“Fulfillment” by Remington, Hurst is the winner of National Purebred Dog Day’s Eight Annual Fine Art/Poster competition, and is now its official 2024 poster.

“Fulfillment” was chosen by our juror, Nadi Spencer, in a contest of highly imaginative entries.  Ms. Spencer shared her thoughts about her winner:  “The artist included all of the breed groups in a nice composition that keeps your eyes moving about the painting, never stopping. Nice style and good use of color.”

Of his piece, Mr. Hurst wrote: I am passionate about purebred dogs and, particularly, the diversity of purebred dogs both in purpose and appearance. I started with some lists of which breeds I might like to include, then began sketching out ideas in my notebook. Once transferred to the sketchbook where the final piece would be illustrated, I began with a pencil sketch that honed in on poses and rough details, then went in with ink to create a more solid foundation for the piece. Over the next few weeks, I applied layer after layer of color in the form of alcohol markers from a color swatch chart I developed specifically for this piece, and finally added the finishing touches with gel pens and colored pencils.

“I wanted the dogs to appear animated and lively, to express how much fulfilment these dogs derive from doing what they were bred to do. That meant a lot of action poses and a lot of focused expression. I also wanted the composition of the piece to be pleasing to the eye, and so decided on a symmetrical sort of half-and-half composition featuring the juxtaposition of light and shadow while remaining faithful to breed standards.

“When I created this piece, I wanted to highlight not only one breed from each AKC breed group, but to highlight the diversity of the breeds even within those groups, from their appearance to their purpose. I wanted to highlight very popular breeds, like the Standard Poodle and Siberian Husky, but also rare and unique breeds, like the Norrbottenspets, the Puli, and the Central Asian Shepherd. I wanted to incorporate not only breeds I know and love, but breeds that fascinate me; it was difficult to narrow down my list to just a few that highlight the diversity and beauty of purebred dogs.”

Your poster will be sent rolled and encased in plastic wrap and shipped in a white wax tube.