Patricia Hunter
Although we can discern the two zebras in “Watching Over You,” this painting has a definite abstract quality, and the patterns and shapes of the zebras’ stripes could easily be a textile design. “Family Gathering” has the same compositional style: we know there are several giraffes portrayed, yet the main interest is in the patterns of their interesting hides.


Downtime 18.5" x 24" watercolor on paper
by Patricia Hunter

Lately, Patricia has been focusing more on domestic animals. Her dog, Sunny, appears in “Downtime” and “Walk with Me.” Although they are realistic impressions of the subject, you can see Patricia’s interest in pattern by the way she paints the details of her dog’s coat.


Moo Bull 5" x 5" oil on canvas
by Sheridan Brown
Sheridan Brown likes to zoom in on her subjects’ eyes. “They have an expressive quality that I want to convey in the painting,” she said. Like many Wilde Meyer artists, Sheridan’s subjects frequently have fur and four legs. Often, they’ve met at the local dog park! Sheridan likes to combine an abstract background with her close-ups. Many of her paintings are small sizes and have a loose, painterly style.


Bright Eyes 6" x 6" oil on canvas
by Sheridan Brown

In “Moo Bull” the background and the subject are equally arresting, but the way she pulls the colors together make this 5”X5” painting work.


Anticipation 24" x 24" oil on canvas
by Sheridan Brown

“Bright Eyes” is another example of how Sheridan unites an interesting abstract background with the focal point – the cat’s face and eyes. In “Anticipation,” the colors of the dog’s ear and mouth reflect the floral pattern in the rug.
Background design is not of great interest to Stephano Sutherlin, except to offset his subject. His dog portraits speak to the viewer – literally. They have catchy titles, like “Do I Amuse You?” and “Can I Go, Can I?”. He zooms in on their faces - which take up most of the square canvas - and somehow gets an expression that has a human quality. His bold use of color makes the paintings pop – we really can’t ignore them!

Do I Amuse You? 24" x 24"
by Stephano
acrylic on canvas


Can I Go, Can I? 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas
by Stephano

I Dare You To Lift Your Leg 40" x 16"
acrylic on canvas
by Stephano


Stephano generally favors a square format, but his choice of a narrow 40”X16” canvas for his painting “I Dare You to Lift Your Leg” pushes the cat and the fire hydrant into a tight frame. Are they actually having a conversation? It kind of looks that way!


Bedroom Eyes 9.5" x 9.5" oil on canvas
by Sarah Webber
Sarah Webber also likes a close-up perspective. She says she has an “intense” personality, so zooming in to a subject appeals to her. By getting “in the face” of the animals she paints, she can give them a personality of their own, and often with humor.

For example, the owl she portrays in “Bedroom Eyes” has a “come hither” look! The rest of his face and chest are painted in a loose colorful way, so the eyes are all the more riveting.

A Room with a View 21.5" x 21.5" oil on canvas
by Sarah Webber
Pig in the Straw 19" x 22.5"
 oil on canvas
by Sarah Webber
In “A Room with a View,” we see the humor in the donkey peering out from his stall. By painting the cropped image of his head and the stall opening, Sarah conveys the situation this fellow finds himself in. “Pig in the Straw” attracts my attention because the pig’s head and upper body are portrayed in such a painterly way, with a beautiful shadow cast on the straw. I don’t think any of these paintings would be nearly as interesting if they were ordinary views of the animals.

I guess you could say that close-up views are the painter’s way of making the ordinary into art!

You can see more by Sarah Webber, Stephano, Sheridan Brown and Patricia Hunter at www.wildemeyer.com.

The 19th Dog Days

"Cabana Dog" oil on canvas 12"x16"
by Judy Feldman
Wilde Meyer is getting ready for its annual “Dog Days of Summer” show entitled, "The 19th Dog Days," which opens August 4th, 2011 7-9p.m. That got me thinking, “Why are there so many artists at the gallery who show dogs in their paintings?”

Most of my paintings include a dog. It started with Cleo, my loveable Wheaten terrier. I was painting an interior setting and I thought that she would enjoy living in a place like that!

Cleo's Fantasy 20"x16"
by Judy Feldman, 2005

Once she was in the painting, I realized that the scene came alive, and the viewer would know that people lived there with their lovely dog.
Over the years, I’ve painted many other dogs - some belong to friends of mine; others I find from images that are irresistible to me. Cleo has been everywhere (in paintings): France, Morocco and in homes of my imagination. For this dog show, I painted a beagle in a summer fantasy: at the beach, in a cabana, with treats nearby.

