The Animal Art of David Trowbridge

Commission a Portrait For A Good Cause

2011-07-02T21:21:00.004-04:00

I'm donating my portrait services to a truly worthy cause: a barn fire in Pennsylvania claimed the lives of 6 horses and caused personal and property damage to an up-and-coming star in the eventing field Boyd Martin. The e-Bay auction to aid in the recovery was set up by the Professional Riders Organization and runs through July 11th. If you or anyone you know would be interested in having a painting done of their animal and helping a worthwhile cause, I ask you to check out this link. True Prospect Recovery Fund

All That Is Linus

2011-02-09T17:57:00.004-05:00

Linus is a pug that lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side. As he is now a little grey around the muzzle, his owners, Elizabeth and Walker, wanted me to capture a slightly younger version of this little guy. His yellow star tag is his trademark and something that adds a nice splash of color to the composition.

David

The Nobleness of Roscoe

2010-07-01T22:10:00.005-04:00

When I was commissioned to do this drawing, Roscoe's owner, Jeff, wanted a piece that portrayed Roscoe's noble spirit despite his diminuitive size. He liked the piece I did of Olive the Boston Terrier and wanted to emulate that. This is what I came up with and both Roscoe and Jeff were very pleased. The piece measures 11 1/4" x 14" and is done in colored pencil on Murano toned paper.

David

Becks-Laying In Of Color

2010-06-05T22:50:00.005-04:00

I'm working on a couple of things right now so I wanted to show you where I am in regards to the English-style dog painting that's been put on the back burner while I concentrate on a colored pencil commission (check back in a couple of weeks) which is taking up my immediate attention. Above is the first layer of paint to be put down which consists of my "best guess" in relation to hue, value, and chroma of the scene that I'm depicting. You can still see some of the underpainting color (yellow ochre) peaking through where I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to proceed. I'm pretty happy with the way it's coming together though, knowing that the dog will be darker and the grasses will provide a compositional element leading you back into the painting. Hopefully this illustrates that most paintings don't come together fully-formed, like some Athena bursting forth from Zeus' forehead, but rather as many re-worked layers building up to the finished result. I hope you'll stay tuned to see how it turns out.

'til next time.

Color Thoughts: Why Representational Painters May Not Make Good Decorators

2010-05-27T22:38:00.005-04:00

My day job is as a mild-mannered Department Head for an art supply store in Manhattan. I'm often asked about which colors are good for a basic palette and what I would choose. As a representational painter I don't really think of solid colors, but those which can be mixed to create a myriad of choices. Even on a flat white wall, the color and value will vary depending upon how much light a given area is receiving. Varying the color helps to create depth, movement and interest in your piece. You want to have a warm and cool version of each of the primary; mine being perm. yellow lt., perm. yellow med., cadmium red med. or vermillion, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, manganese blue or cobalt blue. I tend to like to mix my greens, but I do have a few that I've found particularly useful, Mir's cinnibar green and Williamsburg makes a great earthy green called Bohemian Green Earth. And I've been using a fair amount of mars violet these days and sometimes dioxazine purple. Aside from these you'll need some earth colors: yellow ochre, raw sienna, burnt sienna, burnt and/or raw umber. For white I tend to stick to the standby, titanium. I hardly ever use black.

The portrait of the cat above is one I did and notice how much color variation there is to the "green" couch. Where the sunlight streaks across it, it's pretty straight yellow, in the shadows there's so much red in there that to see the actual color I used you really wouldn't call it green. But you need to be able to mix all of these colors to create the illusion of a green couch being hit by sunlight. The piece to the right is by Frank Stella and his objective is totally different. He's putting one flat, solid color next to another and seeing how they effect each other.

'til next time.

