American Eskimo on Light Blue, No. 9 of my 30 Daily Paintings

This is an acrylic painting on an 8x10x3/4" canvas, sides painted light blue also, of an American Eskimo dog.  It's the ninth in my 30-day daily painting series and is for sale for $50 at my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com.

Okay, back to my easel now.  I have a large one coming either tomorrow or the next day, a beautiful either pit bull or American bulldog.

Oops! I missed posting my Daily Paintings #4 and 5

 Oops!  Here are my daily paintings No. 4 and No. 5.  I've been so busy painting that I haven't taken care of posting as I should have.

The fourth one is the white German shepherd on light blue.  It was a really difficult one, but I think I finally got it (except for that ear on the right, which I'll be fixing tomorrow and re-posting afterward).  The original of this one has already sold as it was a request by a customer, whom I told, as usual, that I don't do custom commissioned paintings, but I do accept photo submissions that I may or may not paint; and if I do, they have first dibs at purchasing it, which this customer did.  (I always do my very, very best to paint every submission I get, by the way.)

The fifth painting is the border collie at left, and is the first of several border collies I'll be doing, also from photos that were submitted to me by a customer.

"Marbles," a Mixed Breed Beauty

Oh, my, where has the time gone??? I can't believe I've been so terribly remiss at posting my latest paintings on my blog. Well, I'll try to make up for lost time. Please excuse me if I mistakenly repeat a few posts as I'm trying to catch up. I'll try not to, though.

This painting was of a dog someone submitted to me and which I couldn't resist painting, even if I probably would never sell a single print - or original - of it. The person who submitted the photo chose to buy just a pendant, which was fine.

Anyway, it was a pleasure painting her, and her original is still available at my website.

Shih Tzu Puppy Dog Painting

Awwww! Isn't this one cute? I just love it. And I didn't let myself work it to death, either! That's what I usually do, work one until it starts to lose life and spontaneity.

It's a new (old, rehashed?) promise I'm making to myself: I have one job and one job only, to do a single painting a day. It doesn't have to be good; it doesn't have to be elaborate or grand; it just has to be done! I've got to get over this fear of failure, and this has got to work! If they're too awful, I can throw them away. If they just don't look good enough that I would want anyone to see them but not awful enough to throw away, I can put them in a stack and maybe work on them again another day in the indefinite future.

But this little guy, I'm happy with him. I think he's fresh, pretty, and has lots of personality -- just like my Henry Higgins (my shih tzu who's lying underneath me as I write this) after whom he's modeled. I had to do some guessing, though, because I adopted Higgins when he was already around six years old. He's a ripe old 9 or 10 today and going strong, too, I might add. As with all my paintings, this one will be available on my website, www.dottiedracos.com, or www.wildwildthings.com (both addresses take you to the same place).

German Shepherd Smiling Dog, Revised

This is a "redo" of a painting I did many months ago and was never really happy with. I am happy with this one, though. I won't say it's the best painting I've ever done, but I do feel that I'm learning so much more and much more quickly lately. I've finally gotten back into painting more than I was, and it's showing, I think. I can finally start to see beyond the photos I work from and put more of myself into a painting. It's a good thing. This painting is already sold.

Australian Shepherd Painting - Blue Merle

Well, I did get this painting finished today. I really, really enjoyed doing this one. It's again 8x10 acrylic paint on wood, with 1" black sides. It's for sale on my website for $150 plus shipping. www.dottiedracos.com

German Shorthaired Pointer painting

This is another painting I finished this past week. It's also 8x10x1.5 on wood, sides painted black. I think these are some of the most beautiful dogs to exist. And from having one of the best friends of my life be at least part GSP, I know what loving, intelligent dogs they are, too. This painting is available on my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com/, and sells for $150.00. Clocks are also available.

A really, really special beagle painting

I loooove this painting! Sometimes paintings just don't seem to work for me. This one was an exception; the paint just jumped from the brush to the canvas! It's 24x36" acrylic on canvas, 1"-deep black lath-framed, and sells for $500.00, plus shipping. I've also attached a copy of one of my clocks that I make from prints of my paintings. All my clocks are $20 each, plus shipping. All my items are for sale on my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com/.

