Artist: George Rodrigue "Blue Dog Speaks"



Whenever I think of creating dogs in unreal colors I think of George Rodrigues' Blue dog series. Rodrigue is a great advocate for kids art and donates his time and money to bring blue dog to sick children. For our inspiration we use a work from George Rodrigue's book "Bue Dog Speaks" called “ In My Heart You’ll Live Forever" from 1995. Rodrigue is a Cajun artist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana. He is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog, attributed to his deceased dog named Tiffany. The blue-hued, ghostly spaniel/terrier is often featured with a white nose and yellow eyes. In this Rodrigue painting the Blue Dog is sitting next to a pot of flowers. Students get to color their dog in a multitude of unreal colors. We use color and shape to create dimension and interest.
Materials: Sketching pencils, heavyweight paper, watercolor pencils or oil pastels.

Step #1: Draw guidelines down the center and across the middle of the page. Draw a oval for the dogs head as show below.
Step #2: Draw the dogs eyes, snout and ears.
Step #3: Draw the dogs short stubby body.
Step #4: Draw a line behind the dog for floor and add a flower pot.
Step #5: Add your own details. Now time to add some color. Have fun, be creative.

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