Paintings With Soul

"Filmore," 6x12, commissioned pet portrait, mixed breed (greyhound) dog painting in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!). I love the soft light that's falling on this gentle dog's head. And how the shape of the piece mirrors his profile. It's a quiet and contemplative painting. Sort of the exact opposite of the kind of day I had, packing up and getting ready to head to the AKC/Eukanaba National Championships tomorrow. I will not be posting any paintings until next Tuesday due to the trip, but if time allows, I may pop in and give you an update. Let you know how my poster unveiling goes, and show you some of the imagery that will be inspiring future dog-a-day paintings. For those of you in the Long Beach, California area, I will be at the AKC booth from 10-2 on Saturday and Sunday. I would love to meet you! Don't forget, too, that next week is Animal Welfare Week (formerly called Shelter & Rescue Week), where I'll be profiling adoptab...

"Dashing Daphne," 8x10, commmissioned pet portrait, acrylic grayhound painting on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!). I needed a smiling face to paint today, and Daphne fit the bill to a T. The exhuberance and delight in her face flowed directly onto my palette, and influenced my color choices. I started by toning the canvas a wonderful apple green, and then sketched Daphne's form in overtop it while still wet. Painting quickly at first, so that I could lift that green and mix it into my shadows, was liberating. Then, after that first layer dried, I went in with glazes of violets and pinks and blues, building the sense of light, and carefully defining my edges. Even though my reference photo was crisp, I wanted to capture that sense of movement - so only Daphne's face has crisp edges, while the rest of the painting seems to fade away. I also pushed her body further from the viewer's eye back into the picture plane by graying the shadows out, instead of m...

“Sandy and Shelby,” 8x16, commissioned portrait of two Italian grayhounds, private collection (thank you!). I’ve broken a couple of my rules with this painting. The obvious being including two faces on one canvas. And a second one – working from a reference photo that is purely black and white. Now the client has provided me with supplemental photos of each of the dogs, so I have a sense of their natural coloring. But I’m working on laying in the colors using supposed knowledge in my head – how a silvery coat turns to blue and lavender in the light, and the various hues apparent in a fawn dog with black points. It’s been a good experience, but one that’s taken me a couple of days. And one, I fear, that has led into a rather exuberant exaggeration of color. But it’s been fun, nevertheless. This painting is subject to additional changes, based on the clients’ feedback. So I’ll most likely be continuing to pick away at it in the background next week. It promises to be a continued excellen...

Today you get two wonderful little pet portraits . I'll let them speak for themselves. "Sadie," 5x7, commissioned corgi pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard. "Derby," 6x8, commissioned grayhound pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard. Both of these pieces are destined as holiday gifts, and are going to a long time dog-a-day reader who has become a good friend (thank you, on both counts!). Yes, it might seem odd to be painting holiday gifts already, but I've been booked for the year's end since July. I even went back and double booked, and based on the interest, could have triple booked. Except that wouldn't have allowed any time for sleep, and I sorta need at least a little bit of that. So, in the days to come, you may be getting one painting. Or you might get two. Some have to be kept secret, so I cannot post them all. But trust me - I will be VERY busy here in the studio. Good thing the holiday season gets rung in these days with Halloween choco...