A Pack of Posing Pups (and Their Plushie Platypus)

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This is my latest painting. It is a commission piece I call A Pack of Posing Pups (and Their Plushie Platypus). It is painted in water soluble oil paints on a 24"x22"canvas. 

The title is a little misleading because the pups did not actually pose for me. The client asked me to do a painting of her 6 dogs which she wanted to give to her husband as an anniversary present. She then provided me with about 20 family photos of her dogs from which I chose the best of each. I then arranged them into this composition. 

The original sketch.

The original sketch is 10"x8". I used a grid to transfer and enlarge it onto the canvas. I’ve drawn a small grid of 1" squares onto a sheet of vellum which fits the pages of my 8"X10" sketch book. Then I draw a larger, proportional grid onto the canvas. Finally I redraw each square in the sketch onto the corresponding square of the canvas. Some may find this process time consuming but I like to do it this way as it allows me to re-think, revise and refine my drawing as I go. I then erase the grid lines before I begin the painting.

Pups-in-progress.

I painted each dog from left to right, completing each in order. I chose to take a very minimalistic and impressionistic approach to the background, using only a few, very broad strokes of color to imply grass, a blue sky and a vague structure (possibly a fence or patio railing). I did this because there are already 6 subjects in this composition. I did not want to add to the visual complexity of the painting with a background that would compete for the viewer’s attention.

The biggest concern I had when I started this painting was how I could capture each dog’s unique personality from a series of 4"x5" photos, most of which were taken from a distance to include not just the dog but also other family members. When the client saw the painting she said with tears in her eyes that I managed to capture each of them exactly. I hope this painting always givers her and her husband such joy every time they see it. 

Light & Nature

 About two years ago I bought a Nikon D3400 camera and I’ve been enjoying learning how to use it. I really enjoy photography and find that since I started taking photos I observe the world around me a little differently. 

Two subjects I love to capture in photography are nature and light. Here are some of my photos capturing light interacting with nature (click any image for a larger view):

I call this one Stained Glass

This is Mushroom #1

This is Mushroom #5

Dandilions #2

Long Shadows #1 (Irondequoit Bay)

Morning Glory 

To see more of my photography just visit my photography and fine art site where I also sell prints of my photography and select fine art pieces. Just click this link and that site will open in a separate browser window:

martinjamison.zenfolio.com

My First Photography Post

One of the many plants I have in my yard is Milkweed. It grows wild in my garden but I don’t mind that as it has a wonderful scent and also happens to be a favorite of Monarch Butterflies. 

The Monarch Butterfly lays her very tiny eggs on the underside of the leaves and when the caterpillar hatches out (after about 3 to 8 days) it feeds on the leaves. 

It does not take very long for the baby caterpillar to grow to full size (about 2 weeks) after which it forms a chrysalis. Anywhere from 8 to 15 days later the Monarch Butterfly emerges from the chrysalis and continues the cycle.

This summer I found a Monarch Butterfly egg on a Milkweed leaf and I documented its development from egg to mature butterfly in a series of photographs I call Monarch:

A tiny Monarch Butterfly egg.

The baby caterpillar.

The full-grown caterpillar.

The chrysalis.

The mature Monarch Butterfly.

All photos are © Martin Jamison 2020

Along the Yellow Brick Road IV

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This is The Cowardly Lion, the final character portrait in my series of Oz paintings. 

Bert Lahr gave us an indelible portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz. His vocalization alone is likely imprinted in the minds of everyone who has seen the film. 

Pencil drawing progress for the Cowardly Lion portrait.

As with the earlier three portraits, I first did a pencil drawing of the face on an 8"x10" canvas. I did rough measurements from the reference photo using my pencil and thumb (you know, the way we do when drawing from a live figure) to make sure that I drew the facial features in proper proportion to each other and in proper position on the face. I also worked to make the three adult character’s faces roughly the same size (Dorothy’s features are smaller, she being younger). I did tilt the lion’s face a little more than it is in the reference photo and I used a second reference photo with a slightly different pose for some features and for color reference. I finished the painting with water soluble oils.