But what about the other artists? I contacted a few, and here are their remarks:
Joseph E. Young
Long Eared Dog 12"x12"
by Joseph E. Young
 Joseph E. Young, who paints dogs in beautiful patterned settings inspired by 18th century wallpaper, feels a spiritual connection with these creatures.

Red and White Cat with Puppy 36"x36"
by Joseph E. Young
“Each dog has its own personality that emerges from the painting,” he says. “Dogs bring movement to a painting (notice their tails), and they imply the presence of a human nearby.” Joseph also likes the decorative element a dog brings to a painting.

Like me, he tries to create a world where a dog can live in harmony with its surroundings.
"Really" oil on canvas  8"x8"
by Sheridan Brown
Sheridan Brown
A wallpapered room also figures in the background of a painting by Sheridan Brown entitled “Anticipation.” We don’t see what the dog is looking at, but we can surely guess it’s a person holding something to eat!
Red Irish 5"x5"
by Sheridan Brown

I love the dangling tongue, just waiting to taste the treat. The wondrous looks in the two dogs’ eyes in her painting “Really?” have such a human expression, you can imagine them saying just that! Here are a few of Sheridan's newest paintings where she captures excitement in playful imagery.
"Dont Fence Me In" oil on canvas 30"x36"
by Connie Townsend
Connie Townsend
Connie's dogs live in quite different surroundings –in old cars or trucks!

They all like to drive and hang out of the windows with their tongues and ears flapping. She claims that if you leave a dog in a car, they will inevitably go to the driver’s seat.

I tried that with Cleo, and, yep, she’s right. Connie says that her dog Maggie has been her inspiration in more than 100 paintings, even if she’s painting another breed.
Beagle Scout 30"x30"
by Connie Townsend
According to Connie, “A dog brings a painting to life and a smile to your face. Everytime.” That certainly happens when I look at “Beagle Scout.” The two dogs driving the green pick-up with the RUFF license plate have a crazed look in their eyes, like they’re on the adventure of their lives!

In “Don’t Fence Me In,” Connie uses another vehicle – a motorcycle – to take her dog on a wild ride, with a cat on its head. How could you not smile at that?

"Pugly Pirate" oil on canvas 12"x12"
by Andrea Peterson
Frida Learns to Fly14"x11"
by Andrea Peterson
Andrea Peterson agrees with Connie that paintings with dogs elicit happy feelings, and she says that their posture and expressions “make the painting more dynamic and interesting.”

Andrea has an adopted Chihuahua named Frida. She says that when she saw her at the animal shelter, “since Frida Kahlo is one of my favorite artists, I took that as a sign that she was meant to be my little art buddy!” Frida sometimes sits on Andrea’s lap while she is painting, and I’m wondering if the two friends are both featured in her painting entitled “Lullaby.”

Here is one of Andrea's newest paintings "Pugly Pirate".
Lori Faye Bock on her farm.

Lori Faye Bock

Animals are a big part of Lori Faye Bock’s life. She lives on a farm with many sheep, dogs and cats.

"Wishful Thinking" acrylic on panel 12"x12"
by Lori Faye Bock
No Trick...No Treat  12"x12"
by Lori Faye Bock
Lori says that “every dog I see makes its way into a painting somehow, at some point.”
Occasionally, she paints her own dogs, but she notes that their personalities always shine through the other animals she paints. In her portrait entitled "Wishful thinking," the dog's expression suggests a strong request for a treat (with a hint from the bone image over its head)! Lori doesn’t limit her subjects to dogs.

In “Protecting the Shy One,” she portrays a cow and its calf in such a sweet way – it looks like a mother and child.

"Pink Pantherette" Colorado Alabaster Stone 18"x9"x14"
by Merlin Cohen
Not all Wilde Meyer artists are painters, and not all favor dogs. When you come to visit the upcoming dog show, you’ll see gallery’s guard cat: Merlin Cohen’s stone sculpture entitled “Pink Pantherette.”

But I think it’s safe to say that many of us have a fondness for four-legged creatures, be they dogs, cats, cows or horses. They often are the muses for the art we love to make!

To see more dog days art, click here or contact us.