Dictionary Dog

This piece is entitled Dictionary Dog.  No drawing ability required, just imagination and creativity.  My inspiration for him came from a Pottery Barn children's catalog.  I bought an old desk a few months back and it had a make-shift drop leaf desk top on the side of it that just looked like an add-on.  So I took it off and saved the discarded piece of wood.  We painted it Rustoleum Heirloom White.  I had purchased a greeting card with dogs on it and chose one of the images for the sign.  I blew it up on my color copier so it was big enough to put under my artist's projector. 

Here is the unused portion of the desk.  Just slapped some paint on it and it was a blank canvas.

Using the art projector, I projected the image on the copy onto the blank board.  I sketched around it with a pencil which did not show up in the photos so I outlined with the black craft paint where my sketch lines were so it would be visible in the photo.

 I filled in the silhouette with black paint, being careful to map out the eyes that I had sketched from the dog print.  I filled in his collar with red to give a little contrast.

When I letter any sign, I map all my words out on paper so I know the spacing will be correct and fit on my piece the way I want it.

 I stenciled with black craft paint everywhere I wanted printing.  Then I went in with watered down gray paint and shadowed the letters to give them dimension.  Basically I wet the brush, blot it on a paper towel and dip just one corner of a flat brush and shade the image.  I only shadowed the left sides of the letters and the bottom.  I did not outline the whole letter.  That way the letters do not appear flat.

After all the lettering was done and the dog was painted, I sanded back the whole piece with my mouse sander and went over it with some Jacobean Minwax stain.  Just a light coat to age the whole painting.

The end result is an adorable dog painting on wood.  Doesn't he look happy to be brought to life?  Great for a child's room or family room.  I will seal this with a clear spray.  If you want to put him outside, spray him with a suitable outdoor clear spray.  He should last for years.