Becks-underpainting

2010-03-03T20:40:00.005-05:00

UNDERPAINTING is used to work out the values in a painting before considering the coloring of the piece. Usually done in values of a single hue (monochromatic) it helps to show the forms in terms of their lights and darks only. It also gives the piece some unity as this color will sit underneath all of the colors that go on top. You don't have to go too crazy deciding which color to use (in this case yellow ochre for the base and a greyish purple for the objects) as it will be covered up, but I usually go with a compliment to the overall color of the piece. Underpainting can also be used for glazing techniques.

Another reason I decided to do an underpainting for this piece is that I noticed some irregularities with the drawing and sometimes it's easier for me to work with the form of an object rather than just the line.

Dog-In-The-Field Style Painting

2010-02-22T11:22:00.006-05:00

Back in 2007 I was able to visit my sister Heather in Surrey, England. They have wonderful open areas dedicated to walking be it humans or animals. Daily I would go with my sister and her Black Labrador, Becks, for long treks through these heaths. I was able to get some good reference photos and I'm finally getting around to working on a painting based on these. The drawing that I've come up with is shown above. I'm going to try to approach the piece in a more "painterly" way. We'll see how this works out.

National Juried Show Up

2010-02-13T14:22:00.005-05:00

Well, my painting "Jazzy-Mood Indigo" is down in Florida and on display at The Visual Arts Center's 7th Biennial National Art Exhibition. I was unable to fly down to attend the opening, but according to event coordinator Michele Valencourt, "... it's the best National we've ever had". If you happen to be in the Punta Gorda area and want to see some excellent artwork, check it out and let me know what you think. The show runs until March 12th.

2009: My Year In Art

2009-12-30T23:05:00.005-05:00

Have you ever had a meal out at a restaurant where the appetizer is excellent; the salad fresh and crisp whetting your appetite for what's to come, but unfortunately the main course is rather bland and unsatisfying, then in an attempt to salvage your meal you order dessert and what you get is something unexpected and delightful, giving you a reason to try that restaurant again? That is akin to what my year in art was like.

Hastily preparing a couple of drawings to get into Gallery 225's "Gone To The Dogs" show in February was a nice foray into the gallery scene. Then, submitting and having my piece "Jazzy-Mood Indigo" accepted into the Salmagundi Club's Annual Non-Member Juried Show in early May seemed like a good portent for things to come. The summer saw me advertising in many varied venues only to have zero response. That, coupled with financial concerns, really crippled my creative output causing confidence and motivational issues. Finally, as a last ditch/"Hail Mary" effort, in November I submitted "Jazzy-Mood Indigo" to a national biennial juried art competition. I'm happy and delighted to report that my piece was one of the 138 chosen out of the 720 pieces submitted from over 31 states and 3 different countries. Now how's that as a way to end one's year? The show will be held at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda, FL from February 8th - March 12th. You can check out their website here The Visual Arts Center.

I do have some pieces in the works which I will showcase in upcoming posts. Thanks for sticking with me during this my first year of this blog and I hope we'll both see things get better in 2010.

David

Juried Show Acceptance!

2009-05-07T00:17:00.004-04:00

I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to jinx it, but a couple of weeks ago I submitted my painting "Jazzy-Mood Indigo" to the Salmagundi Club's 32nd Annual Juried Exhibition for Non-Members. While going through my mail today, I found out the piece got accepted! This is kind of a big deal for me as it's the first juried show one of my pieces has been accepted to. The Salmagundi Club was established in New York in 1871 and is a meeting place and educational facility for artists from all across the country. The show is from June 29th-July 10th. Hope to see you there. :-)

Jazzy (alt. ver.) Final

2009-04-02T22:58:00.004-04:00

Alright, here she is. All 11 3/8" x 14 1/4" of her. In finishing this up, I concentrated on the subtleties of the whites in her fur and the variations in her ears and snout. It's amazing how much variation there is in what appears to be an essentially white dog. The official name for this piece is "Jazzy-Mood Indigo" (thanks Duke!).

Take care 'til next time.

