Paintings With Soul

FINISHED: "Wisteria," 24" x 30", acrylics on panel, featuring a harlequin bunny with her wisteria crown. Wisteria has a new home with a long time collector, for which I am very grateful. I'm happy to paint more rabbits - inquiries may always come  to me . Thanks for following along with my artwork, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com   

"Dino's Spotted Nose," 8" x 10", Great Dane dog portrait in Golden Open Acrylics on canvasboard, private collection. Inquiries (including booking your own pet portrait, from miniature size [4" x 4"] to larger than life) may always come to me . Every August my town elects a Doggy Mayor who then becomes the mascot for all sorts of parades and community events (we know how to live it up in these parts!). Among assorted awards and royal treatments, the mayor's family also receives a Dog-a-Day portrait. Today's painting commemorates our current mayor Dino, a gallant harlequin dane. His gaze sorta makes me feel like I should be eating something yummy. Hmmm. I'm off to the fridge to take care of that. Thanks, as always, for looking at - and sharing - my artwork with your friends and family. Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com www.paintingadogaday.com SHOP ORIGINALS & LIMITED EDITION GICLEES: at my Etsy shop ORDER CUSTOMIZED NOTECARDS & ...

"Sir Oliver," 12" square, commissioned harlequin Great Dane portrait in acrylic on Ampersand Gessoboard, private collection (THANK YOU!). Inquiries may always come to me . I've just sent images of this painting to my client for review. This is the worst possible part of the commission process, at least for me. I always think the painting is perfect until I send it off, and then I start second guessing myself. And if it takes my client longer than 10 minutes to respond, I am convinced they hate it. Some say artists are their own worst critics. I know I fit that bill. But, despite waiting to hear back from my client, I am very happy with Oliver's painting (look at the little snippet of pink on his nose!). I think I'll reward myself with a truffle and some sassafras tea. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Oh, and while I was typing this up, the client responded, and he simply loves Oliver's painting. Truffles for everyone!! Thanks, as always, for looking...

If you could only see my studio - I’m getting caught up in that end-of-summer rush, putting finishing touches on a number of canvases that need to be sent off to their respective venues in the coming weeks. There are literally stacks of them against the walls, up on shelves, precariously perched on every flat surface, spilling out of the studio and into the other rooms of the house. I have the best intentions, starting things early, allowing myself all sorts of time to complete the pieces before they are due. But life happens, and I get sidetracked with a zillion other things, and I’m usually caught delivering my work at the last possible minute, sometimes even wet (which is a huge no-no for those readers who happen to be artists – please don’t live by my example!). Today’s painting is one that has sat for a little bit too long (although not nearly as long as some of my others!). It’s one of my new works that will be showcased in a group invitational exhibition at Margot’s Gallery in O...

This is a larger canvas, 14” high by 24” wide, and it’s still very much in progress. Not even yet titled (“The Red Collar” and “Black and White” are two possibilities). The inspiration is a gorgeous great dane, “Harley,” who I met back in the spring, when I shot several hundred photos in preparation for a commissioned portrait . You’ve met Harley already, too, in a couple of dog-a-day portraits, back in April (the 5th and the 20th). As happens when I’m on these photo shoots, I find myself discovering ideas inspired by the animals’ personality or their surroundings – often completly separate from the client’s portrait wants. (Muses are haunting every corner, it seems, and they don’t always restrain themselves to the current subject or goal – for instance those gray tabby brothers that couldn’t keep their noses off my camera lens and the wheaten colored Scottie with his foot fetish.) But in his household, Harley ruled my inspiration pool with a gentlemanly manner. It was The Harley Show,...

"From Behind (Great Dane Study),” 4” x 6”, harlequin great dane dog painting in acrylic on canvasboard, $50. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. A few years back I followed this young great dane around a dog event, shooting pictures of him from every possible angle. I loved the lines of his 1/2 grown body, and the way he loped around. I tried to capture a sense of that in this study from behind – but now I’m wishing I had painted it larger, so that I could have lost myself inside the violets and lavenders in his markings (even though that’s NOT what this painting is about). Perhaps next time – I’ll put these photos back into the “inspiration pile,” and you’ll see this guy again. On another note, after much deliberation, I’ve decided to take a week’s vacation from the dog-a-days. We have a dear friend coming to stay with us for a bit, along with a big shin-dig we’re hosting for the 4th of July. And at the tail end of the week, my husband and I will celebrate our 16...

I am often asked why I stretch preparatory studies for my commissioned portraits out over several weeks. I like to do that because it gives my brain a chance to really wrap itself around a particular dog. Typically I have a handful of commissions patiently waiting their turn on the easel, but there is lots of preparatory work that goes on in the months leading up to their moment in the spotlight. For one thing, I simmer over the breed or dog’s personality, and try to determine the best sort of pose or composition. I seek out examples of the dogs coloring so that I may study them myself, and I try to learn more about breed characteristics when chartering unto unfamiliar territory. Also over the course of time I spend several hours with the reference photos, trying to imagine the dog romping around my yard. What do they look like in the morning sun? What do they look like lounging around? Or gently backlit? Is there a certain way that I can manipulate the lighting to emphasize the animal...

Hearing the wind howl all night, and waking up to 2” of snow just sucked the motivation out of me. Of course, part of that could have also been due to the mountain of laundry and endless household surfaces beckoning for Lysol. I do feel human again, though, which is a huge plus. But I did not curl up on the couch like I wanted to. I did the laundry, and killed two cans of Lysol along with a good amount of bleach. The flu germs should be gone (I don’t want to say that they ARE gone, because I do not want to curse us yet again). And then I painted a dog lazing on the couch. Next best thing to doing it myself, right? This is from a stack of 150+ photos I shot in preparation for a larger painting. Harley is the most handsome harlequin great dane I’ve ever seen, and I am very eager to paint him again and again and again. I may do overkill with the preparatory studies, as his coloring is such a joy to work with, but that’s the beauty of the whole dog-a-day project, isn’t it?! “Lazy (Dane) Da...

Harlequin Great Dane Tongue Study, 4x6, dog painting in acrylic on canvasboard, $50. Available. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com SOLD. Thanks, as always, for looking, Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini www.turtledovedesigns.com distinctive pet portraits & 4-legged paintings