Pet portraits, dog portraits, by Welsh artist, John Carwithen.
Dog breeds I have painted, include Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, German Shepherd Dog (Alsatian), Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Boxer, Yorkshire Terrier, Beagle, Dachshund, West Highland White Terrier, Border Terrier. I have been painting dogs in oils for 27 years.
Dog painting goes back as long as art itself, but flourished from the 19th Century onwards. Queen Victoria was a dog lover and throughout her lifetime, she commissioned many dog portraits. Although artwork featuring dogs goes back centuries before her time, her influence significantly increased the popularity of dog art, especially portraits of pet dogs. Prior to Queen Victoria’s time, dogs in paintings had primarily been represented in sporting scenes.
The rise of pet portraits with dogs did not diminish the popularity of art featuring sporting dogs. John Emms (1843-1912) is one of the most famous painters of sporting dogs. His work commands some of the highest prices from collectors today.
Other renowned artists of dogs were Thomas Blinks (English, 1853 -1910), Robert Cleminson (English, 1864-1903) and Henry Lucas (English, 1848 -1943).
Oil paint has a substance to it that I like very much, which is very suited to dogs and other animals, especially for their eyes, jaws and noses. One can convey a realism of such anatomical parts not equaled by watercolour or pastel. When one paints in oil, one gets a sense of it's presence and solidity, and as a painter, that is very exciting and lends itself well to representing almost any material, surface or form. I saw this in Old Masters in galleries at 11 years old and started painting with oils eagerly from that age onwards.
As these are portraits, life is paramount goal to achieve, largely through the eyes and that is where we look most at our pets and remember them through these 'windows to the Soul'
John Carwithen - Welsh (1959 -?)
Other subjects can be found at my other site
http://www.john-carwithen.com
