Still working - on an English Bulldog

I'm still working on an English bulldog that I promised someone months ago.  I expect to finish it tomorrow, so I'll post it then.

Life has gotten too complicated again lately, but not in a really bad way.  It's more of a time-management problem than anything else.  So with that in mind, my daughter and I have agreed that there are certain times during the day that I absolutely, positively must not be disturbed.  Those are my painting hours (and other work, too, of course).  I can already tell a difference in my painting time; it's becoming more productive.  And I'm hoping that we'll all have more quality time together as a result, too.

Little Duckling Portrait

Okay, this is the other one I just finished, a sweet little baby duck portrait.  It, too, was a lot of fun.  What more can I say.

Fortunately, summer has finally arrived, so now, instead of staying indoors for large parts of the day to avoid the cold and rain, I have to stay indoors because it's so stinkin' hot!!  I'm not complaining, though; I love it.  It's been a long, long, long winter, and finally, with the rest of the country sweltering, summer has arrived in Oregon!  Horray!

Three Little Piggies

This is a sweet little painting I finished yesterday.  It's just three little pigs, hanging around.  I did it just for fun, and it was fun!  I'm finishing another one today that I did for fun, too, and it'll be listed just after this one.  I think I'm on a farm kick.  But then I have to get back and finish a few promised paintings, too.  I'm painting again!  That makes me really happy.

This painting is, by the way, an acrylic painting on a 16x20x3/4" stretched canvas and has been sold.

Grand Canyon Kaibab Trail on North Rim, Mules and Rider

I'm finally getting some work done again.  I mentioned this painting in a previous posting, and here it is.  It took forever, but I'm pretty happy with the final results.

This painting is created from photos I took when my daughter, Lara, and I went camping on the north rim of Grand Canyon and took a trek down the Kaibab Trail to the bottom.  It was exhausting and exhilirating.  I took these photos of a rider bringing three mules and some supplies out of the bottom.

I must say:  Landscapes are much, much harder than they might seem.  But I'm hooked!  I'm still going to paint dogs, cats, and other animals, but I'm definitely going to pursue more landscape paintings.

Following this listing, I'm going to be listing two more paintings I have recently finished, one just today, in fact.

Yes, I am Alive

I'm still having problems painting, but I'm still working on it.  Unfortunately, I spent nearly a month working on a single much-too-difficult-for-me landscape painting, which I'll build up my nerve and post in the next few days.  It's a painting from some photos I took of a Grand Canyon trip I took quite a few years ago and had meant to paint someday.  I've only recently started doing landscape paintings, and I have a lot (a really LOT) to learn, it turns out.  I had no idea there were so many different greens!!!

Also, if anyone is interested, I am back at Portland Saturday Market again; so if you're going down there, check with the information booth (the red booth near the fountain at the "entrance" to the market) to find out where my booth is, and stop by and say hi.  It's good to be back down there, and I hope just again being among people who like my work will give me more confidence in my painting.  I did sell a large original painting last weekend, so that helped my ego a lot, I must say.

Haystack Rock, Oregon Coast, Painting

This is a painting of Haystack Rock, just off the Oregon coast, at Cannon Beach.  My family and I went there a few months ago and couldn't have chosen a better day to go.  Plus, it was a bit late in the day, so we stayed until sunset.  I sketched and photographed the scene depicted in this painting just as the sun was setting.  It was so beautiful, and I've done my best to communicate the peacefulness, calm, and beauty of that special evening.  Hope you like it.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not stopping doing dog and other animal paintings, but I certainly do want to throw a landscape into the mix every chance I get, too.  It was a bit intimidating to tackle this one, but I'm quite pleased with the results.  Hope I can do it again with my next landscape!

Curious Horse, Paint Bay in Stall 11x14 Painting

This is one of my most favorite paintings I've done.  I went with my daughter out to the barn where she rides these days; and while she rode, I visited with the other horses in their stalls, sketching them and just talking to them.  This particular horse really got my attention, though; he was really friendly and curious about what I was doing.  Anyway, I did this painting from the sketches and photos I shot that day.  It was a really fun painting to do.  It's an acrylic painting on an 11x14x3/4" stretched canvas and will be available on my website as well as other venues.

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.

Basset Hound Puppy Sitting in Field

I really enjoyed doing this painting.  It took me way, way, way too long to paint, but I enjoyed it so much that I took my time.  Some paintings are like that.

Once again, I need to try to paint a little faster - I do have bills to pay, unfortunately - but sometimes I do enjoy really slowing down and savoring each blob of paint I add and work into just the right place.

This painting is an acrylic painting on 11x14x3/4" stretched canvas.  The sides have no staples and are painted the same color as the green and blue background, so it can be hung either unframed or framed, as you wish.

Pygmy Goat on Green Field Painting

This is a painting I finished yesterday.  It's a pygmy goat, who I'm sure is thinking about what she's going to eat next -- the newly planted flowers or the beautiful small pink dogwood tree that I loved so much.  I've had a few of these little adorable and frustrating creatures back when I had a horse farm and lived out in the country, and every day I altered from wanting to make them wear a sign that said, "Free, take me," to hugging them for making me laugh so hard.  And, yes, the one we had the very longest, Sophie, really did eat my poor little dogwood down to a stump -- and my forsythia and all my flowers -- and then went and danced on my beloved Porsche.  And that was all in just one day!

Anyway, the painting is acrylic on an 11x14x3/4" stretched canvas, with the sides painted green, so is ready to hang with or without a frame.  It's available at my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com.  I really like this painting and enjoyed doing it.  Hope you do, too.

Hereford Cow at Tillamook, OR

This is a small cow painting I just finished today of a Hereford cow that I photographed in Tillamook, OR, near the cheese factory there.  It was a fun, beautiful day, and I photographed a lot of farm animals, many of which I've already painted.  This girl was really suspicious of me and my camera but curious enough that I managed to get a few shots of her before she took off to a safe distance.

I'm going back to the Coast next week, so I'll be getting some more good images to be painting.

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.

Yorkshire Terrier 19 of 30 Daily Paintings

This little yorkie was a small painting I did for a regular customer. I think I'll probably go back in and fluff up the body hair a bit and tie it to the head by color a bit more, too; but otherwise, I really like it.  That's one problem I've always had with Yorkies:  their face colorations are almost always very different from their bodies, and in paintings, it looks like two different dogs were stuck together.  I'll post the change - if it's significant - after I do it.

I feel I've been learning so much since I've started my daily painting challenge (and, yes, I realize that I'm behind schedule, but it's my challenge and I'm in charge of it).  It's also given me a great sense of discipline, too, much more than I've ever had before.

Especially when I'm having a tough time making myself go to the easel, I set a timer for 15 minutes and tell myself that that's all I have to paint this session, just 15 minutes.  About an hour or so later, I finally decide to take a break for a while.  Works every time.

Starting paintings is easy, and I move along very happily confident in my abilities.  Then I reach that middle part of the painting, where everything looks pretty darned hopeless (but I know every one of my paintings has to go through this, and they usually come out the other end just fine).  This period is when I most need to push myself to keep coming back to the easel, even when I'm afraid.  Then finally I get through this stage, and the sailing is pretty smooth through to the end -- unless I decide that it needs just one more little touch-up -- then one more, then one more, etc.  That's when I really get into trouble, and that's one thing I've learned with these daily paintings, is when the put the brushes down.