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“Rembrandt,” 4” x 6”, mixed breed acrylic pet portrait on canvasboard, private collection. A special thanks, too, to the Schalk family for their second dog-a-day commission.

(All morning long I was asking myself why I didn’t give my dog a great name like Rembrandt. The name truly fits this guy, too, with all those curls and feathering mirroring the brushwork of his namesake.)

My Rembrandt is full of layers of richly colored violets and blues. He had dark skin from which grew merled waves of fur (merled fur is a dark undercoat punctuated by white hairs, much like liver coloring one might see on a pointer), which created a smokey effect around his muzzle. I used the brushwork to model the loose, curly fur, and allowed color shifts and highlights to build the shape of his skull. This is one painting that really is best appreciated in person – the density of the glazes simply does not translate well to the computer.

Commissioning your own dog-a-day painting is simple – send digital images to me at ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com. Regular photos can be snail mailed to 346 N Anderson, Lake Orion, Michigan, 48362. (I get asked this a lot, but of course I return snailed photos with your portrait!) I acknowledge receipt of your photos with an email, and give you a general timeframe in which you can expect your pet to take his/her turn as dog-a-day.

There’s a host of information about the Painting a Dog a Day project (including commissioning your own dog-a-day) on the website – http://www.paintingadogaday.com/. The entire project (we’re now over 8 months deep of dog-a-day paintings!!) can be viewed on the blog – http://www.paintingadogaday.blogspot.com/ . And you can also receive each day’s painting directly in your mailbox by subscribing to the dog a day newsgroup – www.groups.google.com/group/paintingadogaday - use the “join this group” link on the right hand side of the screen page.

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family!
Kim


Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
http://www.canineartguild.com/
the gateway to canine art on the web

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