A Very Bright Chihuahua

This is a cute painting I just finished.  It was a lot of fun to do.  Can you tell I'm trying to avoid something more important??  A group of us, painters all, on Artfire recently started a little "challenge blog," where we all have themed deadlines for submitting paintings to the blog.  We've only been together a short time, but so far it's a lot of fun -- and so intimidating that I manage to get a lot of other not-so-pressing matters taken care of rather than get started on my own monthly-challenge painting.  Here's the link if you want to check us out:  http://artfirepainters.blogspot.com/

As I've been doing for the past few years, I'm still trying to loosen up my own painting work.  I do a lot of custom work, which for me at least, requires that I work very tightly so that I can get a really good image of someone's beloved pet.  Then when I do my own work, my just-for-fun---and-profit work, I want to loosen up, have a good time, not agonize over every little detail.  It's hard for me.  As all my family and friends know, I'm an awful, awful perfectionist.  Some of that I like, but when it comes to painting, I wish I could "throw caution to the wind" a bit more and have a lot more fun at my "work."

Black and White Chihuahua - "Roo"

This is one of my favorite paintings in a while -- well, I say that pretty often, don't I. There was something about this one, though; it almost painted itself. It didn't hurt that the dog, Roo, is absolutely perfect. Anyway, I did him for a customer, so he's already sold.

I love my "work" more and more every day. And when I'm not painting, I'm thinking about whatever painting(s) I have in progress. I don't "just paint." I plan, look at problematic areas and search for solutions and study, study, study my subject. Some might say too much, but it's how I function. This little fellow, I did several drawings of him first, including one where I studied only broad value areas, using the several different photos sent to me by his adoptive mom. He seems to me to be quite shy, judging from his interactions with people in the photos, so I wanted to convey that shyness, too, in the painting. ---- Well, I'm going on a bit. I'll just say again, he was a great pleasure to paint!

Black Chihuahua Face

Well, I've not been adding my new paintings for a while I just realized! So here's one I've done recently, already sold, by the way. Her name is Lily, and she's one of five I'm doing for a very sweet customer who loves her little chi-chi's! The previous painting, a tan chihuahua named Biscuit, is hers, too. Next comes Roo, then Little Bit, and then Molly. But other paintings come in between all these chihuahuas, too, because I've been painting up a storm lately!

It's that time of year when everyone who has a beloved pet and who wants a painting from me decides it's finally time to get one done - now! Actually, though, I've had to stop taking more commissions/requests for the rest of this year because I have all I can manage for the rest of the month.

Speaking of, this has been a good year of growth and learning for me. There were so many times that I just wanted to quit, thinking I could never be good enough. And I still lack a lot of confidence, but I must be doing something right because people seem to really like my work -- which feels great! We artists, I'm afraid, are a narcissistic but often insecure group of people. But even with all the ups and downs I've gone through with this career, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world -- even money! And for a long time, I resisted doing "just dogs," but now, I've really come to appreciate each new dog I do as an interesting and exciting new challenge. Their heads and bodies really are just a different kind of landscape; and the more I learn about them, the more I know about them, the more I realize I've got yet to learn. So when -- and if -- I ever fully master painting dogs, a "dog painter" I'll continue to be!

A Beautiful Chihuahua, one of Four I'm doing for a Customer

This is Biscuit. She's a beautiful tan and white chihuahua, one of three other chihuahua "siblings" in a loving family. Her painting will be followed by the other three as soon as I can get to them. As usual, this time of year is becoming really, really busy. Prints, pendants, and earrings bearing her image are available on my website, www.wildwildthings.com.