Animated and Cartoon Dogs

George P. Dog & Foghorn Leghorn
by Robert McKimson

Many of my favorite breeds of dogs have been captured in animated cartoons over the years. Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, and Walt Disney animators created some of the most memorable canine characters. My personal favorite is Looney Tunes' Barnyard Dawg (a.k.a. George P. Dog), the Basset Hound nemesis of the rooster Foghorn Leghorn. Foghorn would famously taunt the dog, knowing the limit of his tether.

Droopy the Dog
by Tex Avery

Another early (1957) Basset Hound character was Droopy.

Astronaut Snoopy (Pintrill)

Beagles were also popular choices for dog toons such as Peanuts’ Snoopy, Underdog, Gromit, and even Mr. Peabody from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Charles Schulz's Snoopy is of course my favorite. In college, I used to draw Snoopy dressed in various costumes, sports uniforms, etc.

I don't have any of my own drawings anymore, so I took this one from an Internet ad for Peanuts lapel pins.

Spike & Tyke
by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera

When I moved off campus in college, I would get home from class in the afternoon in time to watch Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry. Spike the Bulldog made his first appearance in 1942 in the cartoon Dog Trouble. He was later joined by Tyke, a bulldog puppy. Much later in 1979, Hanna-Barbera introduced Scrappy-Doo to the Scooby-Doo cartoon series about the adventures of a Great Dane playing detective. The Jetsons' Astro was also a Great Dane. The Flintstones' pet was a small dinosaur named Dino who barked like a prehistoric 'dog'.

Auggie Doggie & Doggie Daddy
by Hanna and Barbera

When my roommates' dogs had puppies, I claimed one of the males from the litter and named him Auggie after Hanna-Barbera's Auggie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. My puppy was a small gold and white Spaniel mix rather than a Dachshund. Garfield's Odie has been thought to be a Dachshund mix.

Hanna & Barbera's
Huckleberry Hound

Who can forget Huckleberry Hound, the (blue) Coonhound. Another Hanna-Barbera lesser-known cartoon sidekick is the Bloodhound Snuffles from Quick Draw McGraw.

Wacky Races'
Muttley the Dog

I also like the character Muttley, who is known as the foil to the cartoon villain Dick Dastardly from 1968's Wacky Races. I recently watched It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) which curiously may have been the model for this ensemble cartoon. Lots of well-known celebrities were racing around looking for the treasure buried under "The Big W" by Jimmy Durante's character. Great movie!

Lady and the Tramp
by Artist Eyvind Earle

Disney's Lady and the Tramp (1955) is an animated movie about a Cocker Spaniel named Lady and her beau, a mutt named Tramp. Then in 1961, One Hundred and One Dalmatians was released starring Pongo and Perdita (Purdy) as the prolific parents of a litter of 15 puppies. When the puppies are stolen by the evil Cruella de Vil, 84 more become adopted after being rescued.

Disney's Nana

Disney's Peter Pan (1953) included Nana the St. Bernard as the nursemaid pet of the Darling children. In 1991's Hook, Nana was an Old English Sheepdog, then in the 2003 version of Peter Pan she was replaced by a St. Bernard. In James M. Barrie's book, Nana was a Newfoundland, after his household pet. We have a black Newfoundland named Newman in our neighborhood. 

Ren by Bill Wray

The adult cartoon, Ren and Stimpy (1991) is about a Chihuahua named Ren (Höek) and a cat named Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat. The characters were created by John Kricfalusi and illustrated by cartoonist Bill Wray. Some of the subject matter caused some episodes to be banned from TV.

Snuffles by artist Devaun Dowdy

Another adult animated (sitcom), Rick and Morty (2013), features a Maltese named Snuffles (a.k.a. Snowball). Apparently the pet's name was changed back-and-forth. We had a Maltese pair, Bogey and Bella for over 14 years. We've had a male Havanese-Pekingese-Poodle for the past two years.

Dug & Alpha from Up

Disney/Pixar's computer-animated film (2009) Up won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2010. It features protagonist Golden Retriever Dug and antagonist Doberman Pincer Alpha. Both dogs were equipped with collars that allowed them to speak human; Alpha's device malfunctioned making his voice high-pitched like he had inhaled Helium.

Making Connections with Artists & Animals

The Old Guitarist (1903-4), Picasso

Many of my posts connect art elements and principles to the artists and movements that were inspired by them. Two websites that I recently visited argue that an artist's fame comes from the connections they made with other artists rather than from their own creativity:

Study Finds Artists Become Famous through Their Friends, Not the Originality of Their Work and

Artists Can Become Famous Through Connections and Not Their Creativity

I like to look for famous artwork in movies and on TV. Picasso's The Old Guitarist frequently appears in episodes of Bewitched, which I watch repeatedly in reruns. It was hung rotated 90 degrees to the right to fit over the Stephens' fireplace. The Cleavers' front door on Leave it to Beaver is flanked by by Sir Thomas Lawrence's Pinkie (1794) and Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy (1770). Officers Row on Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA even displayed this pair (in needlepoint) in the dining room of one of the houses we rented there. I hadn't connected the two Thomas's.

