Paintings With Soul

  This little painting is one of my most popular images for   reproductions.   I love the sauciness of her! She's a great example of brushwork and color, both topics I'm going into deeply with the second session of the pet portraiture demo, which airs live Monday, May 24th at 7pm. Above, the demonstration paintings from Part One. In this session we discussed in great detail concept development, client communication, and reference photo selection. We also addressed substrates, palette management aspects, and got an underpainting down along with the initial block in of Bean. If you wish to catch up, you can watch the session on demand. Full details are   here . And just like that, we are onto Part Two!! continuing right where we left off, I'll explain how I layer my gestural marks, my choice of color, how I mix said color, and a special focus on the importance of the animal's gaze. My goal is to bring at least Beanie's face to completion, and to tie up/s...

"Paul Anka," 8"x10"x1", acrylics on cradled wood panel, private collection (thank you very much!!). Inquiries can always come   to me . It's been 19 years since I hung out my shingle and officially began a new career as a pet portrait artist. With 3 children aged 6 and under, I started painting at the dining room table while they napped, moving into my own studio two years later. My daily painting commitment,   www.PaintingaDogaDay.com , started 4 years afterwards. There have been well over 1000 faces gracing my easel in this time, and I fall in love with each and every one of them. Here's an added bonus for you - I started Paul Anka's portrait   via a live feed on Facebook . You can   watch it   on the studio Facebook page, or if you are boycotting social media like so many others, it is currently uploading to   YouTub e (and taking forever, I might add, so  message me and I'll send you a head's up when it's ready!). It would be re...

"Airplane," 9" x 12", acrylics on cradeled panel, depicting one of my favorite goldens doing his favorite thing. Dogs + water is always a win, unless you are wearing light colors. As always, inquiries may come to me .  I have been slowly reworking this piece, making adjustments that pop Bear's head towards the viewer and add depth to the sluicing water. There's lots of wonderful little passages made all the more fascinating by a slip of a doodled line and dashes of complimentary color. This piece is earmarked for the Historic Yellow Springs Art Show (Chester Springs, PA) this spring. Stay tuned - I'm sending them a dozen little gems. Thanks for your interest in my artwork, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com  

In process, "Still Waters (Bear)," 16" x 20", acrylics on museum quality panel, commissioned portrait of Bear, a Golden Retriever I've painted more often than my own dog, acrylics on a museum quality panel. Ask nicely if you would like one of these portraits starring your pet . View In Process Photos I've been working on Bear's wet coat, the reflections of light, and the contrast balance for most of the day. Doesn't he look absolutely wonderful?! The end is in sight, very very close, but I'm starting to get cross eyed. While I am eager to sign this painting, I am also very aware of the dangers of pressing forward when my head isn't totally clear. Which was one of the toughest things for me to learn - when I need to fully embrace patience, and when it is necessary to power through a difficult passage. So I am going to set him aside for a little this afternoon. Perhaps I'll do some journaling or work on a small...

    "Helper," 30" x 13", portrait of a Golden Retriever, done in acrylics on 1/2" birch hardwood, $899. I see some drawing corrections and a couple other tweaks to this one before I'm 110% happy with it. But he still needs a home for when I'm finished -  email me for purchase details .    This is quite the diversion, painting directly on wood, but it's something I've been thinking about doing for a long time. I still have some kinks to work out - like being patient enough to sand the clear gesso down prior to painting - but I'll get there.   I'm very fond of the combination of wood grain and painterly brushwork. And the  depth inside the snowy ground  is wonderful fun to lose oneself in.   Loads of in process pics on  Facebook .   Now who wants to add Helper to their collection?   I'm off to fire up the grill!! Thanks so much, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com  

    "Precocious," 9" x 12", portrait of a stinking cute German Shorthaired Pointer puppy, acrylics on museum quality panel, available to the first asking nicely for $549.   Ask nicely by  emailing me !   In process pics are  here .   And if this little guy doesn't find a home soon, I'll send him off to a local exhibition. Because while I love shipping and sharing my art around the country, I also think it's important to support art groups close to my own stomping grounds.   And now I'm off to teach tonite's grownUPs Journaling class, where will will be using lyrics as a starting point to create collages. $20 says I come home with glue in my hair.   Thanks so much for following along with my artwork! Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

