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.

German Shepherd Profile

And last for today -- but definitely not least!! - is this German Shepherd painting I did just two days ago.  Now, I feel that I'm really starting to change.  I feel that I captured the "shepherdness" of this dog (her name is Zoey, and I'm doing another painting of her as a commission for her mom) but gave her a lot, lot more life than many of my more serious paintings had (in my opinion), and yet with the bright background, gave her some playfulness, too, without taking away from her beauty at all.  Again, this painting makes me smile.  I would hang this one in my living room even if I didn't have a German shepherd, just because I like the looks of the painting.  That's a good thing.  I like this direction.  I dooooooo hope I keep it up (fingers crossed -- much too tightly!). 

I'm currently working on a really, really hard painting:  a brindle pug.  I've had a few pretty good paintings over the past few ones, and now I'm nervous.  Can I keep up the momentum of change?  Or will I choke?  Seriously, this becoming the best painting I can is the hardest endeavor I've ever, ever taken on in my whole life -- and I've taken on some doozy challenges, I promise you.  They all pale in comparison to this one. 

What do you think about my new direction?   

Schnauzer profile 8x10x1.5 inch Original Dog Art Painting by Dottie Dracos

I love this painting. Hey, I'm actually getting better -- I think! This painting was spontaneous, not a slavish copy of the photograph from which I painted it. I photoed the dog, whose name is Smoke, some months ago and finally got around to getting it painted. I've done a couple of paintings of Smoke before, but I think this is definitely my favorite. He's 8x10x1.5" acrylic on hardboard, $150. This painting has sold. http://www.dottiedracos.com/.

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.