Oil Painting Demonstration By Stella Violano
“Afternoon Nap” Oil on Canvas 30 x 40

This painting started out as a desire to capture a rich room interior with lighting reminiscent of the paintings of John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn. In keeping with my style a dog had to be present. I did several thumbnail sketches to set up the room- and used my own living room to paint from. In order to experiment with the color and light I created a small 11 x 14 study before embarking on the full sized painting.

I chose my palette carefully considering the muted old-world look I was hoping to achieve. The end palette consisted of titanium white, ivory black, yellow ochre, Van Dyke brown , asphaltum, cadmium red light, ultramarine blue and a touch of sap green. My preference is for Holbien, Old Holland and Utrecht paint because the pigment load is high and the consistency is creamy and easy to work with. I try to buy only pure pigments rather than the lower priced mixtures that are unpredictable when blending with other colors.

Using the small study to perfect the large painting worked well. For fun I added a cat in the shadows of the fireplace. I named the study “Le Chat” to perplex the viewer into looking for the partially hidden feline. After showing the study painting I quickly learned that most people simply thought that I did not know the French word for Dog and that I was ignorant naming my painting incorrectly. So in the final version the cat was eliminated and the painting was renamed “Afternoon Nap”

I started by dry brushing in the shapes. At this stage I did not care about the perspective or the fine details- just the general composition. The chair is from the Columbia Pictures studio. In the 1930’s- 50’s it appeared in many motion pictures. It only seemed fitting to add it to my painting. The fireplace is a simplified version of the incredible Victorian one on my living room. Using the advice of respected fellow artists I was able to see how this study could be improved even further.

Here I have lowered the chair back and enlarged the window, overlapping the chair to add depth. I added the blue and green to the window, urn and chair. There is a lot of room to detail and the fabric needs a lot of work as does the perspective
I scraped off the entire chair and dog and started from scratch. The ottoman was tipped forward which was driving me crazy until I realized that the real one I was painting is so tired and worn that the stuffing had

shifted forward just as I had painted it. I made a mental note to correct this in the actual painting. Here is a close up of the partially hidden cat and urn in the study version

At this point I decided I was ready to embark on the large version. The canvas I used was professional grade gallery stretched 30 x 40 triple acrylic primed. Because I really enjoy adding fine detail work I have grown to dislike the canvas or linen texture and seek a super-flat surface. To achieve this I added three more coats of primer, sanding in between with a fine tooth sandpaper. I allowed this to dry for several weeks as I worked on the study painting. Since this painting was created I have discovered a wonderful linen surface that I now use on all my larger work.

I began the painting by starting with a neutral wash of a warm green gray. This served to both get rid of the white and give a warm base to work with. Then I again dry brushed in the composition using the study as a guide and began painting. Here is the painting mid- way through. In the final painting I wanted to give a softer more natural look to the room than I had done in the study.
So I added the swag to the top of the window and a vase with flowers pointing to the dog in repose.

The final touches included the delicate pink of the dog’s snout, definition of muscle done and shadow.

And here is the final painting- which I need only sign.

From start to finish the painting took over 3 months but the results were well worth the effort. I have decided to make a series of paintings of pampered pets in beautiful living rooms.

Learn more with: "Animal and Wildlife References for Paintings", "Elizabethan Dogs"