Wrigley, A Painted Sketch

"Wrigley," a commissioned portrait and painted sketch of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. The image is approximately 5-1/2" x 3", roughly centered on an 8" x 10" piece of multimedia artists paper, and shortly headed out to his new home (THANK YOU!).

HOWEVER - this one is an intended Christmas gift - there can't be that many CBRs names Wrigley, so if you know him/his family, "mums" the word, ok? Otherwise, you'll get me in big trouble!!

There are a few pre-holiday commissioned spots left - if you act quickly, I can schedule your gift giving on my calendar. Just let me know, as I am not a mind-reader!!

I love to paint friendly, gregarious dogs as though they are dripping with color. It suites their likenesses very well, don't you think?

Last week I added a few new colors to my palette,** and Wrigley's luscious, wet coat gave me the perfect excuse to play with all of them. My new favorite has to be Medium Magenta - it's a great warm pink that adds life to browns and reds.

Thanks, as always, for looking at and sharing my artwork,

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

**I work with what is called a Limited Palette, which means I set the same colors out every day for each of my paintings. I've written about the value of working in a limited palette previously on my blog.

Ebooks Now Available!

Every year I publish a volume highlighting my daily paintings and other studio events. To date, I have authored three:

Painting a Dog a Day(2006-2007)

That's 14 in Dog Years (2008)

Come Sit Stay (2009)

These books can be ordered in traditional bound volumes or inNEW!! (and very affordable) ebook formats.

They are only $9.99 each - yes, it's much lower than the printed volumes, but the information is entirely the same.

Also.....

I'm continuing to edit and put finishing touches on the newest book of daily pet portraits, titled simply Cheers (2010).

And I'm fine tuning a children's book of color, titled A Dog Named Blue.

It is my goal to get both of these books out - via printed volumes AND ebook formats - in time for holiday gift giving.

Watch this blog for publishing date announcements!

“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...

Dear Copyright Thieves

Dear Copyright Thieves, Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking. So let's just stop pretending the internet is a free-for-all. Don't play the card that you didn't know - that's insulting. And don't also tell me that you meant to follow up and get permission but never got a chance to. That's insulting too. And by the way, don't you have a copyright protection notice on your own site? And don't even try and point the finger at a third party who commissioned you to make a copy of my painting - again, an insult - you and I both know the difference between a reference photo and a painting. And don't tell me that I asked for it because I share my artwork on the internet. I share my paintings and ideas and the stories behind them so as to encourage others to pursue their own passions . I do not share so that those lacking integrity and morals can copy and market the images as their own...

Golden Open Acrylics

I get all sorts of process oriented questions. Most recently I've been getting asked a lot about my paints and palette, which made me realize what a nice blog topic this would make! I use a Masterson Sta-Wet Premier palette box . This is comprised of a box (think Tupperware) with a sponge liner and a slice of palette paper that work together to keep my paints wet. This setup allows me to work with the same palette for about a full week, having the box open for multiple hours every day. You can see what the palette looks like at the beginning of a new session above - below the exact same palette after this week's work. For the last 25 years I have used Golden brand acrylics, mediums, and varnish. I love the overall quality of these paints and the fact that, when I have a question, their customer service department is made up of artists who actually use the products. Until last year, I used their Heavy Body paints exclusively. They have a buttery consistency, a little loose...

Paintings With Soul

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