Increasing My Exposure (without using Vimax)

2009-03-31T23:58:00.009-04:00

How to increase exposure of one's artwork can be a difficult and daunting task. There's print advertising, online advertising, gallery shows, studio visits, blogging, art competitions, auctions, word of mouth, etc. I'm trying a variety of things hoping that the combined onslaught will trigger some people to take a second look, visit my site, and perhaps commission me or buy an original. The latest thing I'm taking a shot with is Best Friend NYC's "Artist Spotlight" page. The company sells high-end, environmentally conscious dog grooming and lifestyle products online. On April 1st they are launching an artist spotlight page showcasing 12 artists in a rotating fashion. The artists are from all over and work in a variety of mediums and styles. It's nice being in a grouping so potential clients can choose which style they prefer. So check it out, and who knows where you'll be seeing my artwork next.

Jazzy (alt. ver.) Mid Stage

2009-03-25T23:56:00.007-04:00

After completing the block-in stage, you can assess how the colors and values are working. I noticed that the values were a bit jumpy. That is, there wasn't enough of a transition between them so I kept that in mind while doing this stage. As far as the colors were concerned I knew that I'd have to make Jazzy's fur whiter and a bit cooler to reflect the blue in the background. White can sometimes be a difficult color to paint as adding too much color can take it out of the "white" realm. Just ask yourself where the brightest white is, leave that pure white and work the other shades down from there always checking if it should be warmer or cooler than what it's next to. In this case I am mixing different proportions of white, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and touches of indigo. Oh, and that halo around Jazzy is where I first laid down my medium to work the paint into. Next will be the finished piece.

Take care 'til then.

Unexpected Good News

2009-03-16T16:37:00.003-04:00

I was just going to tell you that I have an ad in the March/April edition of Fido Friendly magazine. But upon looking through my advance copy I noticed that my pet portrait services were included in their "Top 100 Pet Products for 2009". Color me excited!

Jazzy (alt. ver.) Early Stage

2009-03-05T21:15:00.007-05:00

Okay, this is the block-in stage or what I call the "Best Guess" stage. Here all I'm concerned with is establishing a sense of the lights and darks (or values) and the color relationships (warm colors or cool colors). In the initial reference photo I was really taken by the contrast between Jazzy's light fur and the dark of the blue blazer behind her so I used that to establish what tone I was going to use for the background. You can also see an orange-ish color peeking through some of the whites, that's from the burnt sienna I laid down on the entire surface before I started painting the subject. It's much easier to judge values if you're not working on a stark white ground and burnt sienna is my default color, although sometimes I'll use a green or purple. That's it for now. Stay tuned for the refinements.

Jazzy (alternate version)

2009-03-03T01:24:00.007-05:00

In the winter of 2008 I donated my portrait services to Labrador Life Line's "Heart Dog Auction". The resulting portrait was this painting of Jazzy. There were a couple of poses to choose from and Cecilie (the dog's owner) thought the profile version the best. The painting turned out to be one of my best, but I thought I'd do an alternate version based on the other proposed pose. What you see above is the photo reference and the drawing I did for it. I am currently working on a full color painting of this pose. Check back in a few to see how it's progressing.

Olive and Jazzy On Display

2009-02-28T21:34:00.006-05:00

These two drawings are a part of Gallery 225's show "Gallery 225 Has Gone To The Dogs". The one of the labrador was done as a preliminary sketch for a painting and the Boston Terrier, Olive, belongs to a friend of mine from art school. This is my first time exhibiting in New York so I'm pretty excited. The show will be up until March 15th.

Greetings!

2009-02-27T01:06:00.003-05:00

I'm starting this blog for a few reasons. One is to acquaint people with my work and perhaps get them interested in commissioning my portrait services. Another is to allow people to get a glimpse into the creation of my artwork and follow along with my career. And finally I hope this blog will serve as a means of keeping me disciplined; if there's a potential audience, it'll keep me motivated on this wonderfully rewarding but difficult path. Thanks for checking it out.