Bernese Mountain Dog on Blue

This is a handsome young Bernese Mountain Dog, Berner to those in the know, male I just finished yesterday, to go along with the other one, a female I did last week. 

My next assignments, simultaneous ones, are a pair of German shepherds and a weimaraner.  Then I have one more commission after these two for a Rhodesian ridgeback, still one of my favorite dogs (I've had two be a part of my life, and I loved them both very much.)

A Sweet Female Bernese Mountain Dog Painting

This is a sweet Bernese mountain dog painting I just finished today.  It was a really difficult one to do as it's actually a composite of several Berners.  I'll be doing another one in the next week, too, so keep an eye out for it if you're a lover of Berners.

Also, I've started on two German shepherds on the same canvas, a custom painting.  I'm looking forward to working on it as I love, love the look of the German shepherd.  They make me start speaking in cliches:  i.e., noble, handsome, elegant, etc. 

A Great Art Site I've Just Discovered

This is the greatest site I've found in a very, very long time:  http://www.googleartproject.com/.  It allows you to go into art galleries all over the world and see the paintings and cruise around the galleries.  And, believe it or not, you can get up as close and personal as you want with a large number of the paintings.  You can see the brush strokes - clearly!!  You can see, for example, on some of Van Gogh's paintings, even some of his pencil markings.  Not all, just a select number of them - but it's a great select number for sure!

A hint for using the site:  If you're like me and get motion sick at the slightest change in scenery, you can forego going through the galleries themselves and just go straight to the featured paintings in each gallery.  Hope you enjoy it.  Let me know what you think, okay?

The Irish Wolfhound is Finished

I just finished this painting this afternoon.  Every time I do a long-haired dog, I say I'm going to take a break from them for a while.  This one went a little easier than usual, but I still have an awful time with them.  Maybe it's because I personally am partial to short-haired dogs.  (Except!!!:  My precious little sweetie name Harry Barker, a pekingese-pomeranian mix, about the cutest dog ever.)  I'll have to remember to put up some photos of him soon.  He really is just a little hairball running around the house, but really, he has a brain - a tiny one, but for a hairball, he's pretty smart!  Hope you like my latest painting here. 

Next, I have several custom paintings I need to do, so I'll be working a lot harder the rest of this month.  I'll be sure to post the results.  I know that two of them are for German shepherds, one I don't know what it is yet, and then two terrier mixes after those three.  It's going to be an exhausting month of March.

Another Dog Painting I just Finished - French Bulldog Looking Up on Green

I just finished this little sweetie yesterday - or was it the day before?  Days are starting to run together sometimes!    Anyway, very, very, very recently.  I struggled with the background on the painting for quite a while and then settled on this beautiful kind of olive green.   It's an 11x14" on 3/4" canvas and is for sale at my Artfire studio.  Here's the link:  http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=2960322

Now I'm working on an Irish wolfhound, which I have never painted before.  Bristly long-haired dogs always are a big challenge to me, so I'm trying to take it slowly on this one. 

I'm still here in Florida, and spring is already showing up - amazing!  It's still awful in Oregon, as everyone who's ever lived there knows!  I miss Portland but not the never-ending winter.