One of my posts identifies the Fathers of Art Movements and further mentions the social network of member artists who shared similar visions that inspired their own unique styles and interpretations. Picasso developed his style by admiring African sculpture, particularly traditional African masks and ancient Egyptian art, as well as Iberian sculpture. He was influenced by the art of Paul Klee, as well as French painters Paul Cézanne and Eugène Delacroix.

Las Meninas (1957), Picasso

In 10 Quotes from Famous Artists - My Own Interpretation, Picasso is quoted as saying, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." In 1957, Picasso rescued a dachshund named Lump who had been diagnosed with a spinal condition. He lived 10 years longer than expected and died 10 days before his master. Picasso featured Lump as the dog in his recreation of Diego Velázquez' Las Meninas (1656).

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, and Gustav Klimt were all influenced by Japanese art. Van Gogh's interpretations can be seen hanging on the walls of his bedroom in his own paintings. His "The Angelus (After Millet)" is almost a direct copy of Jean-François Millet's painting but with his own color scheme.

Head of a Dog (1882), Monet

Claude Monet's garden is famous for its Japanese footbridge, which is prominent in his Waterlilies series. We visited his garden in Giverny, France in May 2011 on our trip to France and Italy. Monet was influenced by Manet, Boudin, Hokusai and Jongkind. Monet also painted animals, such as the domesticated turkeys I mentioned in my recent Thanksgiving Artwork post. He even painted a dog's head.

Doge Andrea Gritti (c1545), Titian

Continuing with Japanese connections, there is an Internet meme called doge which first appeared in 2013 and is based on a Japanese Shiba Inu dog named Kabosu. The word doge actually refers to an Italian magistrate from Venice or Genoa, dating back to the 16th century. It is also a word that is popular in the game of Scrabble. My daughter recently returned from a visit to Italy that included Venice. Her Korean village dog is a rescue that she originally thought was a Shiba Inu. 

One of my colleagues at Paws with Cause creates whimsical portraits of shelter animals dressed in regal attire. I love this portrait of Pepe the Dog. Pepe would qualify as the Doge of his animal shelter. While my friend and fellow resident artist is not famous, she is certainly creative!

Lady with an Ermine (c1490), da Vinci

The next artist on the mindshare index of famous artists is Leonardo da Vinci. He was influenced by Lorenzo de Medici, John Argyropoulos and Andrea del Verrocchio. I like how his Mona Lisa (1503) has been called a counterpart to Vermeer's The Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) -- a.k.a. "the Mona Lisa of the North." I like his unusual Lady with an Ermine (c1490). The ermine (similar to a ferret) is a member of the family Mustelidae. The Washington Ferret Rescue and Shelter in Kirkland, WA  has ~150 ferrets looking to be adopted as fur-ever pets. While they aren't currently supported by Paws with Cause, they certainly seem worthy of support. I wish I had a ferret portrait to show you!

Le Civilisateur (1946), Magritte

The next artist on the list is Surrealist Salvador Dali, who was influenced by Pablo Picasso, René Magritte and Joan Miró. Dali often included animals in his dreamlike paintings and has been photographed walking his anteater and petting his ocelot (See Surrealists and Their Pets.). Magritte's portrait of his pet Pomeranian-Spitz, fetched €489,000 in March 2018. Just think of the shelter pets we could support with that kind of Euro!

Kachina, le chien de Peggy Guggenheim (1946), Ernst

Max Ernst's portrait of his Pekingese, Kachina looks more like a lioness of grand scale in this Hopi landscape. Apparently, he had lived with American art collector Peggy Guggenheim (her dog?) before marrying American artist Dorothea Tanning.

Valse bleue (1954), Tanning

Tanning also painted an oversized Kachina in her Blue Waltz later in 1954. The painting is certainly surreal and the color scheme reminds me of paintings of couples by Marc Chagall. Some websites defined Kachina as a Lhasa Apso Terrier, rather than a Pekingese, which suits the lion reference better.

Le chat aux poissons rouges
(1914), Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was influenced by Asian and African art, Post-Impressionists Gauguin, Cézanne, and Van Gogh, and his Mentor, Camille Pissarro. He was also a lover of animals, mainly cats, dogs, and doves. See The Friday Art Cat for Matisse's Interior with Goldfish (1914) and a second Etsy version by Deborah Julian where she adds Matisse's two cats -- Minouche and Coussi, or a black cat named la Puce (the flea). Here is his The Cat with Red Fish. I love these happy paintings. This one is reminiscent of others painted in the same room with the red printed wallpaper and window to the outside.

