Showing posts with label wiener dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wiener dog. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Illustration Friday

Penelope in Bed, Mixed Media
This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "Sweet."
I couldn't help myself.
Here is Penelope in Bed - and this is really how my dachshund goes to sleep.

Illustration Friday

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Daschund Race

I just found out - to my delight - that California State University Fullerton (CSUF) has decided to acquire my painting "Dachshund Race" for the university's permanent art collection.

Dachshund Race by Laura Hoffman, Mixed Media


Dachshund Race was inspired by an assignment to create a painting that is full of action. So I decided to challenge myself by painting a point of view one seldom sees. Dachshunds (also known as wiener dogs) are hilarious dogs - so low to the ground. So why not show a point of view that is even lower than a doxie's?

For the main character, I picked the dog I grew up with - my first exposure to the lure of the dachshund. Since then my sister Karen and I have fallen in love with the breed. The dog on the left is my current muse, Penny. Next dog is Ari, who was my 2nd doxie and the focal point is Jupi, my first dachshund ever. I loved that guy. He was also my first loss; when I was 13, he was hit by a car and we grieved as if we lost a sibling. The Dackels (German word for dachshunds) on the right are future dachshunds that will most likely come into my life - that is why they're painted with less detail - I just don't know them yet.

They all have the same goal, to hit the finish line and land in the arms of the one person they are loyal to. That is the thing with dachshunds; they pick one person to love and that one person becomes their absolute focus.

This painting has made the rounds; has been exhibited at two juried exhibits this year: The Brea MFA show and the OC Fair. Now it has found a permanent home after making its debut at CSUF in a three woman MFA art exhibit in December 2011 alongside Barbara Malley and Wendy Grieb, my colleagues at CSUF. So now the painting has gone full circle.

I am especially excited because CSUF is my alma mater - I earned my Bachelors of Art in Art there (go, Titans!) and now I'm back - earning my MFA - with a concentration in illustration, graduating in 2014.  Currently, I have the honor of teaching 2D design at the university.

To know this painting will hang there long after I'm gone makes me very happy.


Wednesday, August 1, 2012

My Muse: Penny the Dachshund

Three summers ago, we rescued a 7 year old dachshund named Penny. Though I have grown up with dachshunds, as an adult I've always had cats - and love cats.

When Penny came into our lives, everything changed. We bonded immediately. She has us wrapped around her powerful little paws. Now she is our spoiled and indulged little friend, who charms everyone in her wake.

Being a hilarious little dog, she has inspired a new book project, starring herself!

Here, she is doing what she does best - going to bed after a long day of playing, sleeping, walking, romping, eating, sleeping more and getting petted. This might be the dust cover jacket.



 Originally, her co-star was going to be another dachshund - a puppy, but that has since changed.



Here are some sketches of Penny, the main character for the book project:


I'm working on capturing Penny from different views. She just turned 11 and moves a little slower now, so she keeps a pose long enough to draw her from life.

The paintings are drawn traditionally with graphite. I like the energy of the original drawn line  to show up under transparent washes of paint.  Over the next year, I hope to complete sketches (called a "dummy") for a 32 page picture book that features Penny as its star character.