Pet Portrait Commissions

Here are a couple of pet portraits completed this year.  The Coonhound Bruno was a friend of mine and my dogs, and was a sudden, painful loss.  I created that portrait as a gift for my friends, to honor his memory.

"Bruno's Last Hunt" Oil, 16" x 20"

This portrait was also done for a friend, and is a memorial portrait of his brother's Bulldog Bosley, pictured in the back.  This will be a Christmas gift for his brother.

"Three Bulldogs" Oil, 16" x 20"

Mastiff

A colored pencil portrait of a Mastiff I did to accompany my donation of a portrait gift certificate to a fundraising auction for a Mastiff rescue group.  The auction starts November 24th, and I'll post a link when it begins.

Mastiff, colored pencil, 7" x 5"

New Website!

My new website is up!  Check out the new Pawsterity Pet Portraits !

I offer a 30% discount off portraits when you refer a friend...and your friend gets a free frame!  Spread the word...

Just a few more office-y type details to tend to, then I can get back to creating! 

Tuff the Pug in Colored Pencil

Here it is, the finished colored pencil version of my Pug, Tuff's portrait:

 

10" x 10" Derwent Drawing Pencils on Somerset Velvet paper.

WIP: Tuff the Pug, part II

Tonight's progress on Tuff the Pug in colored pencil:

WIP: Tuff the Pug

My latest work, a portrait of my very own Pug, Tuff, in colored pencil on black paper.  Just getting the inital highlights in, so not much to see yet.

I'm using the same reference photo that I used for this pencil portrait of Tuff:

This will evenually go up on the new website, to show how the same subject would look in a different medium or style.

Checkers, Phase II

Here's my progress on the portrait of Checkers, the cute Champion Aussie Cattle Dog:

Almost done!  Probably just one more layer of highlights to go...

Commission WIP: Checkers!

Another one of my donated gift certificates being redeemed!  This is my first Australian Cattle Dog, and first show dog.  Meet Champion Shalimar's Spell Check, aka Checkers!  This is the first layer of pastel, quite dark right now, but the next layers will lighten up quite a bit:

Milo!

This is a portrait of my dog, Milo!  He's a Mini Bulldog, and he came to live with me last June.  My co-worker had to relocate to Australia when his wife got a job there, and between the expense and 3 month quarantine they decided it wasn't a good idea to bring him along.  Milo's first family will be in town for a visit around Easter, and this will be a gift for them so they have a keepsake of him.

Colored pencil, 12" x 9".

Back to Basics: Tortoiseshell Cat in Colored Pencil

While I haven't given up totally on oil, colored pencil is a medium in which I know I can get good results.  Here's a portrait of a Tortoiseshell cat in Derwent Drawing Pencils on black paper.  I like how it has sort of an "old world" look to it:

Dogs A - Z, on hiatus

Well, I've come to the unfortunate realization that I need to put my Dogs A - Z series on the back burner.  I need to find a medium to replace soft pastel for my pet portraits sooner rather than later; I just can't take the dust anymore!  My work in oil is still way too uneven to count on a quality result for my clients, so I'll have to keep working on that on the side.  I'm looking to revamp my website in a couple of months anyway, so I'll be working on a new gallery of colored pencil work, and possibly replace soft pastel with oil pastel...stay tuned!

Another Update on Grace

Today's progress:

The blue in the muzzle is a lot more subtle in the original, but it seems like the camera picked it up pretty intensely...I'm getting close to finished, though, so a scan is next anyway...