I've finished gesso-ing all the old portraits from last summer's show so now I have to decide if that's actually a style or if I am going exploring again. I was able to put the decision on hold while I did a more conventional portrait of Parker dreaming about her favorite treat--cow ears. No, those are not real cow ears in the painting--although I am sure the real ones are hard and petrified enough to outlast the acrylic paint--they are just small gessoed pieces of plastic. The painting was well received as the recipient recognized it as her dog or at least one of the litter she came from. The nice thing about painting dogs is they never complain about whether the likeness is accurate or unflattering. They just sniff and wonder why those are not real cow ears at the top of the picture.
