Max - the Blue Heeler!

This is my newest portrait - of Max, the Blue Heeler. It is my first painting since I got back to Guam (and actually my first blue heeler as well). I always really enjoy painting the pet portraits, and this one was no exception!

I am very pleased to say that the customers were very happy with it as well. (the portrait was commissioned for a Christmas present!)

Max is currently living on Guam with his family, he loves food, and his favorite toys are these blue racquet balls. So they had to be somehow incorporated. I love this photo, it was the perfect image to use for the portrait. I guess this guy is well know for his goofy expressions, so this is a typical Max-pression!:D

Well... once again - a pet portrait! Actually even two of them. This is Sveske and Vanilla, my first two cairn terriers. And mother and daughter as well.

Their owner gave me some ideas as to what she'd like, and this is the result. I always really enjoy the part of talking to the owner and gather all the information about the pet - all the little goofy anecdotes. Those are what make me able to paint a personal portrait, which (hopefully) fit both the owner and the animal.

In these paintings, I particularly like the fact that one is a head shot, and the other full figure.

I used rawhide in the background of Sveske’s portrait ( a big hit with her!) and on Vanillas portrait, I used images of the actual sandal that she loves to chew.

I was very excited to send them of to the owner, who was very pleased with the result:)

3 x pugs

Looking at my blog, I see that my last three posts have been about dog portraits.I suppose for me, it really HAS been the summer of the pet portrait. I still have a couple of blank canvases in my studio, meant for yet another portrait.

This is a triple pug portrait I just finished. And like Kosha's portrait, I used vintage wall paper for the background. In this painting, I think the wall paper in brown nuances was just perfect, next to the light, beige dogs.

Underneath is the photo I worked from:

Winston's Portrait

My newest portrait - this is Winston, a beautiful boxer. The painting is for a birthday present, and will very soon be shipped to Utah, where winston lives with his family.

Kosha's Portrait

Today, a man named Colin in WA, is being given this portrait of his dog Kosha, a husky/ yellow lab mix.

I worked on the portrait during the month of May, sent it of, and I got an email from his sister (who initially commissioned the portrait) that it had arrived safely. Such a relief. It always feels a little sketchy, mailing paintings around the world.

It will be a birthday present from his extended family, and I just absolutely cross my fingers that Colin likes it, and feel that he truly sees his dog in it.
He lost Kosha recently, and was (of course!) absolutely heartbroken. I guess that is where my role can be a delicate one, as you want to (-and have to-) portray the essence of the pet. I am always a bit anxious when I am showing the portrait to pet owners. They are the ones who know the dog or cat, and the most important thing is that they recognize their pet in it. Usually I work with the customer during the process, but in different ways. Some give me complete freedom to follow my idea, where as others prefer to have more to say in the choice of color, background, etc.

It has been a little while since I worked on a pet portrait, but as always, I have enjoyed the process. What is slightly different about this portrait, is that I used wall paper in the background. A technique I normally reserve for my other work, the collage paintings. But I do like the way it turned out, and expect to keep experimenting with colors, patterns and texture in the future.

Happy Birthday Colin!