Having completed the portraits of all four characters, I went back to the first portrait in this series to make a few adjustments. I wanted to add some more detail to Dorothy’s hair, adjust the color in her skin tone, and add a blue sky to match the other three paintings.

The updated painting of Dorothy.

All four competed portraits.

This was a fun series to paint. Each of the 4 characters brings a smile to my face. I caught myself actually chuckling at times as I was painting them. I hope they help to brighten your day a little as well.

Along the Yellow Brick Road III

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Here is my third character portrait from the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz.

Jack Haley did such a wonderful job with the role of the Tin Woodman (or Tin Man as I like to call him). Haley, like Ray Bolger who played Scarecrow, started out on the vaudville circuit. He moved into comedy shorts and then to musical feature films. Haley took over the role of the Tin Man from Buddy Ebsen, who had to back out of the part due to his allergic reaction to the silver makeup. 

I was anticipating my own difficulties with Tin Man’s silver color and metallic texture but I actually had quite a lot of fun painting this character. As with the portraits of Dorothy and Scarecrow, I painted Tin Man on an 8"x10" canvas using water soluble oil paints. 

My sketch of Tin Man drawn directly 

to canvas just prior to painting.

With regard to the paints, I did find a drawback to the water-soluble oils while working on this portrait. As soon as I had finished the painting, I wanted to photograph it. I took it outside to a spot where I like the natural lighting, set up all my photographic equipment and the portrait and began to take a couple of photos. Suddenly, it started raining...hard. The character Tin Man doesn’t do so well in the rain and neither do wet water-soluble oils; the paints started running and separating. The painting was literally ruined. I kept my cool, carefully soaked up the water and melting paint with a paper towel and painted it again using what was left of the original as the starting point. In a few hours the painting was restored. That was a hard lesson learned. It should be noted that these paints were still wet when the painting was exposed to the rain. If I had given the paint a chance to dry sufficiently (even by a few days) the rain would not have been an issue. Water-soluble paints become permanent when dry just like regular oil paints.

I’m sure you don’t need a clue to guess the character I plan to paint as the last subject of this series but let’s just say he can probably cough up quite a furball. 

Along the Yellow Brick Road II

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Here is my second character portrait from the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz. 

Ray Bolger played the part of Scarecrow so exceptionally. His movements made you believe he was made of nothing more than clothes stuffed with straw. His facial expressions are priceless. This expression is one of my favorites; he looks so bright eyed, full of optimism and excitement and ready for adventure. Scarecrow is probably my favorite of Dorothy’s three companions.

Like my Dorothy portrait, I drew Scarecrow with pencil – freehand – directly onto the 8"x10" canvas. I then finished the painting in water soluble oils. One nice thing about painting Scarecrow on canvas is that I could give his face that canvas-like texture just by using a dry-brush technique in select areas.

The next character I’d like to paint has a big heart.

Along the Yellow Brick Road

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I’ve begun a series of paintings featuring the lead characters from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. The first character up is Dorothy, played by actress Judy Garland. 

I drew a pencil sketch of Dorothy directly onto the 8"x10" canvas. I finished the painting using water soluble oils. As I began painting over my line drawing, I noticed some very subtle adjustments that I needed to make. It’s surprising how the slightest detail can so dramatically alter a face (especially the face of a young woman) and can mean the difference between capturing a likeness or missing the mark. 

This is a personal project which grew out of my purchase of four, 8"x10" canvases from Hobby Lobby. They were on sale and (though I typically like to work at larger sizes) I bought them because I’m a sucker for sales. 

Then I thought, “OK now what in the world am I going to do with these?” A series seemed like a nice idea and as I considered a variety of subjects, the Wizard of Oz seemed like the most fun. 

The 1939 production is such a wonderful film with the lead characters brought to life so masterfully by such talented actors as Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr — not to mention all of the other fine actors and actresses who helped make this a family favorite that has stood the test of time. I do not believe even modern film producers could have made this movie any better.

I plan, God willing, to paint all four of the lead characters. I am currently working on painting number two. 

“Which character,” you ask? That’s going to be my surprise. But here’s a hint — he’s a fun guy to have hanging around.