Australian Shepherd, tricolored, No. 15 of 30 Daily Paintings

Okay, I'm halfway in doing my 30 Daily Paintings; and although I'm painting daily (really hard!) I'm producing a little more slowly than I had anticipated.  The chief reason for this is that I'm doing some paintings on much larger canvases, and I just can't put down that much paint in one day when I'm doing, say, a 16x20" canvas, as in this case.


This Aussie was one I think I mentioned earlier that had been submitted to me by a customer/friend.  I'm quite happy with it, and I hope he likes it, too.  


As with all my paintings, the original and prints are available on my website.


By Mark:  The Australian Shepherd, also known as Aussie, is a robustly built, loyal dog with a puppy temperament that lasts into their adult years. They make for very effective watch dogs, as they tend to bark noisily at individuals or critters that are not normally in the area.

They have a potential health hazard in the merle coloration gene, since the same gene carries a natural blindness/deafness factor, which is a risk of ‘awakening’ in the dogs later years. Also, since the Aussie is a natural bob-tail breed, if they are bred with another natural bob-tail, the puppies have a very high chance of developing crippling spinal defects. But as any gene carried risk, the risk is not serious or high enough to make the breed unfit in any case. An Aussie is in general a fantastic, friendly, and playful dog that requires lots of activity and positive attention.