Nora

"Nora"
8" x 10"
(watercolor on aquabord)

While this little lady is no longer here on earth, I'm sure she is spending time in doggy heaven looking down upon her mom and still protecting her. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to paint Nora -- many thanks to my collector. This one was a pure joy to paint.

Have a great start to your week!

Thankful for Gus

"Swim Gus, Swim!"
6" x 6"
(framed watercolor on aquabord)

I completed this painting for my brother and sister-in-law for their anniversary.  Gus is their beagle and this was his first swim in the ocean.  He was looking totally petrified but happily his terror was short-lived and he soon got comfortable.  Now he loves the water!  

I thought this would make a very cute painting and was happy I was able to capture the look of uncertainty in his eyes. He's a delightful little guy and I enjoyed snuggling with him on the couch yesterday after Thanksgiving dinner.  

Gus in his frame.

Hope you all had wonderful day with family, friends and food!

Lily

"Lily"
8" x 8"
(watercolor on 7/8" cradled aquabord)
SOLD

I received word last night that the recipient of this commissioned piece had his birthday celebration a little early, so it's now safe for me to post "Lily." Check out her little snaggletooth!  Hilarious.  Many thanks to my client and a very happy birthday to Brian!  I hope he enjoys his painting.

Have a lovely start to the week!

In His Boat

"Oliver - In His Boat"
10" x 8"
(watercolor on aquabord)

I hope you all are having wonderful holidays this season.  We celebrated Christmas on Friday with family and had a great day.  This painting is one of my gifts to my husband, Dan.  It's of our kitty, Oliver, who passed away a few months ago.  Oliver was Dan's since before he and I met.  Dan got him when Ollie was about a year old and was 18 when we had to put him down.  But he is buried outside my studio, beside a new arbor we put in over the summer, so he is nearby.  Oliver slept in a red poodle bed that I called his "boat."  Sometimes all I could see was his head sticking out.

He was a funny little guy.  We miss him.

But let's not end this post on a sad note . . .  I'm excited for the new year and am trying to organize and plan for lots of new goals in 2016.  It's like a new, clean slate.  I also have some paintings that I recently finished before the holidays, but haven't had time to post.  So I will soon be sharing those with you.  

Wishing you all a blessed and very Happy New Year!  

We Interrupt This Program . . .

"Azul"
8" x 8"
(watercolor on aquabord)

Well today's painting is not exactly part of my planned "30 Day Challenge" paintings, but I finished it today nonetheless and will post it on Leslie's blog.  That counts right?

This is the commission I've been working on. It's a surprise, so shhhhh . . . (I think it's a safe bet Azul's parents don't read my blog, so that's why I'm posting it even though it's a surprise).  This isn't the best photo of the finished painting as it's dark out and I just couldn't get all the colors to read well nor could I get good clarity -- but I think it's much better in person.  The staining in the background works much better in real life.  I really enjoyed working on this gentle little lady.  I hope her Mum & Dad will be pleased.  :)

Thanks for popping in.

LOUIS!

"Louis"
8" x 8"
watercolor on aquabord 

I took a little time out over the weekend and Monday to finish "Louis."  He belongs to a dear friend and student of mine.  He's just as sweet as he looks.  

Now back to bottles and lanterns. Have a lovely day.

New Pet Portrait -- Murphy

"Murphy"
8" x 10"
(watercolor on aquabord)

I recently had the privilege of painting Murphy for his owners who miss him terribly.  It was a tough one for me -- both emotionally (anyone with pets will understand why) and technically -- I wanted to get him "just right" - capturing his beautiful essence. Much of his likeness depended on the direction and "clumpage" of his fur, not to mention those soulful eyes. I hope I did him justice. 

On a brighter note and update -- Murphy's family has two new pups now, keeping them very busy. They are the same breed as Murphy and are proving to be quite the characters!  They are beautiful.  :)

Brady

"Brady"
8" x 8"
(private collection)

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a good weekend.  I finished up two commissions last week.  This is the pet portrait of "Brady" (yes, his owners are New England Patriot fans).  I had a mishap with the gloss medium finish coating but will spare you the gory details.  Let's just say, at hour zero I was repainting the entire painting.  I'm pleased with the results, but could have forgone the last minute stress.  And being the perfectionist that I am, I get a little sick thinking of the "original" and knowing that this isn't totally it.  But again, I'm pleased, and more importantly Brady's owners are pleased.  It's just my own obsessive compulsive issues.

Below is a shot of Brady framed . . . and one of the work in progress.  Now that my two biggies are done, I'm excited to start one new pet portrait commission and get back to my regular paintings this week.  

Have a great day and thank you for coming by. 

