Mila & Zula Oil Painting

I couldn’t wait to post this painting as it was one of my favorites to paint this past holiday season! Mila and Zula are two quite rambunctious labs oozing with personality! This oil painting was really fun due to the size, there was so much space to work with.

One thing I love to do is ask about the pet I am painting and learning about the quriks special to them. I love it when long descriptions like this are sent!

“These two are ball hogs....it doesn't matter where we are, even if its the most remote area, Zula will find a ball.  She's a freak.  And she just keeps dropping it in front of you to throw or kick for her.  Even if you kick it 2 inches, she will grab it and run for a bit like it was the greatest 2 inches of her life, and then drop it again for another throw or kick.  Mila is naughty...she jumps the fence into the neighbors yard any chance she can get.  She poops in their yard and then jumps back into our yard.  What a little turkey.  They both sleep with us on our bed.  Sometime my husband will go downstairs and sleep on the couch instead of kicking them off.  Mila loves to pull on Zula's collar.  She pulls on them while we are hiking and ultimately she will pull it off and we lose it.  The collar seen above on Zula is MIA now...somewhere in the Run A Muck.   ”

Originally I was planning a snowy background scene, but after speaking to the customer we decided to go with a more earthy/dirty background! You can see this change in the painting.

Painting of The Corgis

I needed a piece to fill a local show, so I painted my own corgis! Here is a video of the painting process!

Painting of Smokie

Here is another painting I forgot to post back when I painted him! Another cutie! Smokie was a fun one because the background was included!

Painting of Ralphie

I forgot to post about this guy back when I painted him! It is always fun to paint older pets, so much white sprinkled in with the gold. Painting text was a new challenge in this one, I definitely don’t feel that it is my strong suit, but hey I tried and it’s on fabric so it is a bit more forgiving.

One thing I love to do is ask about the pet I am painting and learning about the quriks special to them. I love it when long descriptions like this are sent!

“Ralphie is a very social gold retriever who grew up on a lake.  When he was young he would roam the neighborhood looking for new friends.  If he found a party sometimes he wouldn't come home until the next day!  Although he does like other dogs, we like to joke he likes dog people more.  He also loves going to stone's throw brewing to get pets and beg for treats from the food trucks.  My parents bring him there every Friday.  They like to joke that he has to make it to his shift as a greeter. They even made him a bandana. He is very well known there.  Sometimes if we take him on a walk somewhere complete strangers will recognize him!  

Ralphie loves food.  I don't think he really cares what though.  He has even gotten in trouble for eating the neighbors cabbage out of her garden.  He loves everything from hotdogs to brussel sprouts.  His favorite toy is a stuffed California quail that  makes an authentic bird call.  He also likes to carry around shoes but never chews them.  We have  tried to get him other ones but  he hasn't liked them. One thing Ralphie does not do however is retrieve.”

That face!

Hamster!

Bit busy this week! So have a look at this painting of a hamster I did!

Painting of Jiggy

Jiggy was a fun painting! Her reference photo was a bit challenging due to having a very light colored towel over her back that had to be replaced. Overall she was a pleasure to paint.

Maxine, Frankie Louise, Daisy Mae, & Quincy Oil Painting

This was a really awesome and challenging painting to paint! It was a larger one and as you can see has 4 subjects! From left to right they are Maxine, Frankie Louise, Daisy Mae, & Quincy. 

This one was a really fun one because it involved combining lots of references together and getting the lighting right on them. Each dog was in their own photo, two of them have passed. We actually did not have an official photo of one of the dogs and worked off of many photos to re-create her. Overall it was a really large challenge but very fun!  

Atlas, 24x48

This post was supposed to go up last monday, but apparently It didn't post! Here it is for this week! 

Here is a look at a painting of my own dog Atlas! I worked from a photo I took so it was a little easier to get a composition I was satisfied with. Oil on canvas. 

Golden Lion Tamarin

Since yesterday was Earth Day, I decided to do a quick animal painting in hopes to shed some light on conversation. This is a Golden Lion Tamarin painted in oil on panel.  8x10

Golden Lion Tamarins are endangered due to losing their natural habitiat due to logging, mining, and urbanization. Zoos and conservation programs are working to reintroduce them in areas of the wild. Support conservation programs and help efforts to save amazing species!

Oil Vs. Acrylic Paint

Oils or Acrylics? The ever looming question for painters, I have gotten the question many times about which I prefer. And for me there really isn’t a straight forward answer, as there are benefits to both.

Some of these are painted in Oils, some are painted in Acrylics. Can you tell which are which?

Acrylics

Acrylic paint was first introduced in the 1950s and are made from pigment in an acrylic polymer emulsion (plastic). They can be thinned with water and the paint dries fast. Acrylic paint can be mixed with various “mediums” such as gels, to create different effects.

Oil

Oil paint is what the old master’s used. The paint is pigment suspended in an oil, which makes it non-water soluble. A solvent is required to dilute or clean up paint. Paint is often thick and buttery (due to the oil) and dries very slowly. Depending on the thickness, it can take days for a painting in oil to dry.

So which do I prefer?

There are lots of things to consider, such as ease of use, clean up, speed of drying, color of dried paint and price. Acrylics dry fast, which is nice when something needs a quick turn-around, as I can work quicker with it. They are also easier to clean up as it just takes water to clean brushes. Oils dry slow, which can be a benefit or a hindrance, they also require solvents to clean brushes. These need special and careful handling. Acrylic paint dries a bit darker than it goes on the canvas, this is known as color shift. Oil paint dries pretty much how you apply it to the canvas. Acrylic paint is usually a bit cheaper than oil paint, which can also be a factor.

When painting one of the most important aspects to me is how the paint feels when coming off the brush. I like thick, buttery, smooth. These are the qualities of oil paint. However, I use heavy body acrylic paint, which does a really good job of getting that same quality in acrylic paint. I can usually make them look quite similar in my painting style. If I absolutely had to choose one I would choose oil, only based on the fact that I like how genuinely buttery it feels when going on the canvas! 

Acrylic

Oil

Did you guess correctly?