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!

Pet Portraits

One of the things that I really LOVE doing is painting (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before).  I also love animals.  So, one of the things I really enjoy is PAINTING PET PORTRAITS for other animal lovers!   

I have been steadily adding to my portfolio as new commissions come in and 

am ready to share a few of them with you...  

Bear, a Newfoundland mix, was painted for Deb and Kyle K.  as a memorial after 
he lost his battle with cancer.  
Bear was described as a "valiant protector" and I added this custom tag in the shape of a shield, 
as a symbolic reminder of his devotion to his loving family.  

This portrait was painted for Nancy and Don R. as a tribute to their beloved Killian.

This is a portrait of Princess, an American Eskimo dog, was  commissioned by Amanda S. and Kris R.
as a gift for his Aunt Sue.   I customized this tag for her.

This painting of "Puppers" was commissioned by Michelle W. and Steve  N. as a gift for his Mother.    

I work from photos that people have taken of their pets and I always ask for a description of their pets before I begin work.   I want to know about the animal's personality and what makes them special to their people.  It may sound corny, but I keep these descriptions in my mind while I am painting and I think that it really helps me "capture" their personality on canvas.  My customers always have the choice of background colors and I love to add personalized details to the portraits when appropriate.  One of my favorite ways to do this is by adding a custom dog tag or pet tag with their name.  Usually the tag somehow relates to the personality of the pet.  Perfect examples of this are the tags I made for Bear and Princess!