Daily Painting Commissioned Dog Portrait, "Noah"

"Noah" 14X14
Oil on Canvas
Commissioned by the Owner

Click on picture to enlarge it

Ta Da! Here is Noah. The owner is checking this out for the final critique. I think this is it....He is quite the guy, in my opinion. Now the search is on for the right frame. (and the next subject for painting.) :-)





Detail from
"Noah"
Click on picture to enlarge it.

Daily Painting Commissioned Dog Portrait, "Noah" In Progress

"Noah"
Detail In Progress

This picture was with the studio lights on. Again the sepia warmth of the incandescent lights.


"Noah" 14X14 In Progress

The full picture here was real light, studio lights off. Cameras do funny things with light and smartly pick up everything.

By the way, I previously referred to a certain slobbery look about Noah and, I have heard through the grapevine that, Noah was a bit insulted by this adjective. He has passed along the information to me that he is a gentleman and never slobbers, so I must apologize for the reference. In defense, I have to clear up what I was thinking when I made the reference. I was looking at "floppy jowls" when I said "slobbery," which in all honesty is something I am sure I am getting myself the older I get. Since I don't slobber either, I must extend my apologies to Noah and won't ever mention that again. :-)

I hope you enjoy watching "Noah" emerge. I'll keep you posted. :-)

Daily Painting Commissioned Dog Portrait

"Noah" 14X14


First stage painting...as far as I got today. Amazing what difference from just the sketch. More tomorrow.

Daily Painting Commissioned Portrait, "Noah"

Noah" 14X14

Just the beginning.....I always start with a sketch, drawing being the foundation of any good painting. The canvas is actually white but the incandescent lighting here on a gray cloudy day has made the camera turn it all to a sepia tone. (I think the shadow must be me taking the picture) The square format just seemed perfect for a Boxer, reflecting the solid strong demeanor a Boxer conveys.
Noah is a big slobbery and adorable, lovable White Boxer. This particular pose expressed so much dignity to me. He has quite a personality and is adored by his owners. I love the mark just below his left eye. He's going to be a lot of fun to paint....tricky, but fun!!! :-) Stay tuned.

Daily Painting Dog Portrait, "Chipper"

"Chipper"
14X11
Oil on Canvas Panel
Commissioned by Owner

Finished! And now he will be drying before the final coat of varnish..and then the frame and then, and then, Christmas present for a happy wife!!! I'll post him over on Painted Plums, too.

There has been a long heavy discourse about the act of Daily Painting and Painting A Day over at the Google Groups....enough to make someone crazy actually. I consider myself among the Daily Painters. To me the term means discipline and refers to those, including myself, who are striving to achieve the highest quality paintings of mostly contemporary realism mixed with some expressionism and impressionism, and mostly of still life with some landscape thrown in for good measure. This discourse has had me wondering if I can count myself into this 'discipline' or 'movement.' The other day I thought I was just going to go away and slit my throat. (artists sometimes do feel that dramatic about their work.) Fortunately, I have decided I am very much a part of this discipline and will continue forward, striving to complete each painting in the spirit of Daily Painting, whether I finish one painting a day or not. I, frankly, don't wish to be drawn into a tug of war over what is and what isn't worthy for a particular movement. My discipline is internal and I love sharing my work with those who watch my blog and collect my paintings.

So enough about that....and onto the next painting. I am really happy about Chipper and hope his owners will enjoy owning this painting!!

Daily Painting Dog Portrait, "Chipper"

Here is a detail of Chipper's Face

I am still working on him, but here is a glimpse of what Westie fur and happy eyes look like!! :) Stay tuned!

Daily Painting Dog Portrait, "Chipper"

"Chipper" Prelim Drawing
9.5X7
Charcoal Pencil on Watercolor Paper

I have to be one of the luckiest people on earth. Well, nevermind that, but I do feel very lucky to have the privilege of doing what I love to do. Chipper is the next dog portrait. He's a Westie of special character and as you can see he is a happy little fellow. He sports a black sweater with a star on the front, not to mention that darling smile!

I am just getting started on his portrait. The painting will be 14X11. This is a smaller freehand drawing I did this afternoon, which I like to do to get the feel of the values, study the nuances, and generally give myself the deep breath treatment before I dive into the paints. Too much fun!!!
Stay tuned!!

Mystery Dog Revealed

"Fisher"
9X12
Oil on Canvas
Commissioned
Click the picture to enlarge it!

So finally, here is the "rest of the story," as Paul Harvey would say. This is a story about a dog, a couple in love, a talk show radio guy and an artist, and a surprise wedding present.

I will try to consolidate this, but I fear I will make a short story long becaue this commissioned painting has been a whole lot of fun for me.

The Dog: He is a pound puppy, one of the lucky ones who gets adopted to a good home to be loved and have good care. (This is a cause close to my heart.) He has, as you can see, that great marking around one eye that reminds people of the RCA dog, or Petey, the Little Rascal's dog. He has been named Fisher.

