Holiday Portrait Give Away

"Symmetry in White," acrylic on canvasboard, 6" x 12", exquisitely framed and ready for delivery to the 49th Annual Thumb Exhibition which opens later this week. Inquiries may come to me.

Ahh, summer's officially over. At least in these parts, since the kids got on their respective buses this morning and headed to school. The house seems empty, but it won't take me long to find solace in the studio. The dog certainly didn't waste time in finding a key napping spot and checking out for the morning.

I hope everyone had a glorious summer full of skeeter bites and bar-b-qs and late night laughter around campfires, for that's what summertime is all about in these parts. We did that and then some and then a little more. There didn't seem to be enough time to get to everything we would have liked, but we gave it an honest try, and had a darned great time in the process.

But now it's back to work, with a vengeance.

This week I'm volunteering at Starkweather Gallery, helping to receive artwork and facilitate the jury process for the 49th Annual Thumb Show Exhibition which opens this coming Friday. I've also been called up for jury duty at the tail end of the week. So despite my itching to return to the daily painting routine, it looks as though things will need to be held off for a little longer.

However, it's long past time that I share an opportunity with you, one that I've tweeted (follow ksantini) and facebooked (Kimberly Kelly Santini) about in the last couple weeks.

I'm giving away - totally for free, no strings attached - two portraits for holiday gift giving, approximately 6"x6" each, valued at over $250 each. I've scheduled these paintings for the week of November 2nd, 2009, which gives the lucky recipients the opportunity to have a painting created for someone special on their lists. I'll also offer the option of a gift certificate, should the winner(s) not have immediate access to reference photos or wish to involve others in the actual portrait process.

How do you qualify to win your own Dog-a-Day portrait? It couldn't be any easier - you sign up for a new subscription to the Painting a Dog a Day emails (sign up over here on the right). If you are already a subscriber, no problems either - just refer Painting a Dog a Day to your friends and family and receive one portrait raffle ticket for each new subscriber you bring on board (again, sign up over here on the right). You gotta do either of the above by the end of this month - September 2009.

I'll raffle off one portrait to a brand new subscriber, and one portrait to those loyal referring subscribers (both to be chosen completely at random, perhaps by a total stranger I pull off the street). Winners will be notified by October 7th, 2009. Portrait completion relies upon winners' ability to provide quality reference photos prior to November 1st, 2009. Obviously odds of winning are relative to participation levels, but you are pretty much guaranteed not to win if you don't enter.

This is my way of thanking all of you who have followed along and shared my journey. And to those of you who are just joining, consider it a warm welcome. A huge part of Painting a Dog a Day is the giving back bit - whether it's sharing information or donating to animal rescue/welfare, or now, bringing original artwork into your home and on your walls. It's always my pleasure.

On another note, I've gotten an email from a subscriber that she hasn't been able to read the Painting a Dog a Day emails as of late - that they are coming through as a blank email with a big red "X". I redesigned the emails in August and fear that she may not be alone. Please let me know if you are having the same problems - shoot me an email if you are, and let me know what your email program is and what your Dog-a-Day email looks like, and I'll see if I can't get to the bottom of this.

For that matter, if your emailed Dog-a-Day ever looks honkey, you can visit www.PaintingaDogaDay.com and see the real thing for yourself without having to rely on your email server or any of that other stuff.

Ok, think that's it for now. For now. There's always more to come.

Thanks as always for following along - and recommending!! - Painting a Dog a Day to your friends and family.

Talk very soon,

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

“Katie’s Moustache,” 6x12, pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $90. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . One glimpse of Katie’s face, and I was hooked. Not only did she fall into my beloved “black & white” category, but she came with a full moustache and doe-like eyes. I first covered the canvas with a variety of blues and purples, using a (mixed) light green and pink for the highlights. (Right now my palette has been expanded to include the following: pthalo blue red, azurite hue, cad red dark, alizarine crimson, cad yellow dark, and then for graying/hazing out I use light green yellow and ultramarine purple.) I lighten with titanium white and darken with one of the blues and a touch of one of the reds. As a side note, at this time last year I was really struggling with my limited palette (I went from about 60 pots of paint to 3), but I have lived the benefits – I am so much more familiar with what I can mix given just this handful of colors. My paintings are also m...

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