There’s nothing better than painting a happy dog! I love doing portrait commissions of smiling pooches. From my perspective, as the artist doing the painting, portraying a happy dog makes the portrait come alive. It adds a great real life quality to the dog, and makes it impossible to dismiss. There’s nothing wrong with a serious dog, and I enjoy painting those portraits as well. But working on a happy, smiling dog portrait is a …
This Doberman Pinscher portrait really sold me on a new painting software. For 26 years I’ve used Corel Painter for my portraits. About 2 years ago I – foolishly – opted for a new subscription model for Painter. Automatic upgrades sounded good to me. Unfortunately, it’s two years later with not a single upgrade in Painter. I think I got screwed on the deal. I never thought I’d ditch Painter, but a few months back …
This is Otto, the last of the three German Shepherd portraits I’ve done for the Hughes family.
A few years after I painted Junior, the customer had another German Shepherd portrait for me. He was their next dog, Murphy. A swell looking fellow, he had lighter coloring than your typical German Shepherd, and I accentuated that in the portrait. I think it’s a fair observation that German Shepherds need proper training to be their best at protecting their pack and accepting non-threatening strangers. In a neighborhood setting, you don’t want a dog …
I love repeat customers! This portrait is of Ginger, who belonged to the same owners as Bo. In this portrait, I really think I nailed the golden color of her fur. For some reason, I’ve struggled creating blonde and gold fur on these digital paintings. But this was the first where I felt confident all the way through without having to paint over weak areas. I think part of the recipe for success is not …
Here’s Bo, a singularly happy Bernese Mountain Dog. Well, that’s not entirely correct. Every Berner I know is, without exception, a super happy camper. It’s hard to say “this one is the happiest”. Though I never met Bo in person, the photos supplied for this memorial portrait certainly gave the impression of a very happy dog. Possibly it’s the breed. But more likely it’s the loving pet parents. Normally, I try to focus on the …
Watch a time-compressed video showing me painting a portrait of Tally, a beautiful Golden Retriever. Time: 3 and a half minutes.
This is smilin’ Chuy. Like most little dogs, he makes up for a lack of physical stature by means of a massive personality. I love this portrait! Let me tell you why. First off, you can’t look at Smilin’ Chuy without smiling back. I think I captured his happy nature with this portrait. Secondly, in terms of technique, I love the sense of depth I created by carefully placing dark areas next to lighter areas. …
This is Hobee the Basset Hound. Not much to say about this happy fella, except I really like the coloring. Specifically, the way the bright blue background sets off the orangey tone of his head. I added electric orange tones on his cheeks that create a nice glowing effect, making the shadows more interesting. Since I use photos as references, it’s tempting to simply copy whatever I see there. But that’s not how I work. …
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, let alone a pet portrait. To be honest, after Christmas portrait orders fell off a cliff and haven’t bounced back yet. I think the economy is forcing people to cut back on the frills. At any rate, here is one of my absolute favorite Christmas portraits from last year. This is Dreamer and Izzy. The owner sent me a bunch of very good photos to use …
