Great Dane Portrait

My son has a Harlequin Great Dane named Khloe who is nine years old and I painted this piece from a photo he sent me that was taken when she was five. She's a sweet, gentle dog with a queenly air. When she walks into a room or anywhere, for that matter, people notice her.

Khloe 11" x 14"
oil on canvas

Pet Portrait

When your dog passes away and you want to get your wife a painting of him, but you realize you never really took any good pictures with a camera BUT you have a cell phone photo.

This is the worst case scenario, but it is workable, due to Google having hundreds of images of dogs that resemble yours just in case the image you have is missing a leg or the top of the dog's head etc.

Seriously, if you think you might want to commission a painting of your dog (or your wife, or your cat), at some future date, take a nicely lit photo of the subject outside in the shade.

This is a Labradoodle, I think. Maybe a Goldendoodle. He didn't really say. But I liked working life size.

16" x 20"

Oil on canvas

Cockapoo Puppy

The client's only reference was a 3" x 5" faded photograph of her husband's beloved best friend, who lived to be seventeen. The picture showed the dog as a puppy, and was faded and discolored. She scanned the photo and emailed me and this is the result. Elvis, or Elvi, as he was known, looked like a happy little guy.

9" x 12" oil  on canvas

Rango- an Aussie mix

Rango - 11" x 14" oil on linen

An unusual view for a dog portrait but I loved the expression in the reference photo provided by the client. He is a rescue dog- an Aussie mix and very intelligent.

A Sheltie Named Joy

This is a painting of a Sheltie named Joy. I find these collie type dogs as hard to paint as wolves. Now that I've done this one I'm ready to do one of my Border Collie/Aussie mix. He is a beautiful boy, but he doesn't care much for strangers.

8" x 10"

oil on canvas

Daisy, a Beagle

A friend lost her Beagle late last year. She was very attached to Daisy, who died at the age of eleven from congestive heart failure. I painted this portrait of Daisy and gave it to her. Our pets are like members of our family, and it's devastating when one of them dies. I know she feels the same way, so I hope the gift cheers her and helps her remember the the good times.

Daisy

8"x 10"oil on canvas

Hope, an Oil Painting of a Friend

Sometimes being an artist means you have the ability create a gift that will mean the world to someone. Hope was a two year old rescue dog whose owner adopted her from a kennel and then spent a ton of money on surgery to repair her damaged hip. Apparently the dog became her best friend and protector for eight years. Hope passed away this year and the owner's mother contacted me about creating an oil painting of her. The picture she supplied was not lovely. It showed Hope in the treatment room at the veterinarian's and was taken from an awkward angle. I focused on her gentle face and beautiful fur, cropping out the background and changing her position a little. I have a Golden so I had a perfect model for the ears.

This portrait of Hope came together easily and I think her mom will love it when she receives it for Christmas this year. I love these kind of projects. 

Hope 11" x 14" oil on canvas 

Girl's Best Friend

A girl's best friend is NOT diamonds. It's her dog. I painted this for my son who will give it to his friend- the model. The photo had really nice light and shadow and even though it was a very low-resolution cell phone picture it is possible to get a lot of information from this kind of picture. The lack of detail encourages an artist to "lose" the detail, which is usually a good thing for a painting. This allows you to keep the focus on what's important. Here it's the girl and her companion. Her 'best friend.'

The Dog is Larger than Life...

The dog may be larger than life, but so is his personality, according to the woman who commissioned this house painting. She is giving the painting to people who LOVE the dog, so I guess that's all right. This is a small 11" x 14" piece and it was difficult to get enough detail into the dog to be recognizable but you can tell it's a French Bulldog.
House paintings are usually fun to do. The owners are thrilled to have something hanging on their wall that tells the world how much they love their home. And it's always a challenge to turn a bland photo into a colorful oil painting. It requires imagination and invention because the details are just not readily apparent in the photo. Thankfully, most houses are constructed the same way and I've painted a lot of them so I know where to fill in the blanks.

This Dog Owns The Lawn

11 x 14

Chloe was a wonderful companion

My dog, Jake, has been ill for the past week or so and I am concerned about him. His illness reminds me of the losses I have experienced in the past when one of my furry friends have passed. I found a picture of Chloe, our blonde Golden Retriever, a few months ago. Chloe has been gone for almost 8 years but I remember her gentleness and sweetness vividly. It's the nature of the Golden to be loving and to know no strangers. That's probably why I adopted another one from the local Golden Retriever rescue group when she passed. Our new Golden Retriever, who we named Autumn, is a reddish blond, quite unlike Chloe was, but possessing the same 'golden' personality and carefree approach to life. Autumn expresses her blondness by chasing the shadows of leaves across the driveway. Chloe tended to wander away and visit neighbors she did not know, blissfully unaware of the time and when she was supposed to be home.

Although Chloe was definitely NOT a hunter she could pose and point very prettily. When she happened to be lucky enough to catch a bird she was not sure what to do with it. Once she found one and repeatedly tossed it in the air until I caught her. She probably thought the bird was playing!

9" x 12" oil on linen

Some Dogs Have Personality Plus

Moose is an Old English Sheepdog. This painting will be presented to his owner as a Christmas gift. I can't say it enough- the key to a great painting of your pet is a great picture, which Moose's mom was able to provide. The multi-layered hair was a LOT of fun to paint.

16" x 12"

Moose

Papillion painting

I painted this cute dog because one of the students in my painting class was working on a painting of a Papillion dog and I wanted to be ab le to help her. I had never painted one so I thought the best way to help would be to paint one. I love this painting. The dog has eyes just like my dog, Jake. It is life size on an 18" x 24" canvas.

Larger Picture of this Pig Painting

I touched it up in a few places and I am happy with it now. I've never seen a photo of a dog this close to pigs, let alone a painting. So this is a very unusual image. Many thanks to Wendy for letting me use her photo.