Watch a time-compressed video showing me painting a portrait of Tally, a beautiful Golden Retriever. Time: 3 and a half minutes.
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Charming Chuy
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. …
Hobee
It’s been a while since I posted a portrait (or anything else). I’ve got quite the backlog of portraits to show. Let’s start with one of my favorites. This is Hobee. Not much to say about this happy fella, except that I really like the way the bright blue background sets off the orangey tone of his head. I added some electric orange tones on his cheeks that create a nice glowing effect, making the …
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Dreamer & Izzy
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 …
Cat Portrait: Blue Cotton
Most of my portrait work consists of dog portraits, but I’ve done a few cat portraits as well. A couple weeks ago I was feeling the need to work on a cat portrait as a nice change of pace. At that same time, a friend posted a photo of her cat on Facebook. I liked the photo and knew it would make a great practice portrait. Legally, I can’t just use reference photos without the …
Mastiff Puppy Portrait
Here’s a quick portrait of Hudson. This is from when he was 7 months old (five months ago). Hudson’s color and unique folds in his coat have been giving me fits ever since I started trying to paint him. With this portrait, I think I’m starting to figure out how to handle that distinctive face of his. More practice will help me nail down how to create fold patterns, and better tackle his subtle coloring. …
Boris vs. Porcupine
We put our beloved Boris down just over a year ago. I still miss my big buddy. Ten years was too short a time to spend with such a sweet-hearted dog. Here’s a quickie portrait of Boris after an encounter with a porcupine. Boris seemed very pleased with himself at the time. Fortunately none of the quills were very deep or in sensitive areas. Our previous dog, Reggie, a border-collie tried taking a bite out …