This is a very quick charcoal sketch as she was curled up sleeping, just about to wake up. I think she realised I was trying to draw her . I quite like the roundness and flowing lines of this image though...

This a quick sketch of her whilst she was sleeping, not sure if I like the composition of this image.

I have decided to paint my dog as she is often lazing about the house and have started to collect some sketches while she is sleeping. Have noticed that she moves a lot more than I originally anticipated so a good exercise is getting down the relevant information as quick as possible .. Its not easy..

First image Stubbs,G.(1774)Shafto mares and foal,(oil on canvas).(online image). Available from Http://private.bridgemaneducation.com
Second image Landseer,E.Marianne a favourite hunter,(1882-73)(oil on canvas).(online image)Available from http://private.bridgemaneducation.com

Looking at the horse studies by Stubbs and Sir Edwin Landseer. They have painted the horses with the anatomical eye of Da Vinci. Every muscle and sinew has been recorded and painted to perfection. Although compared to George Stubbs, the horses painted by Edwin Landseer is a much more sentimental representation. He has captured the horse in a playful position and he is painted with large doe eyes he has even managed to capture her movement of the sweeping tail.
Stubbs is probably most famous for his immaculate recording of horses. He paid incredible attention to detail. This was painted for the probably wealthy owner and is a portrait showing off the owners racehorses and land.

Sir Edwin Landseer Little Strollers 1836.
This painting by Sir Edwin Landseer shows two little dogs sitting on a chair with very human attributes, wearing hats and one smoking a pipe. It is very well painted but the subject matter is so tasteless a good example of Victorian sentiment.

The first recorded art work are the paintings produced over 15,000 years ago by our prehistoric ancestors. The most spectatacular examples of these can be found in the caves of Lascaux in France.
All the animals depicted have correct proportions and the poses are life like. They have even been painted using tone to give the animals a roundness.
The pigments that they have used come from a variety of sources mixed in with animal fat to create a thicker substance to paint with.

Black -charcoal,ground up Manganese,Juniper, Pine carbons
White- Clay,lime mud Mica,Kaolin
Red- animal blood, red clay
Yellow ground up iron compounds.

About to embark on my new course, looking through the exercises I am eager to get started. For this course, I am going to break my bad habits and do some research first.
The first project is painting animals and I am keen to try and actually produce a good painting that is not overly sentimental, but at the same time I don't want to end up with an anatomical study. So I am going to research some artists and see what I can learn from them.

This is my first post on my OCA learning log for my new course Finding Your Way.