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Message
Posted
My niece's beloved dog had to be put to sleep recently, and she has asked me to paint a portrait of him.
She's asked if I can include some of his ashes into the painting...
I don't mind doing this, but am seeking your advice on how! (I paint in acrylic). I was thinking of doing a base coat mixed with the ashes, (just on the dogs profile), so that the later more detailed painting isn't hampered by the addition of the ashes in the paint.
Any ideas?
Posted
I would do my best to persuade your niece to change her mind about the ashes. But - acrylic paint can encapsulate ash and many other substances. How to do about it - eek; well, I wouldn't! But if I were going to, I'd mix the ash with acrylic medium and paint it on the surface; and then glaze transparent colour over that; if I were doing this (i.e. if I really, really had to!) I'd let it form part of the ground on which the dog sits or stands, or incorporate it in foliage; I think it might be a bit intrusive if applied to the dog himself, but I don't really know what a dog's ashes will look like - we buried all of ours in a succession of gardens; without getting too morbid or whatever the right word would be, you would need to do your best to exclude any element of grease - the ash would need to be dry as possible. But it can be done - and your idea (base coat mixed with the ashes) could work just as well: in which case, I'd be inclined to lay down the usual acrylic primer (white "gesso") then when that's dried for a day, add a further coat of transparent priming (clear "gesso") into which the ashes have been mixed. Then I'd go over that with a series of coloured glazes before adding the opaque work. I hope that wouldn't lead to a surface that's too obvious, or pitted, or just plain spotty, to work on satisfactorily - but that does depend on the consistency of deceased doggy ash....
My condolences to your niece, by the way: I've lost a number of dogs over many years, and remember each and every one of them with affection, and still miss them.
Posted
Thank you Robert. I have yet to find out exactly what pose she wants of the dog (whether it includes some surrounding scene etc), and am concerned about how much the ash will texture the surface.
C, I lost my cat Sid ('Sid Vicious' to his friends..!) during the lockdown... My buddy of 14 years. He went missing one night, not like him to miss a warm bed and food, and was found three weeks later, under a shrub in a neighbours garden :-(
It was quite horrible.
Sid is now safely buried in our garden, in his favourite sunbathing spot. Our other cat spent weeks looking for him.... in and out of the house constantly, miaowing loudly as if to say 'I couldn't find him but will keep on looking!'
Posted
Helen, so sad about your cat. I still miss our Ginger mog Moses who died nearly ten years ago, also buried in the garden.
Getting back to your dog painting and the ashes, this rang a bell when I read it. It’s not quite the same thing but Jackson’s make an oil and acrylic version of a paint they call Scorched Earth which they were asked to make using ashes from burnt crops in I believe Iraq. If you google’ Jackson’s paint with ashes’ you will find the details. Of course it’s not what you want, but might be interesting and possibly useful. I believe they are very approachable so it might be worth asking their advice.
Good luck with the painting, whatever you decide!
Posted
Helen, I am sorry about the loss of Sid, it did bring tears to my eyes. I have two dogs and a cat. I have always had animals and when you loose one, it takes a piece of your heart away, it goes with them. The ashes of your nieces dog, if it was my dog, I would want the ashes included in the actual portrait of the dog, not the background, I would want to bring life to the portrait through the ashes, which would be more meaningful. That's what I would want to do but I wouldn't know how to achieve it. There will be a way.
Posted
Thank you Robert. I have yet to find out exactly what pose she wants of the dog (whether it includes some surrounding scene etc), and am concerned about how much the ash will texture the surface. C, I lost my cat Sid ('Sid Vicious' to his friends..!) during the lockdown... My buddy of 14 years. He went missing one night, not like him to miss a warm bed and food, and was found three weeks later, under a shrub in a neighbours garden :-( It was quite horrible. Sid is now safely buried in our garden, in his favourite sunbathing spot. Our other cat spent weeks looking for him.... in and out of the house constantly, miaowing loudly as if to say 'I couldn't find him but will keep on looking!'
Posted
It is always so heart breaking when you lose a pet, we still miss our daughter's black Labrador, Bob, he was as daft as a brush and lived till almost 16 and had to put down eventually because of cancer. So i can completely understand the wishes of your daughter to have the ashes somehow incorporated into the painting.
I cannot make up my mind as to where the ashes would be better, in the body of the dog or as a ground texture? I am no help, am i, but it will be interesting to see the portrait when it is finished.
Posted
Well... here's how it went..
I mixed some of the ashes with matt medium to make a kind of paint. Then painted this lightly over the whole dog shape.
After that, I increased the density of the ashes on the more close-up areas. Then for the eyes and nose, I mixed some more ashes with a sculpture gel, so that kind of in a symbolic way the dog is seeing and smelling.
I've now painted the dog (almost done), and after that I'll varnish it.
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