
If you know me, you know that my dog Summer is my pride and joy, so it's not surprising that a lot of people ask me why I don't paint Dogs. I don't paint dogs because I never studied their anatomy. I am a firm believer that you have to understand what you are looking at in order to paint it (at least in the case of realism). Growing up I used to think I wanted to be a Horse Vet, so I studied all I could about horses and how they worked in addition to following the Vet around the barn! In art school we studied Human Anatomy, skeletal and musclature. I really believe this helps a great deal.
However, I decided to try my hand at painting Summer today. Admittedly the pose is a toughy, with lots of foreshortening, an awkward pose and strange angles. While I'm happy with the painting, I did have to work really hard to figure out what was going on in terms of her body. Maybe I'll have to get a book on dog anatomy and learn how they are put together.