Paintings With Soul

All finished, "Caught," 8" x 12", acrylics on copper panel, portrait of a Golden Retriever complete with ball, $849 to the first asking nicely. As always, inquiries may come to me .  I've been thinking a lot about Daily Painting, the habits it has instilled in me, and how they might - or might not - serve the final painting.  One of my takeaways from my nearly 10 years of daily painting is that, originally, my goal was to complete a painting in a day. In the beginning, painting a 4"x5" portrait in one day was a big challenge, and as I became more comfortable with that, I expanded my focus to include larger and then more complex paintings. However, I have realized that limiting myself to one day just isn't the best approach for the sort of artwork I now want to create. I need to simmer with the paintings, consider and try out various solutions to my intended end. And that can't be boiled down into a specific length of time. ...

In process detail, "Caught," 8" x 12", (detail approximately 6" square of the entire painting surface), acrylics on copper panel, portrait of a Golden Retriever with HER ball, $849 to the first asking nicely. As always, inquiries may come to me .  I am getting caught up in the intricacy of the marks and layers of paint. Wanted to share all the lusciousness of that with you. This part takes time, as I paint the whole image, scratch, sand and distress it, then repeat. Over and over until it looks just right. It's almost just right. Thanks for your interest in my artwork, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com  

You can download the file   directly from my website . I've set up a couple different ways to do this, either via the photo album or a direct link. I am not an expert on operating systems, so if you don't know how to change your desktop wallpaper, please don't email me - I will indubitably steer you wrong. Your computer's help files will be more concise, more knowledgeable and more responsive than I could ever hope to be.  I've sized this to fit a standard screen height of 768 - I realize there are lots of variables that could impact how the file displays on your screen. Let me know if, once you get the file installed, there are display quality issues (keep in mind, too, that options such as "stretching to fit," "tiling" and "cropping" will impact your display, so check those first!). Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Kim

    "Nana Nana Na Na," (must be read in a sing-song voice for full effect), the latest in The Play Ball Series, 5-1/2" x 14", portrait of two goofballs (a Golden Retriever and Yellow Lab), done in acrylics on museum quality panel, $499 to the first  asking me nicely .   And true to my pledge with the other Play Ball paintings, reproductions will be available for the next week. After next Friday, prints will not be available until the original painting sells. So.....  order prints here !!   Per the norm, in process photos are  on Facebook , including a detail of the dogs' faces. (And for the record, that squiggley white line you may see in the image above is NOT in the painting - it's a photoshop extra from stitching together a hi res scan, then downsizing for the blog!!)   Thank YOU so much for following along with my paintings! Happy weekend!! Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

    "Smitty's Ball," from the "Play Ball" series, 6" x 8", acrylic on museum quality panel, portrait of a Jack Russel terrier with his favorite toy, $329.  Inquiries may come  to me. SOLD.   In process pics of Smitty are  on Facebook , and  prints of this gem  will be available for the next week (through Friday, July 5th, 2013).   I'm also still accepting photos for more dogs and balls - submit your pics to me  via email .  By submitting photos, you are ascertaining that you are the photographer and have the right to grant me permission to create derivative paintings from said photos.   Thanks so much! These "Play Ball" paintings are simply fabulous - look at all the inspiration YOU have shared!!   Thanks for supporting my artwork! Enjoy your weekend, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com Play Ball Prints Available   Click on the image below for orderin...

    "Zzzzzz," from the "Play Ball" series, 10" square, portrait of a golden retriever napping with a ball, acrylics on museum quality panel, $539 to the first asking nicely. Inquiries may come  to me  - please and thank you!   For a limited time (until next Wednesday, July 3rd), prints of "Zzzzzz" are available through  my FineArtAmerica storefront .   In process photos  were shared  and much fun was had by all over on Facebook.   Meanwhile, if you want to see your dog translated to paint, send pics of him/her playing ball  to me! ! (I gotta put in the legal stuff - pics must have been taken by you and by submitting photos you are transferring rights to me only for creating derivative work from said photos and guaranteeing that such rights are yours to transfer.)   Thanks for supporting my artwork! Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com   PSST , I have all sorts of other im...