A new Cavalier King Charles spaniel painting

This is a tricolored cavalier King Charles spaniel painting I finished recently.  I'm quite happy with it -- another painting I've done fairly recently that makes me happy.  Sometimes for me painting is such a struggle, and sometimes, such as lately, it's become a pleasure.  I wish the pleasurable days outnumbered the difficult ones!

A sweet Irish setter painting I finished a few days ago

This is a painting I did of a dog I knew many, many years ago.  Her name was Sean, and she belonged to a dear friend of mine.  I've always thought she was a beautiful dog, and I have intended to paint her for years -- and finally got around to it.  She was a real sweetie.

A custom painting I finished recently -- a Weimaraner puppy in his "SpiderMax" suit

This is Max in his "SpiderMax" costume.  He's a weimaraner pup who likes to dress up!  It's a custom painting I finished very recently and hadn't had time to upload until now.  Obviously, he's sold already!  He's a beautiful puppy, I must say.

A Sweet English Bull Terrier Painting I Recently Finished

This is a fun painting I recently finished of a sweet looking English bull terrier with a bit of brindle markings.  It was a pleasure to paint.  I like the sort of dreamy background I put in.

Next I'm working on a couple of custom paintings:  A weimaraner in a most unusual outfit!  And a really sweet-faced, elderly, mixed-breed dog.  They're both due right away, so I'm going to be working hard, hard, hard.

A Couple of Precious Italian Greyhound Custom Paintings I just finished

 These two beauties are Pearl and Belle, and I just finished painting them yesterday.  They were commissioned paintings for a special birthday spouse, who I hope loves them.  They were a great pleasure to paint, both being very photogenic girls.

A Wire-haired Fox Terrier acrylic painting

I finished this adorable guy last evening and think he came out pretty well.  He's a wirehaired fox terrier, and I had gotten a lot of requests for one.  A customer sent me a photo to work from, so, Dear Customer of Portland Saturday Market, here is your fox terrier.  I hope you like it.  Both the original and prints are available at either my Etsy or Artfire shops.  The original is 8x10 inches and is painted on a gessoed mdf surface, one of my favorite surfaces to paint on.

Today I'm working on Riley, the golden retriever, a custom painting.  It should be an enjoyable painting to work on as I have myself had a golden retriever and know their general personalities and head structure.

Painting dogs (and any other portrait painting, but especially dogs because of the varied hair covering) can be quite difficult:  I need to know not only the underlying skull and skin structure of not only the specific dog but specific information about the particular breed of dog being painted, but I need to know the length of hair, how it lies on the head (and body in many instances), and even the general personality of the breed and as much information as I can get about the personality of the individual dog, too.

Most of my paintings are done from photos submitted to me by either custom customers or from customers from whom I've requested photos because I would like to paint their specific dog which they've either shown me photos or which they have had with them when I meet them usually at the market.  (Wow, that's a really convoluted sentence!)  Anyway, I usually don't get to meet the dog (or other animal) personally and have to rely on descriptions of personality, etc., and photos from customers.  And sometimes I actually do take the photos of the animal myself if I get to meet him/her in person.  But I've found that my customers often can get better photos of their pet than I can because they can get photos of them in their everyday lives or playing with a favorite toy, etc., something I can't usually get.

Basenji Portrait

This is a little painting I finished yesterday at the request of a customer, who noted that I had neglected to paint this beautiful dog.  They are pretty little dogs, and I had actually painted one several years earlier, sold the original, and then due to a computer crash (and poor backup habits), lost the file of the painting.

I didn't go to Portland Saturday Market this weekend due to weather.  However, unless there's a storm or a bad case of flu or something equally calamitous, I'll be there.

For those of you Portlanders who haven't been there in a long time, you need to come down and check it out.  It's a beautiful place these days, right alongside the Willamette River.

By the way, I must comment on something I overheard at the market last weekend:  I heard a man telling his children who had apparently asked how we artists/craftspeople managed to be able to sell at the market.  The man replied that one only had to pay a fee, and voila, one had a market business!  Well, obviously, that's not at all true.

Each and every artist/craftsperson at the market must go through a rigorous jurying process before we are allowed to sell there.  And we must adhere to strict quality standards throughout our time at the market, too. Each of us there creates his/her own work, from start to finish, and we, as the creators of such art work, must for the most part be present to show and sell it.

The Portland Saturday Market is comprised of a few discrete areas:  First, the beautiful new area designed and built for us just a few years ago alongside the Willamette River, on Naito Parkway; this new area also extends back to and through the underside of the Burnside Bridge, too, due to the large number of people making their livelihood by selling their arts/crafts at the market.  The third area is a quite large area across Naito Parkway from the new part of the market and stops at the fountain on First Street, where the Max passes.

There are "tagalong" markets that have formed all around and even adjacent to Portland Saturday market who, when asked, most often say they are also "Portland Saturday Market."  They are not, and much of their items for sale are not made by them, and if they are made by them, do not adhere to the market's strict quality requirements, and many of their items are imported from other countries.

