This is one of my "children", Gala. She is now the middle child (we just adopted a kitten). As you can tell, she is a bit spoiled and has mastered the art of what I call "Bambi Eyes", you know... the kind that will tear your heart to shreds when she looks at you while lying on your pillow (and drewling on it) as if saying "do you really want me to leave? but I loooooove you! Let's cuddle instead!". So, on one of those days I took some pictures and used them to create this.
Gala is a wonderful subject to paint, she sleeps like a log (as long as she is cuddling with you) and doesn't care about the camera, the noise, or anything else. This is the second time I paint her, and I must confess, this is my favorite (I wasn't really happy with the first one). This dog has the most beautiful and expressive eyes, I'm not sure if I was able to capture them (I hope I did).
I painted this a couple of days ago, on one seating... I hadn't painted anything for quite a while, I hadn't even logged on or checked other friends blogs...this whole applying for shows thing and rejection letters have been tough on me. I've never been very secure (specially about my work) and honestly I sometimes feel like all of this is futile, like I keep waiting for Godot... and running out of ways to keep the silence at bay. This is why I chose Gala for my subject. Dogs are unconditional love, absolute acceptace. There are no ailments of the soul that cannot be cured by a slobbery kiss; she always puts a smile on my face, so it was very easy to feel comfortable painting her, not think about the results (or the next juried show, or the next gallery, or the next, the next, the next...) and just enjoy reproducing her lovely face.
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