Dog art has been around for centuries.
The craft is often compared to people portraits and
horse drawings, used as a way to capture the living
before photography.
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John Golden
Another local artist, John Golden, who specialized in illustrating breeds, is wid-ening
his field to include pet portraiture.
For 15 years, Golden tried to settle on a style for his work. And about six years
ago, he did.
Golden uses his MacBook Pro and the Adobe Creative Suite in his garage studio
to make the dogs come to life instead of paintbrushes and canvasses.
“It just sort of fell into place one day,” he says.
He says the eyes and noses are easy.
“… They vary so much,” Golden says. “It’s just such a deep, rich subject matter.”
He often uses the large format printers at his mother’s gallery, The Golden
Gallery, to print the final copies in various sizes.
Once the prints are complete, Golden blackens the sides of the wooden blocks
with a permanent marker and decoupages the prints to the front of the blocks with
Mod Podge before shipping the pieces to their destinations.
Dog art has been around for centuries. The craft is often compared to
people portraits and horse drawings, used as a way to capture the living before
photography.
The reasons people purchase dog art vary. The portrait or illustration can be a
way to remember a dog after death or as a gift to spruce up a room. Or it is just
that deep, personal connection, derived from life’s experiences. And some people
want to see their dog as a prince or princess adorned in a crown and jewels.
Like the other artists, Golden has always been a dog lover and he’s always had a dog.
Charley, a Tibetan terrier, and Huckleberry or “Huck,” a wire fox
terrier, are a part of Golden’s family.
Givingback
Hartmann, Atkinson and Golden all use their talent to help give back to dog
rescue groups, a cause close to their hearts.
When Hartmann uses photographs from rescue sites, she donates a print and
a percentage of the proceeds to the group. Atkinson donates pieces to about
three or four charities per year. In the future, she says she plans to seek out the
Humane Society or another rescue group to donate portraits of dogs to aid the
adoption process. Golden also donates a percentage of the proceeds, but tar-gets
specific breed rescue groups. He says he would like for each contribution
to be significant, and would like to donate illustrations to live auctions to help
groups raise money in the future.
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WBM february 2013