Otter was a Chocolate Lab who I had been commissioned to paint at the very tail end of my 2023 pet portrait season. By “pet portrait season” I mean the period from October until Thanksgiving. This order came in the first week of December, so technically it was a late order. I was inclined to turn it down and refund the half payment. But after a phone call with the gentleman who explained that Otter …
Here’s a happy little fellow I painted last year (2024) for a Christmas commission. Mr. Mo looks especially friendly, like he’s happy to climb up on your lap and tell you all about his day, or hear all about your day while you rub his belly. Say “Hi” to Mr. Mo (16×16, digital)Custom Pet Portraits! I create affordable custom portraits inspired by your photographs. I paint them digitally by hand (no A.I., no filters). They …
The customer wanted a portrait of both her dogs together. No problem. She provided several photos of each dog. Again, no problem; I can sketch both dogs together as my starting point. I painted Millie as a small terrier and Bear as a medium-size dog and sent a proof. Almost immediately I received a panicked reply saying that both dogs are the same size! She was afraid the portrait was set in concrete at that …
Some notes of the day. Do I believe evil exists? Sure. Am I a hypocrite because I believe evil exists but don’t believe in God? Not hardly. I believe evil exists because there is plenty of evidence. I also believe good exists for the same reason. The key is in the definition of terms. I don’t believe evil or good possess supernatural qualities, which makes the existence of God (or the Devil) unnecessary. Therefore, I …
Lucy and Blue was a combo portrait ordered during the 2024 Christmas season in which I created sixteen portraits in the marathon month of November (see my previous post). If I remember correctly, this was a combo from two reference photos, one of Lucy and another of Blue. Using different photo references is tricky for a lot of reasons and I usually request several photo options to choose from to help me in the process …
It’s nearly two months since we bid farewell to Hudson. We buried him down the hill from our house, next to Beorn, Boris, Reggie and Larry, our previous dogs. His memory will live within me forever. I’ve since cancelled my subscription to Porcupine Monthly. I will miss the centerfolds. Life goes on. A week ago we learned of a dog at a local rescue facility in need of a new home. I didn’t have a …
I paint more than dogs. Here are some of my recent digital landscapes inspired by trips to the southwest.
First off, my apologies for the radio silence the last couple of weeks. My dog, Hudson, an Old-English Mastiff of 115 pounds, and not even six years old, was diagnosed with bone cancer. We love our dogs. They’re family. This sad news hit me hard, inhibiting my ill-informed, occasionally coherent scribblings here. You can read all about bone cancer on the VetMD site. It’s a real bitch of a disease, akin to brutal punishment or …
I may have written about this before, but I’m old, and I think I’ve earned the right to repeat myself occasionally. When I was a graphic designer, one of my longest clients was the organization behind a local 12k race known around the world (not an exaggeration) as Bloomsday. For twenty-five years I provided advertising and marketing materials for the annual race, held in Spokane on the first Sunday in May (note: the 49th running …
It’s morning. I’m laying in bed. I look at the clock radio and note the hour. It is that groggy time between “Just another ten minutes,” and “Get your butt out of bed, Cupcake!” I turn on the radio to get weather and propaganda updates (because Right-Think is always the Best-Think!). The station is in the middle of an advertisement, of course. This one is for–I kid you not–a divorce support service. Their tagline: “Let …
