This guy was tricky. He's a gift and the person who commissioned me didn't have a ton of great photos. I knew he was a Wheaten mix, so I used the body of another dog photo I googled and superimposed his face on it. He turned out pretty cute! I have a ton more dogs to get finished before Christmas so I will be one busy painter.
Sumo!
What a cute name for a little shortie!
Nyquist!
A name shared by the 2016 Kentucky derby winner, by a cat! What a cool dude. I'll be busy with commissions until after Christmas, for sure!
Norm!
Look at this little cutie that I got to paint this weekend! Buckling down on getting my waiting list finished before Christmas. I'll probably be working on two per week until the weekend before Christmas.
Eastern Bluebird
The eastern bluebird is the MO state bird. My grandmother really liked them. They aren't common on the eastern side of Missouri, they usually hang around the KC side, but in the fall we see more over here in STL.
Rascal
I was commissioned to paint a picture of a beloved doggie named Rascal. This reference photo couldn't be cuter, he's wet, and tired, and so proud of his tennis ball. You can just see what a fun time he's been having on that beach.
Pitbulls are a tricker dog for me, as they don't have a lot of fur. Also, black dogs are hard to show definition with. I tried something new and painted Rascal blue first so you could see him shining in the sunlight, and I think it was a good solution. It was also a challenge to paint a wet dog but I think he turned out pretty darn cute!
Good boy!
Rascal the big blue ox
Tennis ball lover
Who wouldnt love this face??
Made the paper!
Its always nice to get some press. The Edwardsville Art Center did this nice write up about the Plein Air exhibition I am in. Check it out!
Dog time
I painted this little guy named "Stray" last night. I loved his bat ears!
Oh hi, tree again.
I finally took some risks and added some darker shadows in this sketch and I'm really feeling how they turned out!
Saturday night puppy portrait
I donated one custom pet portrait for a fundraiser for a local rescue group, Stray Rescue. The winner commissioned me to paint her lab/pit mix, Dolly. Named after the one and only Dolly Parton! I loved her extra because of this!
Show next week!
Four of my paintings were accepted into a show which opens next week! here's some info!
Hope you all can make it!
Plein auto painting
I guess when it rains, you paint in your car!
Today I painted the ground.
It's 86 degrees here in St. Louis today, and not feeling very fall like. But the leaves are coming down, decorating the hiking trail.
Another sculpture
Well the last sculpture I painted went so well I thought I'd try my hand at one of the sculptures in the sculpture garden here at the Saint Louis Art Museum. This one was only okaaaaaay.....I didn't realize how hard it would be to paint the reflection of the museum in the shiny bronze. Next time I attempt painting a dark sculpture it will be on a bigger scale so I can get some details so it doesn't look as weird as this one.....oh well, live and learn!
Tubs the cat
People have been really amusing me with their pet's names recently. Here is Tubs the cat! I finished him last night.
trials in painting
I went back to Edwardsville Watershed Nature Center this past Sunday to work on another painting for their plein air show coming up at the Edwardsville Art Center. I drove 45 minutes to Edwardsville, hiked out for about 20 minutes with my packpack, stool, wooden French easel, and my supplies, and set up to start painting. I noticed that I had left my turpentine sitting on my counter at home. So I had to repack everything, hike back to my car, take about an hour going to lowe's to buy some mineral spirits, and returned to the Nature Center. When I arrived, it had begun to rain. I had an umbrella though, so I hiked back out to my spot with my backpack of supplies, stool, and French easel under an umbrella. I found a nice pavilion to paint under. I had a nice view! I got out my supplies to set up again, and I noticed that all my turpentine had spilled into my backpack. I had no turpentine. So again I packed up, went back to get more turpentine, and returned to the Nature Center. This time I managed a painting, thank little baby jesus in the manger.
The challenge of the reference photo.
Sadly a lot of the dogs and cats I get asked to paint have left this earth. A portrait of a beloved pet really is a nice way to remember them and I am honored I am trusted with this task. But painting a dog who isn't available for a couple of good reference snap shots is a challenge.
This dog is named Woody and he's been gone at least ten years. I knew him in high school and he was one cool dawg. His owner had saved this photo on her MySpace page, then when Facebook became cool she saved it from her MySpace (which compresses images) then posted it to Facebook (which compressed it even more!) then saved it from Facebook and sent it to me. Quite the challenge! I kept everything light and loose as I didn't want to get any details that were unclear wrong. He turned out cute!
Woody!
This is what I had to work with. What a funny boy.
Dawgs
Finished up two dog commissions this week! I am getting super booked up for Christmas orders. It's a good kinda problem.
Here's Beau. He's a cutie.
More wildflowers
I'm not sure what these yellow wildflowers are, but they are popping up everywhere around St. Louis, and I love them. On Sunday I galloped a pony through them at Forest 44 conservation area, so I was happy to pay tribute to that great ride when I saw them behind the Art Museum in Forest Park!
Edwardsville Watershed Nature Center
I painted all weekend at Edwardsville Watershed Natre center! It was extremely beautiful! This is the only painting I finished, but I'll post the others as they are completed.
Getting started!
Progress!
Done!