Brady in all his framed glory

blocking in the values with some detail

Commission

8" x 10"
watercolor on Aquabord

Here's a shot of a work in progress on my latest commission.  How stinkin' cute are these two?  Well . . . maybe the fella on the left isn't yet, but I assure you, he's adorable. What a hilarious picture.  It's a surprise birthday present from a very old friend of mine (he and I attended school together -- elementary through high school and recently reconnected on Facebook) to his wife -- so sssshhhhh . . . we must keep it a secret.  Luckily she doesn't check out my blog and actually may not even know I exist.  Not yet, anyway, but pretty soon she will.  :)  I took this picture this morning, and have actually done more work on them and will post tomorrow.  So tune in!  Same bat time, same bat channel.  Have a good night and thanks for taking a peek.

Merry Christmas and Dougal-Bottoms!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday. I was on the go from the time I woke up until the time I crashed on the couch late, last night and so I never got the chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas on the actual day. Please forgive me. We had a great time with family yesterday and are very blessed. Above is a picture I snapped the other night as I was wrapping gifts and sticking them under the tree. Truth be told, I was still wrapping a couple yesterday morning, even though my shopping was done a long time ago. I guess that's just how I roll!  :)  

"Dougal-Bottoms"
8" x 8"
(private collection)

Now this little guy above is Dougal, who belongs to my brother and sister-in-law. I've been keeping him a secret for a couple of months now and it's been killing me! I don't think they usually read my blog, but I couldn't be too careful, so I didn't even share him with you. I loved painting him! I had snapped the photo a while ago at their house, which brings me to the subject I teased about in my last blog: Good reference photos. They make such a big difference -- at least for me anyway. And while high resolution and clarity are very important, for me, dramatic lighting is equally as important. 

The lighting on the two dogs in my last post, was kind of flat (and this isn't a criticism of the photographer, because taking good photos for an art reference is very different than just taking a good photo and I didn't specify. These were very good photos basically.)  But for my needs, it didn't naturally provide great contrast. And thus, I struggled compositionally with regards to creating interesting value patterns, while maintaining a likeness to the dogs and their coloring. 

After comparing the process of painting Dougal to that of the two dogs, I finally came to the conclusion that I'm just not good at making things up, and that I really need a strong reference that contains great changes in value. So my tip to myself (and that I thought I'd share with you in case you're like me) is to, from now on, obtain only photos that can be cropped to a dynamic composition with regards to shape AND value in addition to clarity and high resolution, otherwise, I really struggle. 

So that's my little tidbit for today. I'm off to vacuum and paint. I hope you like Dougal-Bottoms -- my brother and sister-in-law were very happy and surprised!  I'm excited to share with you my newest painting, so keep tuning in. Cheers!

Fiddled and Fiddled and Done!

commissioned pet portrait
14" x 11"
(watercolor on aquabord)

Whew!  Finished!  I had a lot of fun with this one -- and am very pleased with how it turned out.  But I learned a valuable lesson about reference photos for doing future pet portraits and will share them with you, because I think they're really important.  Unfortunately I don't have time right now.  (how's that for a crazy teaser!?)  I'll have to do it later because I'm up against a wall here with chores and time.  So stay tuned.

Anyway -- have a great day . . . hope you are getting ready for the Big Guy . . . make sure you're being nice!  Even when you're running late, purchasing last minute items at the grocery store and the person in front of you is getting price checks on cheese, redeeming what seems likes hundreds of coupons, and paying by check!  :)

Thanks for stopping by.

He's a Beautiful Boy!

"Virgil" (a German Short-haired Pointer)
8" x 8"
watercolor on aquabord
Sold

Virgil in his frame

So here's Virgil -- what a beautiful boy!!  He's a show dog and it's no wonder. and I'm happy to report that his mom was pleased with the painting -- (big sigh of relief).  You just never know.  I was pleased, but my feelings don't really matter so much when there's a mom out there who REALLY knows her baby boy.  :)  I spent this morning "trying on" different frames and I think I'm going to go with this one -- simple, sleek and black.  I like the contrast.  And I love this aquabord -- no need for matting or glass.  I think it has a very classic look to it.  

I'm also working on finishing up the Little People circus train painting -- just a few more tiny little details and I'm dragging my feet.  Go figure.  Then there's much cleaning and decorating to do --- gaaaaahhhh!!!  I'm kind of bad at decorating -- takes me forever to get things up, then it's about May by the time everything comes down.  Well, maybe not May, but close.  So that's my "true confession" for the day.  :)  Have a great weekend!  Thanks for coming by.

Commission

12" x 12" -- wip 1

wip 2

wip 3

close-up

I thought I'd post these progress shots of my latest commission.  Hope you enjoy . . . thanks for stopping by . . . back to painting!