The Couple: Molly Grantham and her new husband, Wes Hyland were engaged to be married when they picked out Fisher from the line-up at the pound. My understanding of this is that Molly wasn't too keen on getting a dog, but Wes, her fiancee, really wanted a dog. Upon adopting Fisher, Molly fell in love with the little canine fellow, and has been really delighted to have him. Molly is the TV anchor for the WBT affiliate station, WJZY on channel 8 at 10:00 pm weeknights. She is beautiful and has an infectious smile that will knock your socks off! Besides that, she has abundant energy and is involved with " Make a Wish Foundation" and various other charity efforts in Charlotte. Wes, who I know much less about, moved to Charlotte from Kentucky to marry his beautiful Molly and begin a great married life upon their wedding last weekend. And, the location of their wedding was Fort Fisher, which is where Fisher, the dog, gets his name!

The Talk Show Radio Guy and the Artist: Keith Larson, the morning talk show host for WBT 1110 AM/99.3 FM radio, arrived in Charlotte in 2001 about the same time I closed my stationery company and moved into my new studio. Two people making a fresh start on new ventures....he with his new radio gig, mornings 9:00am to Noon, and me, with my change from producing stationery and commercial art to a complete focus on painting fine art.

So, there I was, sitting alone in my studio with brushes and oil paints, when I heard Keith begin to read passages from George Orwell's 1984, words I hadn't heard since studying English Lit in High School. He grabbed my attention at that moment. I was so enthused to hear this reading. Here was someone who really gets it, someone who understands individual liberties and found the perfect illustration to make his point regarding the erosion of our rights and liberties day by day. I was so taken by this that I emailed him that day and told him how much I appreciated his doing this. To my surprise, he emailed me back. That was the beginning of a frendship of emails and issues that I am delighted to have. And for six years now he has continued to amaze me with his range and ability to talk intelligently on so many different subjects that I wonder when he has time to sleep. Listening to Keith is like having a great conversation with your best friend. He covers the gamut from serious issues on the local, state, and federal levels, rips your heart out with a true reason to care about a charity organization....and then has you on the floor laughing over some silliness like his " lavender folder" or some hockey game he conjures up with all of his women media friends on the WBT ice rink.

Keith and his wife have two dogs, Murphy and Cooper. And Keith does commercials for Purina dog foods. Knowing his interest in dogs, at some point I emailed Keith some samples of my dog portraits for him to see what I had been painting while listening to his show.

The Surprise Wedding Present: Molly is a guest on Keith's show regularly. But one day she arrived in the studio with Fisher in tow, telling the story of "the pound" and how she and Wes had adopted Fisher. Hmmmmm...what to get Molly and Wes for their wedding? A light bulb moment occurred. In March Keith decided to look into the idea of commisssioning a portrait of Fisher for Molly and Wes' wedding present. (Smart thinking ahead of time enough to let oil paints dry, I must say!!) After finishing the portrait in April I published it with Fisher's name as the title. Well, Keith yelled, "Stop the presses!!!" He was very concerned that Molly would get wind of the surprise due to Molly's popularity and Fisher's name on the internet. So ...I unpublished the blog. Then republished the blog using a "Mystery Dog" title so it would not be googled with the name and ruin the surprise for Molly and Wes! The surprise was saved and now Fisher's portrait is hanging in their home.


So, that is the "rest of the story," except to say just a couple of more things.

First, I loved doing this portrait. Keith had terrific pictures from which to work and Fisher is a good subject! But further, I have loved being included in this wedding surprise for these fun and interesting people who enrich my life by virtue of the Radio/TV media...and getting to know Keith a bit more!

And secondly, I have loved being part of something that may encourage people to take a look at the pound and adopt an animal that may turn out to be the best companion animal you could ever ask for. It's a good thing to do! My husband and I have a rescued dog from the pound whose name is Bosley and who we adore.

Daily Painting Animal Portrait, "Bosley's Nap"

"Bosley's Nap"
11X14
Oil on Canvas Panel
Artist's Collection
Click picture to enlarge

Here is the latest portrait of Bosley, our very own four legged friend and model for this artist! He keeps me company in the studio and in the afternoons, after going in and out to the backyard about a hundred times to check on the squirrels and chipmunks, he takes a nap. Sometimes he lands on the couch or the fleece dog bed which you can see next to him in the painting, but this time he just crashed on the hard floor. Fortunately for me, my camera is handy and I got down on the floor and snapped this pose. In case you can't imagine it, he has abundant hair and this was no easy chore to paint. Grooming is a daily process, an activity he only likes round about bedtime when he is tired and enjoys the attention. I suppose it is soothing at the end of the day to be combed and fussed over. Anyway, here's our guy and I guess you can tell we love him a lot.

"Mystery Dog"

"Name Pending"
9X12
Oil on Canvas
Commissioned

Click on each picture to enlarge.

