German Shepherd Dog

I finished this portrait of Foxy, a sweet German Shepherd,  a while ago and am just now getting it uploaded here.  Seems that the time flies by, and I realize that I am not attending to this blog as regularly as I should.  But I digress...

The completed portrait of Foxy, the German Shepherd Dog.

A while ago I held a contest to win a pet portrait.  The rules were simple, post a photo of your pet to my Facebook page and whichever photo inspired me to paint, would win!  Well here is the original winning photo:

The original reference photo for Foxy's portrait

 I just love GSD's.  They are so loyal, faithful and sweet that I couldn't resist this photo.

As with all of my commissions, I spoke at length with the winner about the portrait throughout the process.  It may sound corny, but I love to hear stories about the pets that I am painting.  I want to know their temperament and anything that helps me get to know the soul of the animal.  I really think that it helps me connect with the animal and, in turn, create a better portrait.  She requested a 16"x 20" canvas and she wanted a green background in reference to the plant beside Foxy in the original photo.  As I neared completion of the portrait, I showed it to her again, and she thought that Foxy's coat needed to be a bit darker than she appears in the original reference photo. When all adjustments were made, this is the finished portrait and she was quite happy with the results!

Here is a detail of Foxy's eyes.  I truly believe that a pet portrait is all about the eyes...once I get the eyes right, the whole portrait comes together...This dog is such a sweet, gentle soul who would do anything for her people.  What do you think?

A detail of Foxy's eyes -
the window to the soul...

A funny thing happened after I gave this portrait to Foxy's family...They told me that they had to move the portrait from its original spot because Foxy's doggy sibling, Oscar the Pug, kept barking at it.  I guess it looked real enough to him!

As always, if you are interested in ordering a pet portrait or any painted project, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Thanks for looking!

Chiweenie Portrait

Painted Mine! by Jenny Mehler 

Yes.   It's a Chiweenie.  

Do you know this dog breed?  It's a chihuahua and dachshund mix.  This is a portrait that I painted of Ivy, my neighbor's new puppy.  Ivy is the sweetest little puppy EVER!  She always comes running over to say hello with a happy little smile on her face.  Once, she was running so fast that her little legs couldn't keep up with her and she did a full-on summersault!  So CUTE!

Anyway, I digress...  Ivy belongs to my neighbor's ten-year-old daughter and they got her when she was just a few weeks old, just barely old enough to be away from her mother.  She was so tiny!  My neighbor took a photo of Ivy sitting in a shoe right after they got her and she asked me to paint it for her daughter for Christmas.  We both decided that the black shoe  just wasn't cute enough, so I changed up the colors (just a little bit! <wink>  blue, pink and purple - YES!)

Painted Mine! by Jenny Mehler

This portrait is painted on an 8x10 canvas painted with acrylic paints.  Ivy has grown up a bit now, but she is still the sweetest little puppy ever!

And my neighbor's daughter was so excited with this gift that was custom-painted just for her...


Please contact me about commissioning a custom painted pet portrait just for you (or as a gift for your favorite animal lover).  In addition to canvas, I also paint customized Christmas ornaments, photo frames, etc.