Canine Soul Mate

"Canine Soul Mate", 30" x 39", ink, acrylic, & graphite on synthetic paper. (c)2011 by Howard Salmon

This painting is about the strong bond that people have with their dogs. The dog pictured in the painting above is MY dog; he lay at my feet as I was tacking the drawing surface to the wall, in preparation for this painting.  This piece reminds of a combination of Marc Chagall and Walt Disney: those diffuse areas of primary color, as well as the way the dog appears to float...and also, the  zany line up of cartoon characters that reminds me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

I'd initially chosen a rainbow as a device to organize this picture, so I could have a rainbow land in a bowl of dog food. (The working title initally was "At the end of hte Rainbow...is your dog"). The dog's body position mimics the rainbow arc of the dog shape.  I painted the dog in Antique Gold paint, as did I the dog bones in each of the four corners, just to emphasize how precious dogs are to people: might as well get 'em gold plated!

At the bottom of the picture is Charles Darwin, talking to one of his finches, and contemplating inter-species friendships between humans and animals. The top half of the picture shows double portrait of a dog and his owner (the bald bearded man), arranged in a heart formation. At the center is a fat laughing Buddha character, to reinforce the happy spiritual quality I was going for. Two of my Muses are hanging out in the right side of the picture.