Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Pei Play," 10" x 20", portrait of two Shar-peis, acrylic on canvasboard, $629. (In the interest of full disclosure, this painting actually took me 2 days to complete, not the requisite Painting a Dog a Day's one day.) Inquiries may come to me.

The above painting is Jay with his sister Raisin. They didn't start life out together. Raisin, being the oldest & wisest, sagely allowed Jay to join the family. Jay was "discovered" (err, rescued) off Craig's list.

I've painted their portraits previously and separately (Raisin was one of the first Dog a Days, and Jay, or "Chocolate Pei," 8" square, pictured below, was done just a few weeks back but I hadn't had a chance to share him yet), but couldn't resist painting this piece of them together.

"Pei Play" epitomizes sheer joy, resilience and vitality. The perfect combination for this October's 2nd annual "Helping Paws" exhibition hosted by the Canine Art Guild. Helping Paws is a unique art show where the participating artists choose a rescue or shelter to partner with, and the sale of their artwork supports that particular group. There also will be People's Choice awards in the form of cash donations made to the partner animal rescue/shelter. "Pei Play" will be one of my entries for this particular show.

Now I'm off to spend a little time on myself. Can't decide if I should curl up with a good read or make progress on my latest knitting project, a laptop sleeve for my new powerbook. Either way, I'll also have a glass of wine and a warm gooey brownie.

Thanks as always for looking at and sharing my artwork.

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Jack Russells Wanta Have Fun

Another gray day. Seems that is what I am bemoaning a lot these days.
Sorry if I sound like a broken record.
Above is a fun little casein on board, 5 x 7”, of a young JRT having fun. Jacks are always ready for fun! I am titling it “Leapin’ Lizards”. It will be put up on my website too. The pup who inspired this painting belongs to a new friend I have made on Facebook. Thanks, Vicki!!

Now I have to make some time for some commissions that need to get finished and in between those I will be working on new work. While my family series got put on a back burner, that whole subject matter is begging to be done…and so I have to follow my muse.

The other night I spent a fair amount of time looking for rentals in Italy. It is a dream of mine [and Les’ too] to go back to Italy and spend some time there. [Our horses and dogs and cat don’t think it is such a good idea…!] I looked over the area where Les and I used to live in Umbria and Tuscany. It has grown up so much since we were there…. villages are now cities. Cobbled stoned streets are now highways. Maybe we should stay where we are and just remember it like it was? Oh, but wouldn’t it be great to be painting in Italy again???

Chesapeake Bay Retrievers in Pencil

This pencil portrait featuring four Chessies is my latest commission. This is one of my favorite pieces because it depicts my favorite dog breed so I guess I am a little partial! I really did enjoy doing it though and it was challenging to try to get the coat patterns correct since Chessie coats go every which direction. The other challenge was trying to depict three different coat colors in black and white. Two of the dogs are a reddish color called sedge, the front one is a light deadgrass and the dog on the right is a dark brown. I did a work in progress report on this drawing that you can follow on my personal blog. Just click here to check it out.

Thanks for looking!

www.petportraitsbycatherine.com

Whippets in fall

I had a whole CD of images that my old computer couldn't read and I thought they were lost forever. Luckily I tried the disc in the new computer and it worked fine. Among the newly rediscovered images were the ones from the photo shoot I did for a whippet breeder a couple of years back. I liked the way the dogs blended with the background colours of the landscape that they were whipping through. I always enjoy getting a chance to work with sighthounds and their elegant lines. 

Judy Wood  

www.judywoodartphotography.com

http://judywoodartphotography.blogspot.com 

Sleeping Lab Puppy

Here's my newest mini painting--a 3 1/2"x 2 1/2" oil on canvas affixed to a board. He's on his way to the east coast! This surface is really great to work on---the canvas is a very small weave and it isn't slick so the paint actually is a pleasure to apply. This painting took one evening to complete.

"Nirvana" by Nancy Daleo Ware

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...something I'm far from achieving, but little Frida's face tells me she may have beat me to it (or at least a very deep, sound, peaceful sleep).

Pastel on Canson paper measures 14" x 11" with 4 ply matte and 20" x 16" Silver frame.

$10 will be donated to PRWC, Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Center located in Canada.

please email waredaleo@sbcglobal.net to inquire.

painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Riding Shotgun (Border Terriers)," 4" x 5", dog painting in acrylic on canvasboard, framed in custom gold carved molding, $284. Inquiries may come to me.

 

Remember last week's painting "Backseat Drivers"? It was headed to an exhibition this week and not for sale. Well a new collector asked "please?" enough times that I opted to sell the piece to her and create a different one for the show (which focuses on our love of the automobile, hence the recurring car theme).

 

Just to eliminate any potential groveling, "Riding Shotgun" is on the market right away. If I still have it by Thursday morning, it'll go to the show. If it sells, well then I've got another dog and car piece on the easel as a backup.

 

Never a dull moment around these parts!

Thanks so much for sharing my artwork with your friends and family, and for saying "please."

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Tucker

Tucker belonged to a friend of mine and was her constant companion for many years. A few weeks after photos were taken for this picture she lost him suddenly to cancer. I couldn't believe it, he was so full of life that day, and then just gone.
This original 5x7 watercolor is not for sale, but I am offering 5x7 giclees for $10 plus $5 S&H. 20% of all proceeds will be donated to the SPCA of Southwest MI. Please email me at lojomjnc@charter.net.

Judith A. Johnson

She's A Jersey Girl - Carol Chretien

Tori Jem was a greyhound in need of adoption when I saw her image on the Greyhound Friends of New Jersey site and fell in love with her eyes. Having a rescue friend who had recently adopted a Grey from them prompted me to want to help out their rescue with a donation from my art. So many beautiful dogs waiting for homes! Doing the painting and telling her story would help to get her rescue a little more attention. In her case, she didn't need much help. Her foster family fell in love with her.

In the time it took to get the painting designed and using Tori Jem and the Jersey shore for my inspiration, she was adopted and is living in a happy home with another Greyhound companion.

The painting sold this week to help the rescue.

These wonderful dogs make the best adopted additions to a family. It was my pleasure to get to paint this breed again.

Doodling, by Terry Albert

Presenting Rylee, a golden-doodle. Her owner ordered this painting as a Father's Day gift for her husband. Rylee is quite a character, only a year old and a very busy girl. She is so energetic that when she walks next to me, I carry a metal dog dish so she won't crash into me. She jumps up and bongs her head on the bottom of the bowl, and just keeps on jumping happily along at my side!

I am a pet sitter as well as an artist, and Rylee was staying with me this week. It was nice to have my model here when I had questions about the reference photo. For example, I checked to see what color the skin is around her eyes, brown or black. If I made that area the color of her coat, her eyes would look way too small, and it wouldn't be accurate anyway. She is curled up under my drawing board right now, sleeping off a big day of playing with two collies and a Lab.

Her coat is not white, it is a creamy color-- like a light colored golden retriever or Lab would have. So it was fun to add the lavender shadows (the complement of yellow) to make her color richer. To give it depth, I started with a wash of burnt sienna under the entire dog, and then built up layers of acrylic paint in golds creams and lavender with some gray and brown shadows.

This painting is an 8" x 10" and is sold. It is done in acrylic and colored pencil. Visit my web site to see more of my artwork at http://www.terryalbert.com. I am available for a custom commissioned painting of your dog or other pet!

The photo shown here is Rylee (with very muddy paws!) relaxing in the back yard with Chester, another energetic young dog.