Mr. Bluetick....the Coonhound

Barking Up the Right Tree, acrylic on board, 11x23", 2010 $450

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Detail of Bluetick Coon Hound

Detail of raccoon vignette

This is one of my most favorite paintings as of late. Sometimes it's not hard to let a painting go; other times you want to keep everything that you crank out. I really found this piece entertainingly complex. The tick patterned coat on this hound was fun to recreate, first layering large areas of the dog's body with Payne's Grey and then overlaying those areas with Unbleached Titanium and various blue hues. There was also opportunity to throw in a little yellow ochre and raw sienna in spots.

The most strikingly different aspect of this piece is clearly the addition of the smaller vignette in the lower left corner. I am playing with this idea, which is an attempt to add an extra element of interest as well as filling the painting with pertinent information related to the dog breed itself. This dog is notorious for being a masterful varmint hunter, most notably for chasing raccoons into trees prior to the fatal shots of the hunter. I think I like the vignette and will probably try to work them in subsequent paintings. Let me know what your opinion is if you'd like. - Jared