"BABY BLUE" Rottweiler Puppy

"BABY BLUE"
6" x 4.25" Original Watercolor painting on 300lb. Arches paper
Who could resist painting this? A Rottweiler puppy snuggled into his blankie :-)
~Kim
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To view more artwork by Kim Ratigan, visit her blog or website!

 

Elin Pendleton - Finished Lesson Painting of Her Dogs

Ah, beloved pets. Is there anything more comforting than to see them as they are today, knowing their short lives are going to become part of your personal history down the road? The black and tan is my beloved, aged Q, or "little biting dog"--LBD, who is 17 years old this year. Still spry, but with growths, totally deaf and cataracts are taking her once sharp eyesight.

Sparky is the "accidental" dog--I almost didn't get him, but at the last minute decided that Onslow needed a playmate. Dogs, true to their own needs, disrupted my best-laid plans. Onslow cares for and stays with Q, and Sparky has become my constant companion.

This is an original oil, 11 x 14, but not for sale. I like to keep some of my memories.

In finishing up this work, I was concerned again with the lighting, having sunshine coming in through a western window, and it being more late afternoon than evening. So any whispers of alizarin in the shadows are cancelled by the greenish influence of afternoon. But there is the whisper of cad orange in all of the lights. Even the thalo blue highlights on the dogs have that graying influence of the orange. Keeps the blues from being TOO strong. If you compare this image with the previous one on my blog, you can discern how much or little I did to finish it up.

On other news, I finished the installation of the new sink and counter/cabinets in the cleanup room of my studio. Here's a photo of the project...I'm happy that I got through the plumbing--it wasn't as tough as I thought! I'll need this for the workshops I'm planning for Two Trees (Riverside, California) in February of 2009, with Color Boot Camps coming up.

Yes, those are paintings (the smaller ones) stored on the end wall and above the faucets.

You can see my entire blog here.

You can order my Color System DVDs and Flash Cards HERE.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Elin Pendleton - First Lay-In on Dog Painting

Here's the first pass on an 11 x 14 inch oil, started for a fun goal of painting animals for a month that I started over on Wetcanvas.com. When I start a painting like this, I generally block in the large shapes to define the abstract structure of the work.

In this painting, I want the dynamics of value and the complimentary blue/orange color scheme to hold the reins. So for my first brushwork, I don't worry about any of the edges, knowing that I can come back later and "fix" and find those that need finding.

These two dogs are my old German Pinscher (now 17) and Sparky, the year-old Teddy Roosevelt Terrier. The title of the painting will be called "Watching Over the Old One".

On other news, I continue to drop the excess pounds and have maintained muscle mass by riding and hiking the new trails behind our studio/home. Here's a picture of the newest trail, in evening light, with our place visible in the trees in the upper right corner. I'm at about 1750 feet elevation, and the house is about 300 feet below. I worked until deep twilight making this trail horse-safe. It's a long way down with a misstep!

You can see my entire blog here.

Can you see why I say that cadmium orange is found in the sunlight in the evening? The Color System Flashcards are available HERE.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Relaxed, Yellow Lab

"Relaxed," from the Painting a Dog a Day project (http://www.paintingadogaday.blogspot.com/), 6" x 12", yellow lab dog portrait, acrylic on board, $239 to the first buyer. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

Lately I've been leaning towards tonal paintings with broader brushwork. Not sure why - I'm looking at a variety of different artists each day, and continuing to study color theory - but I don't see those sorts of trends in what I've been following. Perhaps the source of inspiration will reveal itself down the road. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the paint each and every day! Hope you are enjoying following along with Painting a Dog a Day.

Thanks, as always, for your time in looking at and sharing my paintings with your family and friends,
Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
http://www.canineartguild.com/
the gateway to canine art on the web

Boston Terriers by Dawn Secord

This painting is of two Boston Terriers, Ruby and Slugger. Originally, the portrait was to be solely of Ruby who had recently passed away due to her senior age. A matter of months later Slugger, another senior, passed away as well. Their owner contacted me to give me the devastating news and asked if we could put both dogs in the painting.