It's amazing the number of people who come into my booth and ask me where I buy my prints, paintings, who, despite the presence of my name on each and every painting, and the sign in my booth showing me working on a painting, don't understand that I paint for a living and that I love what I do more than anything.
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox for now and head back out to the studio to work on another painting.

My Little Sweetie, Harry Barker

I realized that I had never uploaded a painting I did of my little sweetie, a pomeranian.  So, Everyone, I present you Harry Barker!!  He's for the most part a sweetheart -- except, well, when he's not:   For instance, when he's barking nonstop at imaginary intruders, I want to muzzle him.  But he's usually a well-behaved little guy, who realizes that his most important job in the world, besides staying by my side or in my lap constantly, is to alert the whole household if there's any (I mean ANY) potential danger out and about.

He's a little large for a pom, weighing in at between 13 and 16 pounds, the weight variance depending on whether or not I've been too liberal with the treats or keeping him on a tighter regimen.  And he's the hairiest pom I've ever seen.  He's really just a little hairball, moving around with only his feet showing, so he almost looks as if he's a rolling hairball!

Okay, now back to the studio to finish a custom Australian shepherd I'm finishing up.  Yes, this is another Aussie, my fifth in just the past couple of months.  They're beautiful but oh so difficult to paint -- and every one is different, too, with very different colors and markings.  It should be finished today, and I'll upload it tomorrow.

The rest of today my family and I, including my precious little almost-three-year-old granddaughter, are going to the pumpkin patch and corn maze -- and, of course, the farm store! on Sauvie Island, on the Columbia River, just outside Portland.  It should be a fun day -- and, horray, the weather is going to cooperate!

A Beautiful Blue Pit Bull -- and Trials and Tribulations of trying to use my Blog as a Website!

Okay, I tried to embed my Etsy store here, and I can't figure it out.  Darn, I would rather just paint!  But I feel I need a connection with the internet now that I've tossed out my website, and I was hoping to use my blog to serve that need.  Obviously, I'll keep trying, but now I need to paint.

I'll add one painting I finished a few days ago, which the original has already been sold, but I do have prints available at my Etsy  (http://www.etsy.com/shop/DottieDracos?ref=si_shop)  and Artfire (http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/LarkStudios) shops.    

This is a beautiful "blue" pit bull which I did for a customer -- not a custom, as I've stated before, but one from photos she submitted to me in hopes that I would paint it.  I did.  And she bought the original -- again, at a fraction of the prices I charge (when I'm taking orders for them, which I'm not at present) for custom paintings.  I think he turned out beautifully.

Happy Boxer, Smiling, on Turquoise

I just finished this painting this morning and am quite happy with it.  The original is on an 11x14x3/4" stretched canvas.  (Update:  Sorry, the original painting has been sold.










Prints (8x10" and 11x14") are still available at both my Etsy and Artfire shops (See tabs linking you to either shop at the top of my blog.

I finally got fed up with trying to keep up my website, dottiedracos.com, so I cancelled it.  It no longer exists, but my email, dottie@dottiedracos.com, does still works.  I realized that, with all the other venues where I show my artwork, I had redundant information on my website.  Plus, I was just having some technical problems with it.  I feel better having dropped it!

Australian Cattle Dog "Mr. Redneck"

This is Mr. "Redneck."  I painted him for a customer a few days ago.  She said he's more popular than she is and that he has one of the best personalities she's ever seen.  I can see that personality not only in this painting but in the other photographs she sent to me.

I am currently working on a different painting -- it's not a dog!!  But it is a horse.  My daughter, who is a dressage rider, asked me to accompany her and my little granddaughter to the barn where she rides a few days ago, and I did lots of sketches and took some really great photos.  This painting is coming out of these sketches and photos.  It should be done in a couple more days, and the original will be available on my website.

Australian Shepherd, "Aussie," Tricolored, with blue eyes 11x14x3/4" on canvas

Here's a painting I just finished of a really beautiful Australian shepherd.  She is part of a family of humans and dogs belonging to a friend of mine, and he kindly gave me photos for me to use in paintings.  (Thanks again, Chris.  Two down, two to go!)

It's an 11x14" original acrylic painting on stretched 3/4"-deep canvas and is available for sale at my website.

Pit Bull Puppy Painting

This is a painting of a little pit bull puppy that I just finished yesterday.  It looks just like one I used to have, named Edwin.  This little guy's name is Charlie, and he's one of the paintings I've done for someone who knows that I don't like to do custom, commissioned paintings but that I will paint your dog for you, but I get to make all the decisions -- and I charge less.  Otherwise, it's just like a commissioned painting, but the pressure for me has been lightened, not removed, just lightened.  I don't guarantee to paint every photo submitted to me, but I do my very best to do so.  

The person whose dog this is chose to purchase the painting, but there is no obligation to purchase anything at all from me.  I just need good images of dogs to paint, and I don't have the time to go out and find dogs to photograph and paint on my own all the time.  So it's a win-win situation for all of us.

