Cloud's new portrait in progress

Laying down the background. More warm earthy colors. At this point in time, nothing else will do. If I were forced to paint with only yellow ochre, I could still find a way to be happy...

Luckily, I don't have to!

I'm loving these colors. And of course, those ears!

This is a big size for a head pose of such a little dog. Usually my portraits are 8 x 10 inches. This one is 18 x 18 inches (acrylic on canvas.) Seeing Cloud's head this big is taking some getting used to, lol!

Happy Birthday Cloud!

My little baby boy turns eight years old today. We had a fun day at the dog park and he got to go to the pet store for some new toys.

Happy Birthday, big guy! My best bud. I love you so much!!!

In honor of Cloud's birthday, I've started another painting of him.
I just can't help myself... :-)

It's big for such a little dog - 18 x 18." I'll keep you updated on the progress...

Zombie spotted in my neighborhood!

Ok, so the sign is from the internets, but this guy is just up the street...

And a pirate zombie, no less!

My neighborhood is outside of city limits, and the roads are privately owned, so even the county doesn't do anything to them. Most of the roads are fine, but it looks like this one is having some problems, lol. Can you imagine the double-take I did when I drove by this guy! Yes, he's life-sized. Crazy goings on up here on the hill!

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go board up my windows now. I knew I shouldn't have read
World War Z... :-P

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :-)

Elephant Dreams

Elephant Dreams 18 x 24" Acrylic on canvas

I finished the elephant. I tried not to overwork it and had to stop myself a few times from getting too detailed. I love how it turned out - otherworldly, dreamlike... and I could cover myself in these colors...

It's the biggest painting I've done so far, and I really enjoyed working this large. There was a sense of freedom and movement that came with this big canvas.

I wanted to paint the energy of the elephant: Strength. Ancient wisdom. Power.
The colors are earthy because they speak to me the strongest right now. It feels like they came straight from my soul.

You can see the original post with the first few stages of the painting here.

Wordless Wednesday - scenes from the garden this morning

Summer Solstice

Sunrise solstice celebration. It poured rain at 4:00 but stopped by 5:00.

Good thing I planned ahead and had covered the firewood with a tarp.

No visual sun rise due to the overcast sky, but the fire represented nicely.

I'm so in love with these colors. I must paint them! I was especially obsessed with how the ashes of this cedar were a beautiful blue-gray.

The sun is at its brightest today and nature is at her peak.

Happy Solstice, everyone! May you be blessed with light, love...

and laughter...

Me (left) and my best friend, up since 4am!

Wordless Wednesday - GreenLady in my garden

Cali - Rat Terrier commissioned portrait

This gorgeous girl is named Cali. You may remember I painted her brother Hawk several months ago, and I was thrilled when it was her turn for a portrait. I've never seen a Rattie with her coloring before, such a pretty smokey gray with gold eyes. Isn't she beautiful?


I'm told that Little Miss Thang here is a bit of a diva, and I'm guessing she's a total daddy's girl too, since this is to be a Fathers Day gift. So I tried to play up that side of her personality in her portrait.

I love it when owners tell me about the personalitiy of their dog when they commission a portrait. It gives me a connection to the dog and I love trying to capture their disposition and individuality in paint.

Since I've been busy, busy, busy, I decided to compile the work-in-progress photos into one post.
This was a fun size - 8 x 8 inches, acrylic on Ampersand Gessoboard.

The sketch:

Laying down the underpainting:

Laying down the background, getting a feel for what I'm going to do with it:

Yikes, "ugly stage!" Every painting has 'em, haha.

Working over the underpainting, starting on details of the ear and eye:

Nose, neck and collar:

Almost done, just need to refine the details and finish the background:

Finished portrait:

I had so much fun painting this little doll. I hope her daddy likes it.

Eye portraits are finished!

The wonderful and talented Mona Dianne Conner has finished her eye portraits of hubby and me. They turned out stunning! I can't believe they are only 3/4's of an inch!!!

Eye paintings

Thank you so much Mona, I will always treasure them!

Wordless Wednesday - Opening...