You may also like to read about The Most Famous Arty Pet Lovers And Their Furry Friends. For example, Georgia O'Keeffe's first dog was a poodle named Pancho, and she also had a total of six Chows as pets over her lifetime. Like Picasso, Andy Warhol favored dachshunds and kept two as pets.

Thanksgiving Artwork

Frank the Turkey by Larissa Lindsay (2021)

One of my colleagues from Paws with Cause painted this portrait of Frank the Turkey. I'm not sure how Frank wound up at an animal shelter. Unlike traditional domesticated pets, turkeys only live 3-5 years. The domestic white-feathered turkey is usually the star of the show when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, while the more colorful wild turkey is smaller and has darker more flavorful meat. The largest domestic turkey on record weighed an amazing 86 pounds!

On our way home from Palm Springs in March 2020 we saw a couple of wild turkeys roaming around the parking lot of one of the hotels where we stayed in California. In most states it's illegal to keep wild animals in captivity as pets.

The Turkeys at the Chateau de Rottembourg,
Montgeron (1877), Claude Monet

I was surprised to find this painting of domesticated white turkeys by Impressionist Claude Monet. Although I had been to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris in May 2011, I don't recall seeing this painting there. It was one of four panels commissioned by Ernest Hoschedé, a department store magnate in Paris. Soon after, he lost his Impressionist collection to bankruptcy.

The Magpie (1868-9), Monet

Monet's Magpie is my favorite of his paintings. I blogged about it in my January 2021 post entitled Snow Scenes in Painting and Photography. The small subject of this painting is perched atop a fence amidst this dramatically beautiful snow scene.

November First (1950), Andrew Wyeth

In my search for other artwork of the Thanksgiving season, I happened upon this watercolor painting by Andrew Wyeth. It's representative of the time when most if not all of the leaves are gone and the weather is turning crisp and cold. You can almost feel the wind.

The Potato Eaters (1885), Van Gogh

Although Van Gogh's The Potato Eaters is not a Thanksgiving painting per-se, I include it here as a fine example of people giving thanks for what they have. I appreciate his treatment of light and minimal color palette. Although dark and predominantly green and black, you can still feel the warm glow on the peasants' faces provided from a single light source.

Freedom from Want (1942),
Norman Rockwell

I want to end this post with the classic American Thanksgiving feast portrayed by Norman Rockwell in one of his Four Freedoms paintings. Entitled Freedom From Want, it represents an idealized and bountiful feast being shared by friends and family. I show it in contrast to Van Gogh's meager peasant meal (above). Notice how the people around the table are yacking it up and enjoying each other's company, not noticing the entrance of main entrée. And Grandpa isn't offering to help Grandma carry the heavy turkey to the table. Rockwell does an amazing job of capturing the white-on-white of the china, glassware, and tablecloth.

Animal Portraits with Seniors

I am now officially a Lead Art Docent at Assisted Living Centers here in South King and Pierce Counties. Painting portraits of shelter animals is a fun and engaging activity for Seniors. As with many of my art activities time is always a factor. While our Paws with Cause Sit-Stay-'N'-Play parties typically last 90 minutes, the Seniors seem to need more time to finish their masterpieces. We had four tables, including two at which staff members were present, and my volunteer and I were floating around replenishing supplies and changing water. Next time I plan to assign one helper at each table.

One of my helpers was a Staff person who recently hired on at the Assisted Living Center. She had painted before and managed to complete her portrait of Oso the Dog.

Another interesting animal was a cow wearing a party hat. The gentleman who chose the bovine subject seemed to enjoy painting the hat and horns. This is when I would suggest painting in the background and maybe leaving the body for last.

Several of our artists jumped right in and got down to the business of painting the most prominent color of the animal's fur, while others preferred to start with the facial features. I encouraged one person to mix a color for the body of her German Shepard.

One of our artists spent most of her time outlining the features of her white cat and chose to limit her palette. She simply used black paint to suggest texture on the cat's coat. She carried on and used black for the front paws in shadow. The cat's tail saw the beginnings of Pointillism that had time permitted would have been an awesome technique to finish with.

                    

My volunteer's Mother chose to paint her white dog brown. Personally, I find it most challenging to paint white or black animals. Either way, there needs to be subtle shading using light or dark grays to achieve the desired effect.

Here are two kitten examples where one artist painted the animal all in brown as if to avoid painting the eyes, while the other artist was inspired to start her portrait with the eyes. Next time I need to encourage usage of the large mixing area in the center of the palette!

 

Animal Portraits

Queen from the Humane
Society of Tacoma and
Pierce County

Learning to paint a portrait of an animal is much easier than you'd think. All it takes is practice. The eyes are the most important feature to get right, along with capturing the facial expression. No matter what the subject, most artists will begin their painting with a sketch.

