dog portrait

Dog portraits are one of my favorite subjects, so when I was commissioned to paint beautiful Bandit it was a delight. We decided on an acrylic painting on an 8×10 canvas. My customer Erin sent me a few reference photos and I was immediately drawn to the one with the tilted head (#1 in my photo collage shown below). But on closer inspection, I didn’t particularly like the glare on Bandit’s nose and the reflections in his eyes, caused either … Read More

  “Heart to Heart” is the third in my new series of scratchboards done in what I call a ‘purist’ method. These are a big departure from my previous scratchboards, in that these use no paint! I’ve done a few black scratchboards in the recent past (Pink Lady, Hair of the Dog and The Queen), but each of them used colors to help define the values. In the purist approach, the black surface is scratched to reveal whites, and  the different … Read More

This dog portrait is unlike my usual “head-shot.” My friend Jenny messaged me with a photo, sadly saying her daughter-in-law Lindsey’s dog Bree had just died at age 15. She asked if I could do a painting from the photo, as a surprise for Lindsey. I was grateful for the opportunity and eager to tackle the interesting pose. Unfortunately, the backlighting which helped to capture a dramatic pose simultaneously knocked out the details in the shadows. The photo was small … Read More

I’ve just completed one of two commissioned pet portraits I’ve been creating simultaneously. This one is of my ‘god-dog’ who is named Lonesome. He is the most timid dog I’ve ever met, always slipping off to the security of his dog bed when guests are at his house. My husband Rick took it as a personal challenge to convince Lonesome that it was safe to let Rick get close. It took a little while, but they eventually bonded. Our eldest … Read More

  For an excitable little dog, he’s been very patient. Watson joined our family in January 2015 and I’ve finally finished his portrait, which I started months ago… painting is my moonlighting job, so life often gets in the way! We adopted Watson from the local shelter where he had been surrendered by his owners just before Christmas. He was estimated to be about 11 months old. We figured we better not change his name, since he seemed to know … Read More

My painting theme this month is “sweet” and here are four of my paintings, with a variety of subjects, which I think fit this category. Of course, February is always sweet for me, since Valentine’s Day is the day I married my forever sweetheart! “Decadence” features a super sweet display of yummy chocolates. This painting was a real departure from my usual subject matter. I purposely aimed at creating a strong and unusual image, since my intention was to enter … Read More

“Tyson” My paintings cover a wide variety of subjects, but if I had to restrict myself to one, I’d pick dog portraits. Every furry face has its distinct characteristics and I love to hone in on each one’s uniqueness.  I also know how much pleasure I get from seeing my doggies’ faces in the portraits I’ve done, particularly those who have passed away, and it pleases me to be able to do this for others. Maggie Mae The eyes are … Read More

It’s OK now to post another one of my newest paintings, a portrait of our dog Maggie Mae. This was one of my Christmas surprise gifts for Rick. It was challenging to complete this painting without Rick’s knowledge, since my painting area is part of our large office and we are together 24/7. A few times the canvas was quickly slipped into a large drawer, with the paint still wet! For this painting, done in acrylic on canvas, I used … Read More

It’s safe for me to reveal another of my newest paintings, which has now been opened as a Christmas surprise. This is a new dog portrait of a rescued puppy very dear to my heart, named Hunter. Hunter & Ellie Mae soon after he was rescued. The short version of Hunter’s story is that our friend Kathy found him wandering in the woods over Labor Day weekend 2012, homeless and totally emaciated. Rick and I agreed to give him a … Read More

“Sleeping Ginger,” painted in black ink on scratchboard The point of view you choose for a painting can make a big difference. For example, I always try to depict portraits of dogs with my eye level pretty much at the dog’s eye level. “Sleeping Ginger” really illustrates this – if I was standing above Ginger, looking down at her on the floor, the intimacy would have been lost. In painting an outdoor scene, the point of view is critical, certainly … Read More