Rednose Pit Bull Portrait

This is a small sweet painting I finished last evening.  I just have to take a little break from the customs from time to time; it keeps me fresher as I work on them, too, so it's a good thing in every way.  This was a really fun painting to do, too, which helps.  Short-haired dogs are fun to do because I can see the sculptural shape of their bodies - and in this case, the head.  I've had a few pit bulls over the years, and for some reason, their heads always looked like bricks to me.  I called all mine "brickheads."  They're real sweeties.  This one wasn't one of my pits but belongs to a customer of mine in Portland, OR.

Okay, back to my customs now.  I'm rested : )

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."

Where does the time go!!

Wow, I just looked at my last post date and was shocked!  Where did all that time go?  I just read this morning one of my all-time favorite newsletters, Painters' Keys, by Robert Genn, in which he talked about "seizing the day."  It was a timely and important letter for me, and I hope -- and expect -- I will seize the day more often than I have been doing for the past month.  Of course, life does get in the way - again - but I feel that if I don't paint at least a little every day, I start to lose those "painting brain muscles" and have to build them up again before I can get going at a comfortable pace.  By the way, here's the link to Genn's newsletter if you're interested:  http://clicks.robertgenn.com/seizing-the-day.php.  I very highly recommend it; I've been reading it for years now and find it interesting, inspirational, enjoyable, sometimes very funny,  etc., etc.

I don't know if I've listed all the custom paintings I finished around Holiday time; but if I didn't, I'll try to get them listed in the next few days.  I'm afraid they were all I was doing at that time -- well, that and endlessly it seems hosting various family members who were here, no kidding, for over month.  (Note to said family members:  Yes, I loooooooved your visits and wouldn't trade them for anything, but obviously I didn't work while you were around because I wanted to spend all my time with you!)

So I'm back and re-flexing my painting part of my brain again.  I tried, by the way, a landscape a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot harder than I was expecting it to be.  But, darn it, I am going to conquer landscapes if for no other reason that they're not dog or animal paintings and I sometimes need a break from painting my beloved animals.

Speaking of animals, I sadly must note, too, that we lost one of our boys around mid December.  It was Henry Higgins, our shih tzu.  On the good side, he lived a very long, happy life; we should all be so lucky as he was.  We miss him terribly, though, in spite of his advanced age at death.  In fact, this is the first time I've even been able to talk about him at all.  He was so cute and made us laugh very often.  He was also the laziest dog I've ever had in my life.  No kidding, we had to poke him sometimes in his later years to see if he was still breathing.  He raised the fine art of relaxing to unheard-of astronomically high levels; he was a master relaxer!  May you rest in peace, Higgy.

French Bulldog Fawn Original Painting

LarkStudios

Unique Gifts

Okay, I'm back! My move has been accomplished, and I'm just getting back to work.  Right now, I'm testing a shopping cart feature of my new favorite venue (see earlier posts to read all about it) Artfire.  The image you see above my notes here allows you to buy this painting directly from my blog.  I tried to get it to work on my website, but I've been unable to.  I'll keep trying.  If not, I may have to get a new website host because I love this feature from Artfire.

Because I've been out of touch for a couple of weeks, I have to keep working right now.  But I promise very soon to talk about the move.  For now, at least it's over!

Brown and White Shih Tzu Portrait

This is a little custom shih tzu painting I finished a few days ago.  It's already on its way to Bankok, Thailand where the real little guy lives with his mom, who was visiting in the US and asked me to paint her little pup that she missed terribly while she was here. 

At present I'm working on a couple of paintings, one for a contest winner from the June photo-submission contest (the contest is on hold for now due to my huge workload), a Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever, which should be finished in a week or so more.  I'm also doing a formal painting of a show-groomed Yorkshire terrier, which is coming along nicely.  It's due the end of this week, so I don't have time for much of anything else.  Then I have four or five, I think it is, custom paintings that have to be done one after the other just as quickly as I can do them (it takes me about a week for each painting, unfortunately). 