Hope you like this one.  I think pit bulls are such beautiful dogs.  Headstrong, yes.  Mean, no more than any other dog I've ever had -- which in my case is never, never, never.   You've heard it a million times, and it's true:  Mean or bad dogs come from mean or bad owners.  And the reverse is true, too.

Bichon Frise Portrait 20 of 30 Daily Paintings

This is a little bichon frise painting I did for a regular customer recently.  I said I wasn't going to do any more custom work, but she was a multiple repeat customer, so I couldn't say no.  Plus, she was getting for a relative who had recently lost the dog, so that made it even more important that I do it for her.

It always makes me so sad to do a painting of a dog that is gone.  Even with the still-around portraits I do, I become very emotionally invested in painting the dog's (or other animal's) portrait.  When I know the dog is gone, it makes doing the painting much more emotionally difficult.  It's such a shame that our best four-legged friends live such short lives compared to ours.

Border Collie on Red No. 8 in my Daily Paintings

This is another of my daily paintings that I just finished. It's a black-and-white border collie, acrylic on watercolor paper, with a white border for framing.

I've fallen a few days behind now because I've been working on some larger paintings. Yes, I know I should stick to smaller ones when I'm doing daily paintings -- but I'm being a bit looser with the term since I'm making my own rules.  I am painting daily, and I'm working harder than I ever have with painting, so I don't feel so bad about it.  I'll still do thirty, but it may take me a few days longer than I had anticipated.

Anyway, this the 8th one, 22 to go.

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.

Border Collie on Green, Number 6 in Daily Painting Series

This is the sixth painting in my 30-day/30-paintings daily personal challenge.  It's another border collie (and there will be more border collies to come as another person has submitted photos to me of his border collies), and this one is on a green background.  Also, this one has erect ears.  I read up on their ears, and AKC, the ruler of all things pure dog, says that the ears can be either erect, as these are, fully hanging down, or partially hanging down.  So, there you have it on border collie ears.

I'm finally beginning to see a bit of progress in my paintings - horray!  This intensive work schedule for me is so far quite grueling, gut I'm so happy that I feel I'm finally beginning to benefit from it.  I don't want to say too much, though, because although I'm not superstitious, I don't want to jinx things -- just joking.  But I don't want to get overconfident and in a way mess myself up, either.

Let's just let it stay at I feel I'm beginning to feel as if I'm making some progress in what I'm trying to achieve with this project.

As with all these project originals, this one is for sale at my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com, either as a print or as the original painting.

Okay, I've got to get my motor running again! My personal challenge.

I've been in quite a slump for several months now.  Too many things happened over the past few months; and even though life is pretty much "back to normal," my painting has really be affected - negatively, I'm afraid.

I finally decided to do a lot of studying, which is what I've been doing with every spare moment lately, including watching a lot painting demos.  But I'm still even kind of afraid to paint now.

So I've made a big decision, for me at least.  I've decided to do my own little daily painting exercise.  Here it is:  From yesterday for the next approximately 34 days (I'm taking one day off each week), I'm going to do a painting every day and post it here -- and elsewhere 'cause I've got to make a living at the same time!  I'll be numbering each painting (that's the first one off to the left here, the little beagle with the red ball in its mouth), which I finished yesterday.

Tomorrow I'll list the one I did today, which is another Oregon-based one, of a robin in the woods.  And, yay!  I saw a robin yesterday.  I know spring is just around the corner now.  And my neighbor's daffodils are blooming like crazy, too; another great sign.  Yes, I know, this is Oregon, and it's only a trick.  But I'm going to pretend it really is almost here.  And then glorious summer! I can hardly wait!  I've even already started my summer garden indoors.  Hope they survive until I can get them in the ground!

Oh, back to my challenge:  This is a challenge just for myself, by the way, to see if I can do it -- and if it gets me going again.  I think it will.  I heard someone say just the other day (what sparked my plan to do this, by the way):  He said that a painter gains a lot more knowledge, skill, etc.,  to spend 30 hours doing 30 paintings than thirty hours on a single painting.  Well, I can't do my paintings in an hour each because, well, that's just not my nature.  But I have set a two-hour limit for each one  (so far, I've almost been able to stay within two hours and I hope to get it inside two hours by the end of my challenge.)  So wish me luck and good painting!

By the way, all my paintings and prints are going to be on my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com, if you want to purchase one of them.

Chocolate Miniature Pinscher

Here's a minpin painting I just finished for a friend.  His name is Kaiser, and he's a chocolate and tan miniature pinscher.  I'm pretty satisfied with it, but the photos I had to work from were not very clear, but they were all that were available as Kaiser has passed on.

I'm now working on a painting of a sheep - yes, a sheep.  I'm still trying from time to time to include some farm animals in my repertoire, and I took a trip to several farms around Tillamook, on the Oregon Coast and climbed down embankments and risked getting shocked by hot fences to get photos of these critters, so by golly, I'm going to do some paintings of them.  It was a fun trip, though.  I had no idea that cows and sheep were so varied in their appearances -- it's a whole new educational direction for me.  I'll post it in a few days.