Christmas Painting 2009

"Guess Who's Coming to Christmas Dinner"

24 x 20" oil on wrap around canvas (Terry d. Chacon)

Every year I paint a Christmas painting to add to my collection. You can view past paintings on my website under giclee prints/seasonal. This painting will also be available in giclee and notes. This year I used a photo submitted by Debbie Rogers from Texas. Thank you Debbie!

When I received the photo from Debbie, I took one look at it and my mind starting racing. I had been trying to come up with a theme for my yearly Christmas painting and knew this would be the one. After getting permission from Debbie I drew my ideas out on a sketch pad and then on the canvas

and proceeded after with a wash.

There were 5 puppies in the original photo, I took the puppy out in the middle of the back seat (a black and blue) to add the Christmas present. The Santa is Debbies husband who was helping to keep the puppies in the convertible so Debbie could take their photo. I loved the innocence of the puppies. Each puppy has a different look; curious, precious, mischievous, perfect for any Holiday painting. I have no idea how they managed to keep them in the car, but the photo was priceless and I knew it would make a very special Christmas painting.

After letting the wash dry I painted the complete painting using my palate knife. I love the effects of the palate knife. The palate knife is what I use to paint my plein air paintings and have done a couple studio pieces too. I am liking this effect more and more. Working with the palate knife leaves a lot of paint on the canvas, you can move it around with ease, like buttering toast. It was also a challenge working with all the whites in the photo. Each white has a different color mixed in so it separates them from each other. Actually was a challenge but a lot of fun and I really like the end result.

Looking forward to your comments.

Until next time enjoy the ART! Terry d. Chacon