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.

August Paintings

I'm finally getting around to posting art I created in August and late July. It was a busy month- perhaps not so much as far as art creation goes- but in other aspects of my life. I started a new position at LE Smith working in the marketing dept., and I taught for two weeks at Lakeside, Ohio.

Here are some photos from the two weeks I spent teaching art at Lakeside, Ohio, Marblehead.

Painting a cottage

 Still Life Painting in Oils

 Working on his cottage painting- yes 12 year olds can paint

 Fancy Dog Paintings

 Portrait Drawing -- a full class

 Let's Draw Dogs!

 Let's Draw Cats!

A Pretty Pair of Westies

Another pet portrait! These two belong to an Atlanta couple and their son commissioned a painting from a really bad photo. Once again, Google comes to the rescue. It seems like all hair on Westies looks about the same, so if you can find a good reference image and just use the photo for the basics, like size and shape of eyes you can get a pretty good painting. Well, that's what I tell myself every time I accept one of these less than perfect pictures. I will share the picture just in case you doubt me. :)

They really are darling though...now I want some of these too.

12" x 16" oil on canvas

Archie-- an Older Lab

This is a portrait of Archie that I did over the weekend. The portrait will be a Christmas gift. This dog really has personality plus. Every photo I was given had the dog smiling with his tongue hanging open. So, I guess that's his typical look. We strive to be authentic here at the Magical Instamatic Pet Portrait Palace...so here it is:

Archie

9" x 12"

oil on canvas

Lasting Memories

This is Mac, who lived to the ripe old age (for a dog), of 14 years. His owner, Ron, commissioned me to paint a picture of him after he passed away recently. Ron loved Mac very much and although he owned many other dogs, Mac was special. He thinks that might be because Mac was acquired after their children left the nest. I think we do spend more time with our pets when we're not busy raising children.  It's only natural that our animals might become like children too, especially if they are bright and energetic, as Border Collies tend to be. I own a Border-Collie mix and he is a sweet, yet determined boy who is fiercely loyal but too smart for his own good.

Ron did not have many good photos of Mac, so I used a combination of pictures to get the details right. He had one request that could only be accomplished by an artist-- remove the cataracts that clouded Mac's eyes in the last few years of his life. We know he's seeing clearly in Heaven so why not have those lovely bright eyes looking out at the world?

Mac 

11" x 14"

oil on canvas