Simply Sunday

Simply Sunday, 14x18"oil, ©Diane Mannion

Dog Obedience

Simply Sunday sat around the studio for months and went through many changes, most of which I hated.  This painting was a dog (no insults to pooches intended here).   

Changed my summer model to not look like her at all (sorry Megan, they all can't be you).   The window view is from a plein air study that I did at the Hermitage, an artist's retreat on Manasota Key.  

Most everything here, including the non-Megan model, is from my imagination.

At first the figure held a letter with an empty envelope nearby, but who writes letters anymore?  It seemed too sad, like bad news received.  The book worked better, I liked the triangle shape of the white pages and the patch of blue.  Last thing I added was the bookmark to visually flow up to the petals and flowers.

Did not like this painting at all until yesterday… Sunday!  Somehow it came together with the relaxed feeling of a day well spent.  Now I like it even more than yesterday.  Very satisfying bringing this dog to heel!

So my tip of the day is to keep working with those dogs even if they bite, don't give up too easily.
Update:  Love this quote from Johan who posted on FB!

Johan Bjurman Sometimes a rescue dog saves you and becomes a seeing eye dog.