His favorite photo of Ruby showed her in a canoe. Once Slugger was to be added to the portrait I asked if the recipient of the portrait ( the portrait was a gift as a 5oth birthday present for one sibling from his other siblings ) if he would like me to paint the dogs in the canoe as the photo showed. He did!

In the reference photo the shore line was above the top of the canoe. I dropped the shoreline below the top of the canoe so that I could get the shoreline in the composition while keeping the poses of the dogs as large as possible. The canoe was also narrowed down a bit in the painting to allow more room for the surrounding landscape.

Ruby and Slugger - in your honor - this painting was done with love.

To view more of my artwork please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Dawn Secord
Specializing in animal portraits
Blog:
http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com/

The Antique Chair

Another whippet painting, this time a watercolor. This little whippet girl looks like she is not sure whether she should be in the antique chair or not! This painting will be made into a limited edition print and available through my website.

Three takes on Spock

This contemplative fellow is Mr. Spock, owned by the breeder of my Boxers and a nephew to my two boys. His sire was a littermate brother of my boys. Recently Spock was in town for a dog show and I was able to get some shots of him and his daughter Gigi who was also here in the early days of her show career.

I've been editing the shots I took, and I liked this one so wanted to play with it. It was one I took more for myself than anything else, as I love these up close and personal tight crops. Shot number one is essentially as taken with my digital. Shot number two shows one of the many possible effects that can be achieved in Photoshop with filters. This has a nice 1930s commercial photography feel to me. In the third shot I have converted it to black and white, with a very small touch of colour in the eye. 

I could do endless variations on the theme on just this shot alone. There are so many possibilities and ways to alter digital photos in the computer. I haven't done much of this lately as I'm still in shooting mode (got 800 today of a cattle sorting with cowboys on horseback!!) and don't have time to deal with the ones I've already got. That would be what the long winter months are for!!

Thanks for looking at these examples. You can see more of my photos on my blog (including quite a few Boxer shots if you look around through the older posts) http://judywoodartphotography.blogspot.com   Or if this link won't click, look for my name on the right here and take it from there.   

Border Collie by Dawn Secord

This is Murphy, a Border Collie mix. Her painting has been finished for a few weeks now and I realized I had not yet put it on my blog or website.

Murphy is the second dog I have painted for her owners. I had met them several years ago at an exhibition in Beverly Hills where they commissioned me to paint their golden retriever. One of the greatest compliments as an artist is to have someone come back to me for another painting.

Murphy's owners brought her to me to photograph for her painting. It was wonderful to spend time with all of them. It was a very warm day and I was in Malibu at an exhibit. Murphy didn't waiver in her cooperation. What an amazing dog she is!!

I am so thankful to paint for a living and very little else is as rewarding to me as presenting to a person a painting of their beloved animal.

Dawn Secord
Fine Art Web Site
http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Blog

Enjoying the Journey

http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com

"LEAFY LULU" by Kim Ratigan

"LEAFY LULU" • 5"x5" Watercolor painting on d'Arches WC Board

The first day of Fall, my favourite season! Fuzzy Sweaters, Fall Fairs, changing colours, crisp apples, a fire at night--love it!

And in honour of Fall, here is "Leafy Lulu" Bassets have the greatest expressions! :)

• CLICK HERE TO BID

~ See more of my work at:
www.kimratigan.blogspot.com and www.justagallery.com

Irish Setter

This weekend I finished a painting I've been working on for some time. This is Daysie - an Irish Setter.

She enjoys many different activities with her human mom. One of the things that Daysie loves is to dance in competition.Along with the photos sent to me for this portrait was a DVD of Daysie at a competitive dance exhibition.

My husband and I enjoyed watching all the dogs that were performing on the recording. We noticed immediately how interactive Daysie was with her "mom" during the performance. She was absolutely in her element.