For our Paws with Cause portraits of shelter animals, we start with a photo of the potential adoptee. Sometimes the photo will include the whole body. I personally prefer more of a close-up view. We sketch the animal onto a blank (8X10) canvas using permanent marker. 

My Traced Sketch of Queen

Once you're satisfied with the sketch, we often suggest going over the lines using puff paint to preserve a tactile feel to help seniors stay within the lines, especially if eyesight is an issue. Whether at our Sit-Stay-and-Paint parties or leisurely painting at home each canvas already comes pre-sketched.

My Sketch of Bo

Bo from Forgotten
Dogs Rescue

Some painters may find it easier to start with the background. Others may jump right in and work on the facial features. It really doesn't matter where you start. Using acrylic paint allows you to build up layers as you go. Don't worry about making a mistake; the paint dries quickly and can be easily touched up later.

Many experienced artists use their sketch to define the proportions and placement within the rectangle. Some painters may depend more upon the lines as guides. Remember that the face is the most important part. In my painting, I will keep Bo's teal harness but edit out the orange leash.

Another approach is to consider painting within the areas defined by the lines that have been drawn. If you work in a small area at a time, then the areas encapsulated by the lines become areas of colored shapes. Don't forget that the printed photo is always there to reference for those details that may now be covered up with color.

Once the initial layers have been established it's time to begin to add textural details such as fur, shading, and highlights to give your portrait dimension (such detail may spill over into the background). I tend to spend most of my time on the subject and less time on the background. With watercolors, I like to wash over larger areas with diluted colors with the intention of going back later with more saturated colors.

Perhaps you started your painting with a solid color in the background (be sure to mix enough of the base hue). If so, then this would be the time to make it more interesting and fun. That's totally up to you! I chose to finish with a beachy background for my portrait of Bo. Our family dogs love frolicking on the beach. Though most beaches don't allow dogs to be off-leash, My daughter takes her dog to a waterfront off-leash dog park in Edmonds, Washington.

Here's a watercolor painting I did of three dogs at the Palm Springs Dog Park. On the left is a printout of the photo I took. And on the right is the finished painting.

Here is what it looked like partway through the process. You can see my light brown colored pencil lines in the sketch. After washes and layers of watercolor paint, my lines could no longer be seen.

Athenaeum (1795),
from the Smithsonian
National Gallery

An Allegory of
Virtue

While on a trip to the UK in 2017, we visited the Scottish National Gallery. Hanging there was this unfinished painting by an unknown artist. Everything but the central figure was painted first, including the background. Such studies are for an artist's own use and not intended to be displayed. One such artist is American portrait artist, Gilbert Stuart, who used an unfinished portrait of George Washington (“Athenaeum”) as the model for all future portraits of our first President. He used it as the basis for his engraving on the one dollar bill.

Sketching an image on a pumpkin is a little more challenging. It is important to clean the outside of your pumpkin before sketching. I've never used carbon paper for this. Some people print out a pattern and poke tiny holes along the outlines. Permanent marker works best, and don't be afraid that you will see the lines after carving because the pumpkin will sweat during carving. I use soapy water or Windex to remove more stubborn marks.

For pumpkin carving, you will need to decide upon the positive-negative space. Decide what is to be cut away (showing the light) and what is left behind (the dark skin). If you want a middle ground (gray tone) then you will need to peel the skin to the desired depth for just the right glow. This also works well for skulls. When peeled the face shows up in daylight and becomes creepier at night.

For my Husky pumpkins, I did a really challenging one with a Washington 'W' in the background. I love how the bright spot of the candle made the husky's face look white! Admittedly, there is also a toothpick to attach the floating eye.

This year I found a much easier design online that uses simple cutouts. I intend to use blue translucent pony beads for the eyes. Notice how much more 3D the dog looks with the head turned at a slight angle. The important thing to remember when taking away the flesh is to be mindful of the structure of what's left behind. We need to balance the positive and negative space in our design. I can already see that the left side of the snout is going to be a problem!

I decided to use one of the smaller pumpkins that we grew in our garden this year, since I intend to use this design for my online class. The entire back side of this gourd was rotten, so I decided to gut it from the back, leaving a large opening. Later, I performed a repair using the back of another small pumpkin, just like Dr. Frankenstein would have done (never done this before). As you can see, I had to resort to a toothpick to support the snout!

When I did the raven pumpkin with the large moon in the background, I had to support the head and beak with a toothpick because of shrinkage as the pumpkin began to dry out and rot. So don't carve those jack-o-lanterns too early!

On Halloween day at the Everett Farmers Market, I will be demonstrating pup-kin carving. Alas, they aren't shelter animals that Paws with Cause supports, although they show many of the techniques required to do an animal portrait on a pumpkin. There will be lots of scraping. Luckily, I purchased a set of linoleum block printing cutters from Amazon!