Pet Portraits

I made time for a couple of pet portraits in August too. I was able to photograph the chihuahua myself -which is always helpful when you're doing a painting. I was struck by how delicate and tiny she was. This is a 9" x 12" painting but she is about life size--weighing in at three pounds.

Panda, a shih tzu from Columbus, was another project I worked on and his owner was very happy with the painting, which included a detailed background.

Adorable

I always tell the client to send me more than one picture of their pet when they commission a painting. Often one photo will present a better view or angle than another. I like to have choices. I think that after all these years of creating paintings I may have a better idea of what will make a painting work. Sure, I can reproduce a photograph exactly and make the painting look like the picture, but where's the fun in that? I want to leave my own imprint on it.

Fran gave me three pictures and while the little dog's head is half-buried in the blanket here and is showing clearly in the other two, I still felt drawn to this one. There is emotion here. The little dog seems to be tucked in for the night with his blanket and his favorite toy.

So I changed the angle of the bed a little and I moved the eyes of his "baby" so it appears to be looking at him and the painting immediately became more compelling. Now he is looking at us and his doggy doll is looking at him. It's a fun painting now, not just a painting of a dog lying down on a bed.

11" x 14" Oil on Canvas