"A Yorkie Profile," 8" x 10", Golden Open Acrylics on an Ampersand Gessobord, commissioned portrait of a much loved and very missed Yorkie. The painting is a Christmas gift, so please, if you think you know this little one's family, refrain from mentioning a thing. We can keep secrets, right? I shot video footage of this painting in progress - once I get the piece edited and uploaded to YouTube, I'll add it to the Painting a Dog a Day blog . This should be highly entertaining given that I realized mid-stream I was gulping my lunch down, all on camera. Anyone care to join me for a turkey on wheat? Since I'm getting a lot more time at the easel these days (the kids are all over the computer every minute they are home), I can squeeze in a few more holiday portraits. Send me an email and we can start talking about how to get you at the top of someone's list of favorite peeps. Thanks for looking at, and sharing, my artwork with your friends and family...

Untitled, 8" x 10", acrylic painting on board, depicting a litter of mixed breed puppies. This painting is part of the collection of the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation (THANK YOU!!), and will be used as part of their educational efforts related to improving quality of life for homeless animals and pets in Addis Ababi, Ethiopia. I've said it before, but it is a tremendous honor to be partnering with them.   While these pups look cute and cuddly, the reality is that they are street wise dogs who are lucky to see a meal every couple days. There is a strong possibility they will contract rabies or one of many other life threatening diseases, and that's if they are not first killed by a citizen who thinks they are doing their community a favor (by controlling the homeless animal population).   The Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation has partnered with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the Humane Society International in introducing a Trap Spay/Neut...

"Burglar Alarm," 8" x 10", double dog portrait , acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!!). Inquiries may come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . Today I was able to carve out several hours between swim lessons and grocering to do some plein air painting with oils in the back yard. I focused on a frog shaped planter bursting with hens-and-chicks in my daughter's fairy garden (You'll ruin her childhood if you spill the beans that I am responsible for the polished stones and bits of sea glass that get regularly deposited in the yard and under her pillow. Don't even think about telling her that cherished pinch of fairy dust is everyday glitter and white sand. And don't you dare tell her that I'm the one who paints the fairy footprints across various surfaces, either. Please. She'll never forgive me.....) I so enjoyed the birdsongs and overwhelming peace that happened while I was communing with Annie's fairies and my little ...

I am now taking orders for giclees on two of my most popular paintings. "Day One," original painting now in a private collection. Giclees, image sized at approximately 8" x 10" with a generous white margin, $50 plus $15 s&h. $10 from the sale of each "Day One" giclee will be donated in the purchasers' name to Paws With a Cause. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . "Recommended Reading," original painting available for purchase. Giclees, image sized at approximately 11" x 14" with a generous white margin, $50 plus $15 s&h. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . I am thrilled to share that my painting "Wanna go for a walk?", received an honoable mention at the Orion Art Center's All Media Show. If you recall, I mentioned last week that I was excited to see how well my new still life paintings fared in this exhibition. I had animated conversations with many at the opening, each of us sharing memo...

"Gentry," 6" square, mixed breed dog portrait , acrylic on canvasboard, $135 to the first interested buyer. $26 of the purchase of Gentry's painting will be donated to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in the buyers' name. Inquiries may come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. Gentry adores people, can't get enough of them, and doesn't let anything slow him down, despite getting about on 3 legs. He was hit by a car last August, and has had surgery since (including pins, screws and a metal plate in his hip), but still carries one leg around like a dead weight. He's in line for additional testing and xrays to determine the extent of the injury, and what type of care will be required to get him back on all fours. "Brady," 4" x 5", mixed breed dog portrait , acrylic on canvasboard, $105 to the first interested buyer. $20 of the purchase of Brady's portrait will be donated to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in the buyers' nam...