Rottweiler and Tennis Ball

This is a painting I recently finished and really enjoyed. It's not for sale except as a clock because I painted it simply on heavy paper. It was a difficult painting for me, but I think I learned a great deal by doing it. Hope you enjoy it.

Boston Terrier

I love this one! I just finished it last night. It's for sale, so here are the details on it. It's 24x30x3/4" acrylic on canvas, with the image extending around the sides, so a frame is not necessary if you don't want one. It's $400.00 plus $12.00 shipping.

A Mighty Bright Corgi Portrait

Here's one of the brightest paintings I've done of a Corgi named Pun'kin. She was a commission so is already sold. She's 9x12" acrylic on canvas, and she's available as a print or as a clock on my website, www.dottiedracos.com.

Yellow Lab Puppy

Here's my latest painting I've done. It's been a while since I've been able to paint due to the ill health of a family member, but now I'm back at it again!

This little yellow lab is a brave, exciting new direction for me: larger canvases. He's acrylic on 24x30" canvas and sells for $400.00. He can be seen "in dog" at Club K-9, 7427 N Curtis Ave., Portland, Oregon , 97217, Phone: 503-289-7472.

Prints are also available at my website, www.dottiedracos.com or www.wildwildthings.com.

A recently completed commission - Bowzer

Here's Bowzer, a beautiful lab. He was painted on for me a rather large canvas, 24x30". He was a wonderful model, I think. He's already sold, but he's available as a clock on my website, www.dottiedracos.com.

For the next few weeks, in addition to completing more commissioned paintings, I'll be doing a separate group of what I hope are really fun paintings for a little showing at a great coffee shop here in Beaverton, OR, the Iron Mutt. It should be fun; they'll all be for sale. And some of the proceeds from the sales go to area animal shelters, such as Bonnie Hayes, where we adopted our most recent family member, our pomeranian, Harry P. Barker, Harry for short.

Papillon Portrait

SOLD I really struggled with this one. Hope it doesn't show too much. But I am somewhat pleased with the outcome. It's acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 8x10" with 1.5" recessed black sides. Price is $100.00. It's available for purchase on my website.

Morty 11/2/07

This is a great dog I just painted; his name is Morty. I don't know what breed he is, maybe part lab?, but I think he's beautiful. He's listed on my Originals page on my website, he's painted on hardboard, 5x6.5x1.5", and sells for $45.00, plus shipping.

The "new" first day

The "new" first day is here. It's so great to be back!

I finished this painting last night, and I'm very pleased with it. It's a painting of a blue tick coon hound, my very own Molly, with whom I shared many loving, though exasperating years. As is evident in her haughty pose, Molly was definitely "better than you," and she never for a moment let you forget it. I think her personality was more cat-like than dog. I adopted her while attending a local outdoor art show, where a dog-adoption organization had a public-service booth. She was found along the highway by a selfless volunteer whose entire life and income was spent rescuing and rehabilitating homeless dogs and cats. When found, one of her back legs was literally dangling behind her (she had been shot), and she appeared to be a walking skeleton (I saw photos of her when she was first found). A volunteer vet removed her leg and foster parents got her into physical shape. Her previous owner was located, a hunter, who claimed not to know how she was shot; I don't know if charges were ever filed against him, but they ought to have been. Perhaps from who knows what sort of awful experiences she had had in her short life (she was thought to be between one and two years old when I adopted her), perhaps because of her hound breed, she never did fully bond with me or any other human -- or anything for that matter. She was always aloof, distant, haughty, oh-so-beautiful, naughty (she ate I don't know how many shoes), and completely lovable. Even after several years of being without her, we miss her terribly but are also so glad to have been able to be a part of her life.

I present you: Molly. 8x10" on gessoed 1/8" thick hardboard, with black recessed 1.5" sides. $150.00, plus shipping costs, as usual available for purchase at my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com/, on the originals page.