Paintings With Soul

      "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...

"Shelly (Chesapeake Bay Retriever Study)," 8" square, acrylic on canvasboard, $349. Inquiries may always come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .   I've recently become enamored of the square format - I'm reaching for them more so than usual lately. And I've noticed I've begun breaking my compositions down into equal parts - I used to set things off-center most of the time. I'm also consciously choosing complimentary colors whenever possible - as I learn more about the subtleties of color harmony, I'm using compliments instead of saturation to amp things up. Shelly's painting has all three of these packed in!!   Thanks for all the great comments on yesterday's painting - I always enjoy hearing your thoughts. Did you know that you can comment directly on the blog itself? You are welcome to start conversations right here using Google's comment feature.   Thank you to all who have been shopping my etsy store  the past few ...

"Casara Ann," 6" x 12", commissioned dog portrait depicting a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!). I was drawn to Casara's eyes - their intense coloration and the way they changed based on the angle - how the the foreground eye was a deep gold, and the furthest eye read almost as a pink or violet, because of the angle of her face and the lights' reflection. With hindsight, it would have been fun to add some of those curls underneath her cheek. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I paint one of these dogs..... Thank you to everyone who emailed me about Finnigan, too. He came in the door last night, did a head count to make sure everyone was accounted for, then settled in for some serious napping. We all loved having him home for a few hours - the kids even tiptoed to his crate multiple times during the wee hours to whisper in his ear. He returned to the vet for more cocktails today. I'll learn if...

“Chesapeake Bay Retriever Study,” 6” x 12”, dog portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $80. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. This is a nice example of compliments – even though the blues and oranges are muted, they still play together well. I employed some very juicy brushwork on this one, waiting till I had the whole board covered, then using a stiff dry brush to blend my edges all together. After I was happy with the base this process created, I went in with gradually smaller brushes, leaving my “hashmarks” with stronger edges, and creating contrast. I like the relaxed feel of this one – the dog is content, and the light is soothing. Makes me want to go sit on a dock somewhere and dangle my toes in the water. 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...