Pepper Oil Painting

This oil painting is of Pepper, the very silly and energetic cat. I was hoping to catch that bit that energy he has in the painting.

Sam Oil Painting

This painting was a quick one that I just wanted to do!

Tote Bags!

I have recently added tote bags to my website and Etsy! Taking the dogs from the dog pack and moving them to brightly colored backgrounds, I hope to make them a nice accessory. I have gotten a few of the tote bags myself and am really pleased with the quality. The original works are done in acrylic on paper then scanned and put on different backgrounds.

They can hold up to 44lbs and have a really great capacity at 15 inches by 15 inches.

There are 54 different dog breeds up! I am hoping to add more and cats soon! I am also thinking of implementing custom options if people are interested.

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Scout Oil Painting

This is a painting I did as a gift for my great aunt who recently lost her dog Scout. When one of my dogs was younger and I was in college she really helped me out by watching my dog for my senior year so I could focus on school. So I owed her for sure. Scout was a pleasure to paint and really will be missed.

This video shows pretty well my process of painting in oil. Start big work to small!

Lucky Acrylic Painting

This is Lucky! Lucky was abandoned in a dog park when he was a puppy and my client’s family ended up adopting him. Lucky is such a fitting name for this cutie! According to his owners Lucky loved the beach and protecting the family. He would cuddle and sleep with on the bed. He was a quick learner too!

Clancy Acrylic Painting

This is Clancy, the adorable corgi. He sadly has passed away, but hopefully I did him justice.

Ginger and Jasper Acrylic Painting

These Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were so cute! They were also in two different photos and then placed in the same one. This one was a bit easier because the angles that they were at were very close to begin with.

In painting this my approach was to work from dark to light, really allowing the light values to pop.

Fatso & Shorty Acrylic Painting

These two were another cute pair that was fun to paint. They presented a bit of a challenge, as they were in different photos, that were taken from slightly different angles. I usually like to stick quite close to the reference material so the end painting is representative to the pet itself. in this case, we had a similar enough photo, I was able to compensate the angles and photoshop together a reference that looked accurate.

The background on this one was also a new adventure, and let me tell you, leaves are hard! Getting the correct balance of detail and blur to represent depth is quite difficult.

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.

New Year Goals!

I think it is a good idea to make some goals for the New Year. These are not resolutions mind you, just keeping it loose and not full of guilt if they don’t happen to get completed! I am just going to write up bullet points to get a general idea of what my plans and goals are for this year. In no particular order:

·        Paint more paintings (wild animals vs. pets)

·        Deck of Cat Cards

·        Deck of Rescue Cards

·        Produce other inventory items to sell

·        Clean/Refurnish Studio

·        Get Newsletter going again

·       Do some giveaways!

·        Find gallery representation

·        Show around town (goal of 4 times)

·        Participate in an art fair

·        Travel and take more animal reference photos

·        Do more charity/support work

·        Research more into anatomy

·        Research more into zoology

·        Practice and learn more about sculpture

·        Re-vamp website?

·        Organize all computers! (seriously my computers are a mess!)

·        Start streaming on youtube or twich?

·        Play more soccer and ultimate so I don’t go crazy inside all the time

·        Walk the corgis at a consistent time!

·        Work in a café or somewhere other than my studio sometimes

·        Visit more galleries

·        Get better at promoting my art

There are probably way more things I could add to this list, but I think it is a good start. What do you want to get done this year?