Starting in the next few days, I'm going to try to start listing interim photos of my paintings in progress.  I've been shy about doing that until now, but I think it will help me and perhaps others.  It'll be good for me, I think, because I can perhaps see some method to my painting madness if I see some paintings in stages of completion.  We'll see how it goes.   Actually, I think my daughter, Lara, has already posted a few progress shots of the Toller mentioned above that I'm working on as I can squeeze it in. 

You will note on the progress photos that since these paintings are for the most part custom portraits and have to be very, very precise, that I draw a grid on the photo I work from and a corresponding one on my canvas.  It really helps me keep everything exactly where it ought to be.  I highly recommend it for portrait work.  I could work without the grids, I guess, but it saves me a huge amount of time.  Okay, back to the Yorkie now.

Another Pug!!! This is Lola

This is a painting of my friend's little pug, named Lola.  I also painted another of her pugs -- whose name I can't remember right offhand! She's coming up in the next post.

The original of Lola is already sold, but prints and pendants are available.  I really enjoyed painting her - what a sweet little face.

Cocker Spaniel, Black

Finally!  I have received so many requests for a black cocker spaniel, and I have finally gotten to it on my huge to-do list!  Sorry it took so long for those of you who have patiently waited for it to be done. 

I'm also working this week on a commissioned German shepherd painting, which is proving to be a really difficult one.  She, Zoey, is lying in the snow and looking up at the viewer, so the pose is adorable but awkward at the same time, details are difficult to see due to the lighting, and it's just difficult to paint because it's a full-bodied painting on an 11x14 canvas.  But I think it'll come out great when it's completed.  It's a challenge but a good one.

I have another painting in progress, too, a standing German shorthaired pointer, for which I also get many, many requests.  It'll be completed sometime next week.  Oh, and one more painting in progress - and put aside for the moment! :  a single daffodil I had in my front yard early this spring.  I thought, oh, painting a daffodil will be so easy compared to painting dogs.  Absolutely not!  Not for me, anyway.  It's much, much harder for me -- but I will tame this daffodil eventually!

Brindle Pug Painting

This is a sweet pug painting I recently completed from photos submitted by a customer.  She said she never sees any brindle pug artwork anywhere, and now I understand why.  It was really hard to get the brindle "feel" in the painting without trying to paint every hair -- which is what I'm trying to learn to avoid!

The original is a bit different from this 8x10" image in that it's on a 24x24" canvas.  It is for sale.  Contact me if you're interested. 

Boxer Portrait, all Brown Face

This is a painting I finished rather recently. I took his photo at Portland Saturday Market I think in around September or October of this year. I think he's so beautiful. I've been taking quite a few photos lately of dogs at the market, which I hope to be painting over the winter break, so I'm looking forward to the break so I can do some serious painting without as many distractions as I have going on now.
The original of this painting, 8x10, is available. Contact me if you're interested in purchasing it.

Alaskan Malamute Portrait

I'm just going to try to list a few items over the next couple of weeks to catch my blog up. I've been listing regularly on my website but completely forgot to be listing here.

This is a painting I did probably a few months ago; I don't remember exactly when. I still have the original. It's 8x10 on 1/8" wood, and I'll be happy to add 1.5" sides to it, painted black, all for $75.00. Contact me if you want to buy it. Prints, etc., are also available on my website, www.wildwildthings.com

Boston Terrier Portrait on Red/Yellow Background

Wow, I'm on a roll! This is a little guy I just completed today. The same as the previous painting, I was attending a little art show in Corvallis, OR, around I think May 2. Again, I asked permission to photograph this boy so I could do a painting of him. So if this is your little guy down in Corvallis, here's his painting! I really, really enjoyed painting this one.

Black Flat-Coated Retriever

This is one of my all-time favorite paintings. I feel I really got this beauty pretty well, and I just love the soft coat of this breed. The original, 8x10", is still available on my website, as are my pendants and earrings.

I was also contacted today about doing a liver-colored flat-coated retriever, which I'll be doing in just a few more weeks, after I finish up some other commitments first. This breed was unknown to me until fairly recently, and I think it is an absolutely beautiful breed. I can't wait to see how the liver-colored one turns out.