The primary reference pose of Daysie showed her in an indoor facility. In her painting I placed her outside in a green meadow surrounded by wild flowers with subtle gentle colors in the background. I hope you enjoy viewing the painting as much as I did painting her.

Dawn Secord

Fine Art Website

http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Blog

Enjoying the Journey

http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com/

YELLOW LAB

Yellow Lab" 5"x5" Watercolor on d'Arches WC Board

Here is a little portrait of beautiful yellow lab, backlit by the sun. This guy is a dignified, strong and dependable character, a lovely breed all round!!

Offered for sale on Ebay -
CLICK HERE TO BID

To view more work, please visit:
Kim Ratigan Paintings and Portraits and My Daily Painting Blog

"BFFs," 8" x 16", from the Painting a Dog a Day series (http://www.paintingadogaday.com/ )Labrador Retriever double portrait, acrylic on canvasboard, $449. Proceeds from the sale of this painting will support the service dog organization Paws with a Cause (http://www.pawswithacause.org/). Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

For those of you without a text-crazed teen, "BFF" stands for "Best Friends Forever." This painting depicts Josie with her childhood best friend, Sadie. Josie was raised for a year by a foster family, then turned over to Paws with a Cause so that she could begin her service dog training. Ultimately Josie will make an immeasurable difference in someone's life. But meanwhile Josie's puppyhood was spent romping with Sadie, the girl next door.

If you are interested in seeing your dog star in the Painting a Dog a Day project, please send an email to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,
See you tomorrow,
Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/

Jesse the Boxer

Meet Jesse, the Boxer. This sweet dog recently went over the rainbow bridge and as a tribute his owner asked me to paint this portrait of him. This portrait was a little different format than I usually do as far as the head study goes. Usually, I lay out the head as an adult dog and then maybe use a puppy pose below. This time we flip flopped the poses because this pose had very special meaning to her. Who could resist that face anyway? Creating the adult dog was a little more challenging because I had to "age" the pose using references that didn't show him in this pose as an older dog.
This piece was done with Prismacolor pencils on Stonehenge paper and is typical of many of the paintings I've done lately.

You can view some of my other pieces at my website www.petportraitsbycatherine.com.
Also, visit my personal blog http://catherinetempleart.blogspot.com

Thanks for looking!

Atlas by Catherin McMillan

"Atlas"

This little guy is seeking a forever home, not sure how anyone could resist such a lovely little face. But being white he is going to find it hard to find one. I created this drawing as one of my entries in the Canine Art Guilds Helping Paws exhibition which goes live in October 2008.

Atlas is a original pastel drawing on canson acid free paper. 10" x 14".

Price: $250.00 plus delivery.

20% of the sale price will be donated to Monica's Rescue.

Email Catherin - catherin@animalarthouse.com

website: www.animalarthouse.com

Different Strokes from Different Folks

"JACK" • 5"x5" Watercolor portrait on d'Arches WC Board

Well known and very talented painter Karin Jurick has started a new group painting blog. An image will be posted each Wednesday for any artist to interpret within their own creative abilities.
Karin started off this project by posting a picture of her much loved "Jack," her canine companion who recently passed away. I was delighted to take part and hope that my submission did justice to Jack. To take a look at all the wonderful pieces created, visit Differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks

~Later, Kim

• Web: www.justagallery.com
• Blog: www.kimratigan.blogspot.com

Borzoi

This is Jazzy a Borzoi. She was the most gentle soul you could ever meet. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person and getting to know her. When I went to take photographs of her she lived on 5 acres. Her owner and I sat in the yard and watched Jazzy while we discussed her portrait, her personality and how Jazzy came to be part of their family.

It was like watching a ballet performance. She had this effortless gait and floated as she moved gracefully across the beautifully landscaped property. In her earlier life she had been a show dog and once her show career was finished she was placed with her current owner. Jazzy had an absolutely wonderful life in one of the most loving families I've had the honor to meet.

This is the second painting I have done of Jazzy. She recently passed away and her owners wanted a painting of her with her ears up and looking gently into your eyes. To see Jazzy's other portrait or any other dog art please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/.

