Winter Labrador

by Tina Nichols
(Indiana, USA)

This is a winter scene with a black labrador that has been painted with acrylic craft paints on an 8 1/2" x 11" (21.6cm x 27.9cm) piece of 140 pound cardstock paper.

Like many of my paintings, this one was also inspired by my dog Jake, a labrador retriever.

One night last winter he woke me up in the middle of the night. He needed to go out real bad and he was very persistant. So I got up and let him out to do his business. It was around three o'clock and it was a full moon. The light of the moon was very intense and it reflected beautifully off the white snow in my backyard. I just had to capture that moment.

I started out by preparing my paper. I painted the entire page with antique white and let it dry thoroughly. Then I painted the starry sky and moon and the hills. I added a few pine trees and a small cottage in the background. Then I added the pine trees in the center of the picture, and then the snow covered trees and bushes. To break up the whiteness, I added some fences and a few grasses. I added the dog and shadows last.

If I would paint this picture again I would make the dog a little smaller, he seems to be a little bit too big. This painting is one of my favorites and I was pleased with my shadows and how it turned out. It looks exactly like it did that night.