Dog Art Today

Tag: darby calendar

  • Longhaired Dachshund Calendar: July

     

    Darby_july_calendar_post

     

    Darby:July by Moira McLaughlin

     

    The July collage of Darby for my Longhaired Dachshund Calendar didn't start out this way.  The original concept was a nod to Magritte. This was the sketch I made last year…

    Darby_magritte_post

     

    original sketch

    Magritte_son_of_a_man_with_apple

     

    Son of a Man by René Magritte, 1964

    I was going to make the apple a tomato.  The leaves in the corner were going to be basil.  The stripes in the background were going to be red and white, and Darby's tag was going to be blue with a white star.   Get it? July 4th.  I was inspired by this Georgia O'Keeffe painting…

     

    Cows_skull_georgia_okeeffe

     

    Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue by Georgia O'Keeffe, 1931

    But, I wasn't thrilled with this idea. It's kind of kitschy.  And Darby wasn't kitschy or overly patriotic.  He didn't really like tomatoes that much either.

    Then, I saw this painting by Helen Frankenthaler…

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    Untitled, 1995 by Helen Frankenthaler

    "That's July," I thought.  I see those colors in my garden and windowsill in the summer…

     

    July_flowers

     

    July Flowers

    Then, last month I had this book on Tantra on my table…

    Tantra_cover_post_1

     

    Tantra: The Indian Cult of Ecstacy by Philip Rawson

    I kept thinking it looked familiar…

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    Darby: Hope by Moira McLaughlin, 2008

    Would that be weird to make a collage of my dog inspired by an Indian sex cult? 

    I did a little research and found out that Tantra is not a religion or a "way of thought."  In fact, according to Philip Rawson, "Tantra sees thought as one of the chief causes for people gradually becoming disillusioned and miserable in what they believe to be their world."

    Well, that spoke to me in my misery, still grieving Darby's death, and worried that the tears weren't stopping.  Also, the word tantra means "to weave" or "web" and that "all is one and interconnected."  Tantra is all about action and intrinsic goodness, not just sex.  So, I thought, it wouldn't be so creepy to make a Tantric Darby.

    I gathered some ideas…

    Darby_july_studio

     

    my studio

    I'm not going to lie. Tantirc Darby was creepy at first…

    Darby_july_fisrt_draft

     

    Tantric Darby

    I didn't know what to do with it.  So I shut the door to my studio and didn't look at it for about three weeks. Then, this Monday I woke up, went into the studio, and reworked it.  I did it all, except for a few green leaves. 

    Here it is again…

     

    Darby_july_calendar_post

     

     

    I think Darby looks a little bit like Frida Kahlo, too…

     

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    Frida Kahlo

    Next up, August.  I'm thinking sunflowers…

    I started my Longhaired Dachshund Calendar in January 2011.  I am hoping to publish it by September 2012.  Prints of each month will be available too.    It is inspired by my muse, Darby, who passed away at age 17 on December 3, 2011.  See the Darby collages I have already finished here.

  • Longhaired Dachshund Calendar: June Final

     

    Longhaired_dachshund_calendar_june

     

    Darby Calendar: June by Moira McLaughlin

    I finished the June college of my Longhaired Dachshund calendar this morning.   I have lots to tell you about how it came together, but not today.

    Wishing you all the best in 2012. 

  • Longhaired Dachshund Calendar: June Collage Prep

     

    June_darby_papers

    This is from October 2011 when I started the June collage for my Longhaired Dachshund calendar.  I can't remember why I did this in the kitchen and not the studio.  I know I wanted to lay out the materials I would use and work on the color palette before I started.  As you can see, I had forgotten to place Darby's pillow in his spot by the French doors.  He is waiting there for me to do so.  

  • Longhaired Dachshund Calendar: June

     

    Darby_june_drawing_1_post

    I drew this sketch last January when I decided to make the Darby calendar.  I started working on it two months ago, combining it with this sketch…

     

     

    Darby_june_sketch_1_post

    I've been looking a lot at this print…

    Hiroshige_new_years_eve_foxifires_at_the_changing_tree_oji

     

    New Year's Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Oji by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857

    And this one…

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    Fireworks Over Ryogoku Bridge by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1856

    I'm incorporating the stars from the above print.  And today dog artist and author Kim Niles of KiniArt sent me this quote:

    "Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in the heavens, where the love of our lost ones shines down to let us know they are with us." –  author unknown.

    I still start my day with tears.  I still appreciate hearing that it will get better, but I miss him so much.  It's hard to believe.

  • Sketching Solutions and a Quickfire Challenge

     

    January_calendar_sketch_post

    I received so much insightful feedback from many of you artists about my ongoing Darby calendar project. Superheidi of The Swing of Things was especially helpful when she advised “Just keep going on creating, don’t evaluate just yet.  Somehow you’ll notice in which direction you are heading and then it’s easier to make choices and you can set some boundaries.  I freak out when I think I want to create a ‘master piece,’ because the subject matters.  It won’t work that way.”

    She is right.  I was freaking myself out.  And it wasn’t working.  So I found an old notebook and started sketching loose ideas.  The first one (above) helped me put the pieces in place for the final January collage (below).

     

    January_calendar_final_lulu

    Then, I started playing around with ideas for February.   The Narcissus is blooming in my yard, but instead of going outside, I’d like to include the interior too.   That’s February here in Northern California — a cozy fire and spring flowers coming up.  Also, I want to use this photograph I took…

     

    Narcissus_bouquet

    Here’s my first idea…

    February_sketch_post

    Then, I did some close up sketches of Darby, trying to figure out where he puts his paws when he sits like this…

    Darby_chair_chair

    Darby_head_cu_post

    Finally, I went back to the pieces I didn’t end up using in my January collage and gave myself a “Quickfire Challenge” — a concept from the Bravo TV show Top Chef where the contestants are given limited time and ingredients to cook something delicious.  Don’t think.  Just cut and paste, I told myself.  I made this in about 30 minutes with the January leftovers…

    January_leftover_collage

    It felt very liberating.

  • Done…almost

    January_collage_post

    My January collage of Darby is almost finished.   I'm stepping away from it today and tomorrow I will disassemble it and glue it back together, the trickiest part, imo.  As you can see, I scrapped everything from my first iteration except for the idea of Darby sleeping in the nest and the speckled paper.

    This has been the most challenging collage I have ever worked on.  I don't know if that's because I haven't made one in a while or if I am too close to the subject.  I think the pressure I put on myself to memorialize my dog undid me a bit.  Maybe I should just spend time with my dog.  Enjoy his reality instead of trying to capture his essence.   I still don't know.   I might do some "throw away" pieces before I begin on February.  Stay tuned.

    P.S. The nest includes strips of the Peaceful Valley seed catalog.  The bird brings another strip in his beak.  Graphic designer Milton Glaser says it's ok to explain one's work.

    P.P.S. Thanks, Rebecca Collins of ArtPaw, for sending me this link to images of The Eight Dog Chronicles, 18th century Japanese books that fired my imagination in a new way.