Thank you for looking at my art and have a great day!!

Dawn Secord

Fine Art: Dog, Cat and Horse Art
http://http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Blogspot - enjoying the journey
http://www.artofthedog.blogspot.com/

Elin Pendleton - Finished Commission, Family Pets

Here's the finished commission of the two dogs, and the collector loved it! I delivered it still wet in places, and he said I captured the personalities of the pooches with perfection of paintbrush (well, that's my interpretation!). The dog on the right is reserved in nature, and the one on the left is constantly happy and a bit goofy.

Getting that inherent personality is very essential to doing commissions, and I try my best to get it. The location is important for the client, too--the front porch is where they spend time and the positions are also characteristic, down to the twisted paws on the shy dog.

It was fun going from the cools of the area near the front door into the warms as the foreground came toward the viewer. And painting the tongue with alizarin and white seems to break the rules, but if you recall the lessons about human skin, dog's tongues follow the same rule. The learning never ends, does it?

I had a question from one of my friends who receives my blog, about how I handle messy cleanup in the studio, and thought you might enjoy seeing my solution. I purchased from SimpleHuman, a covered trash bin that uses plastic grocery bags. The cover keeps any brush cleaning solvent odors in check, and the bags are ubiquitous, so I never run out. I have two of these trash bins, one at either end of my taboret. Light weight, they hang from the end, and it is a simple matter to toss in the soiled towels and other debris.
The ingenious device also has storage for extra bags below it. Here's a link if you'd like more info. Thinking outside the box again, this was originally designed to go under the kitchen sink.

You can see my entire blog here.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Jack Jurick, Studio Muse

"Jack Jurick," 6" x 8", beagle mixed breed dog portrait, acrylic on canvasboard, $219. Proceeds from the sale of Jack's painting will be donated to my local shelter, the Oakland Pet Adoption Center, in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

Another daily artist and mentor, Karin Jurick (http://web.mac.com/kjurick/ZemArt/Welcome.html), recently lost her dog and muse to cancer. This sort of thing always hits close to my heart, even more so as I'm continuing to heal from my two senior kitties crossing the bridge.Karin challenged her readers to paint images of Jack, and I simply couldn't resist. The Jack paintings will be showcased at http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/. My painting of Jack is in EXCELLENT company.

Thanks, as always for looking.

And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/

latest Greyhound graphite drawing by Sheona Hamilton-grant.

Here is Robert a gorgeous  bright-eyed and alert Geyhound.

This is my first of my graphite portraits (I'm planning on three) for the CAG's next online show : Helping Paws 2008 Exhibition.  

The idea behind the show is to have each artist pledge a percentage of their sales in support of an animal welfare effort.

My help and support is going to the Dumfriesshire and Cumbria Greyhound Rescue.

I have fallen for these gorgeous, gentle and loyal canines and have chosen to donate 20% from my sale of this piece to this specific Greyhound Rescue.  Dumfriesshire and Cumbria Rescue is the only greyhound re-homing in the Dumfries & Galloway and Cumbria region. They are a young dynamic charity and have found homes for over 450 greyhounds in 6 years.

"Helping Paws 2008" goes on line on October the 1st 2008 for 4 months.

Thank you for looking.  

Many Cheers , Sheona

Alaskan Malamute sled dog team

Currently untitled oil on canvas 20" x 16

It's the dog days of summer and I'm painting snow LOL. Here's a piece I really enjoyed doing. I will be attending the Alaskan Malamute national in early November. If this painting isn't sold by then I'll have it with me, and if it is sold I'll still have giclee limited edition reproductions on canvas of it available for sale. I do plan on doing a couple of other Malamute paintings. If you want to catch them and my oil paintings you can check out my blog at karenmcclelland.blogspot.com

This painting will go off to my printer shortly. If interested you can find the canvas limited edition giclees for sale at www.kmdogart.com in about a months time. But first I guess I'd better come up with a title for it. For price information (the original or reproductions) please email me.

Cheers,

Karen McClelland