Finished March 26th. Published, then unpublished, now published again. This guy has freckles and markings on his face that were really a bear to capture. The thing about portraiture is just this; capturing the character of the subject, no fudging around the details, precision is key. Unless of course you are doing something other than realism. Then you can play Picasso and put the nose on the navel if you want to.
I haven't met this fellow in person. Did the whole thing from photos. Which of course always gives me a heart attack on delivery, not knowing for sure if I managed to get his personality just right. In this case you paint what you see, throw in some imaginary emotional connections and just pray for the best. The recipients are a bride and groom and their dog is the beginning of their family life together. I hope they will enjoy this painting for a very long time.

Here he is framed. There is a little glare on this from the wet paint, and the color looks a bit darker. He is stunning on the wall. Really handsome! Not bad honors for a rescued dog from the animal shelter!

"Bosley"

"Bosley"
8X10
Oil on Linen Panel
Artist's Collection

Bosley is our latest companion and is now around 15 months old. He was 9 months old when I did this painting early last fall. I had a tough time with this painting because I was nursing him back to health after elbow dysplasia surgery and I was interrupted twenty million times. He has had a hair cut since then and is really cuter than this, but I was happy to capture the earnest expression on his face. Bosley is just like the dog you imagine in your mind when you think of the song, "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?" ("the one with the waggily tail!") Seriously, he smiles and plays and wags his tail more than any other dog I have ever known. We are deliriously happy to have him. I lucked out when finding him on the website called petfinders.com, which, by the way, is the greatest thing if you are looking to give a home to a rescued dog or cat. Right now he is crashed beside me and waiting for me to tell him it's time to head upstairs to bed.....where we will dream of chasing the ball and wagging our tails all night long! Goodnight.

"Butte"

"Butte"
11X14
Oil on Linen Panel
Commissioned by the Owner

Butte is a mix between Golden Retriever and a Malamute, we think. He is adored by his owners. (oh, those blue eyes!!) And, I might add, a very nice fellow. The painting was a gift from a husband to his wife on her birthday. A birthday celebration and the unveiling of this portrait was enjoyed by friends, family, and this artist!!

This painting was done from one of the photographs supplied by the owners. Sometimes that works out well, assuming the photo has the right light and details. The jpeg emailed to me with this pose was actually a bit vague, so we had to get some other photos to give me more information. But it all worked out in the end. It is handsomely framed in a gold plein air style frame and looks great hanging in their craftsman style house.

"Chewy"

"Chewy"
11X14
Acrylic on Archival Paper
Commissioned by the Owner

Click on picture to enlarge!

Cat owners rejoice! Here is a fine, fat, feline for you. His owners said I flattered him in this portrait by making him look quite not so chubby as he actually is. But I think it is because of this pose. Chewy is one of those lazy bones cats. He lolls around, is not too fond of people, and only shows up to eat. He will probably live to be 100 since he is very adept at staying out of harms way.

Working note: the flash gave me a bit too much shadow, too, but that turned out to be good contrast to him. It looks even more harsh here than it is in the painting.

"Bo"

"Bo"
11X14
Oil on Linen Panel
Commissioned by the Owner

As long as we are on a Cocker Spaniel roll, here is "Bo" McMillan. Bo was really good at posing, especially as his mistress held out treats for him. This was one of his favorite places to be cute, sitting on a leather chair and hanging his paws over the edge of the arm. He has a very erudite air about him. I really enjoyed doing this painting and hope it made his owner happy.

"Lucy Forlorn"

"Lucy Forlorn"
5X8
Watercolor
NFS

This was a watercolor I did of Lucy from a photograph taken the second day after we found her. Obviously, grooming was yet to be done. She was standing there at the vet's office after spending the night and we had come back to pick her up. The tick remedy was done, but as you can see, she still was looking very sad and curious. She had to be wondering who these people were and what on earth was next. She is very lucky to have lived through the thousands of ticks, dehydration, and who knows how long on the road. My daughter loves her to death. This lost dog story has a happy ending at least!

"Lucy"

"Lucy"
8X10
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
Sold

Lucy is a foundling. She was covered in ticks and falling down from exhaustion when we found her on our street in May almost three years ago. Soooo pitiful. There is a longer story than this, but I'll make it short....We gathered her up and put her in a tub to try to clean her up, fed and watered her, and off she went to the Vet to get checked out and de-ticked. She was about 4 months old at the time. And turned out to be the cutest pure blooded Chocolate Cocker Spaniel. She now lives with my daughter and is the most loyal companion. Her only draw back is that she is wary of strangers....but hey, who can blame her after the neglect she suffered at the hands of some lunatic who dumped her out??!! I think you can see that wariness in this painting. She studies you very carefully as if to say, "Are you friend or foe?" We are all in love with her and glad the angels of lost dogs brought her to us.

"Bailey"

"Bailey"
11X14
Oil on Linen Panel
Artist's Collection

This was our beloved Scottie who left us last spring in 2006. I am very glad to have made this portrait of him the year before he died, so we will always see his adorable smile.