Painting #6, "Boomer," Yellow Labrador Retriever Painting in Oil

Painting 6,"Boomer," 5"x 5"x 1 1/2",oil on canvas (sold)

photo reference: Ray Horwath (Flickr id:rayh1995)

10% of the proceeds will go directly to Waggin' Tails Dog Rescue in Michigan

This is my 6th painting for my Painting a Pup a Day project of "Boomer", a sweet-faced Yellow Labrador Retriever owned by Ray Horwath. It reminded me a bit of our Yellow Lab Mix, Jedha who is equally as lovable I'm sure. This is what Ray and his wife shared about their precious Boomer:

"They say that the “runt of the litter” is always the last to be picked, but in our case, he was our first choice.
As you can see from Boomer’s expressive eyes, he is truly a gentle soul. The unconditional love he shows for everyone is amazing. He has never met a stranger….everyone is a potential partner in play.
Boomer (whose real name is Spartacus, Hillview’s Boomer Dog!) has one favorite summertime hobby…..figuring out how to get into the pool, which we wisely gated! Woe to the person who accidently opens the door to the house a little too wide when there’s people swimming. We have found out the hard way, it takes boomer about 1.4 seconds from bursting through the door until splashdown! It takes substantially longer to get a lab out of a pool.
Like all of our pets, Boomer has become a much loved member of the family….complete with sleeping on the couch and bed privileges! We look forward to many more years of love and adventure with “our” Boomer."

I loosened up a bit more on this piece, a goal of mine for this project. I read something recently by one of my favorite artists, Karin Jurick, in which she was saying how she was finding herself almost 'drawing' a painting she had been working on vs. actually 'painting' it. That really struck home with me because I think I tend to do that as a painter. As an artist, I started out primarily drawing, and now I tend to approach my paintings in much the same way I would a drawing, but painting should be a bit looser. The paint should be applied with a bit more freedom...have some movement and life to it, so hopefully I have achieved this with this piece. I hope to paint this way as I continue on this journey, although I have a feeling it is going to take some time...

Painting #5, "Molly", Sheltie Painting in Oil

Painting 5,"Molly," 5"x 7"x 3/4",oil on stretched canvas (sides painted black)
photo reference: Jennifer Barron (Flickr id:jenevabarron)
10% of the proceeds will go directly to Waggin Tails Dog Rescue

This is my 5th painting for my Painting a Pup a Day project, a gorgeous Sheltie named Molly. This is what her Mom had to share about her sweet Molly:

"She’s a year and a half now. She LOVES her loofa dog. She carries it with her everywhere! She also loves her stuffed mouse. She LOVES running, and she loves when her dad snowblows paths in the yard through the snow for her. She is very fond of car rides. But…most of all…she LOVES people, and makes friends everywhere she goes!"

I have to say this week seemed to really get away from me and it seems my project is fast becoming a Painting a Pup a Week project, but I am determined to get more paintings completed this coming week! If you are interested in having your pet's portrait done for my Painting a Pup a Day project feel free to email me at Loveall4Him@aol.com and I will add your name to my waiting list! Thank you to everyone for your continued support & encouragement!

Painting #4, "Luigi" the Westie Oil Painting

Painting 4,"Luigi," 8"x10",
oil on stretched canvas
(sold)

Inquiries to: Loveall4Him@aol.com
photo reference: Stephen Ghigliotty
10% of the proceeds will go directly to
Michigan Westie Dog Rescue

I finally finished my 4th painting for my Painting a Pup a Day project and I am really pleased with how Luigi von Tortellonfish turned out! The background of this painting will probably go down in history as one of my most difficult, but I think the background is what makes this piece so uniquely wonderful! I think for a Westie painting to work you really need to have some interesting colors or objects adding to the overall composition or you end up having too bland of a painting. That is why when I saw this photo over a year ago it jumped out at me. It is by far one of the best Westie shots I have seen to date. Everything is just perfect! There is lots of vibrant color, unique shapes, and even where Luigi is seated is just perfect! Painting this piece was sheer joy from beginning to end!(Luigi's Dad has an interesting blog called Headvoice and a great photostream on Flickr.)

Luigi the Westie...Painting in Progress

I've been working on 3 different pieces this week, and thought it would be fun to post a photo of where I am now up to with my Luigi the Westie painting! It is definitely a challenge with all the colors and different shapes but I am having quite a lot of fun with this one. I haven't actually started Luigi except for a rough sketch, but I figured it would be best to get the intricate background done first. Hopefully in the next day or two I will have this piece finished, so stay tuned!

And in the Beginning There Was Luigi, the Westie....

(copyright photo used with permission by: Stephen Ghigliotty)

...and I should be clear that his full name is actually Luigi von Tortellonfish :o) So, can I just tell you I came across this photo sometime ago and just knew I HAD to paint this little guy someday. True not only is he one of THE cutest ever West Highland Terrier dogs you ever did see, but the colors & composition are just an artist's dream! Granted in starting the sketch today I was thinking to myself, who-boy what am I getting myself into, with all the various shapes & unique colors, but heck I thrive on challenges I reckon! I am actually working on a few pieces at the moment, but just had the itching to get started on this one today....as I said it's been beckoning me to paint it for months now! So, Stephen & Luigi today it begins....hopefully I will do you both justice!Stay tuned!

Painting 3, "Bernie" the Bernese Mountain Dog Painting

Painting 3,"Bernie," 5"x7"x 3/4",
oil on stretched canvas

(sides painted black) (sold)
photo reference: Büşra Merve Özçelik
10% of the proceeds will go directly to
Heart of Michigan Bernese Mountain Dog Club Rescue

(http://www.hmbmdc.org/rescue.html)

This is an adorable Bernese Mountain Dog named of course "Bernie". It is my 3rd painting for my Painting a Pup a Day Project. The owner is Büşra Merve Özçelik, and her Flickr id is mervecan_156. This is what she wrote about her beloved Bernie:

"My dog is so special for me...I was imagining that breed when ı was 5, and 11 years (later) I got my baby. Now she is my everything ..I am living for her... I really admire her, because of her colours, fur, smile, and so many kinds of things like this."

I just love Bernese Mountain Dogs because their coloring is so interesting. I was shocked to learn that they don't have a very long life span, generally only 7 years. But I would imagine the love they bring into their owner's life makes it well worthwhile to own one!

"Rainey", the Australian Cattle Dog

I wanted to share a portion of an email from Rainey's owner, Shelley Lampman, a very touching story of how Rainey became a member of their pack :o)

"Rainey is our fourth Australian Cattle Dog - we're a little crazy about them We adopted her from Heeling Hearts Australian Cattle Dog Rescue. She was surrendered by some people who used her just for breeding then after she'd had 3 litters in her brief 2 years of age (one every heat cycle) they were tired of her and thankfully did one right thing and gave her to the wonderful people at the rescue. The very first thing they did was get her spayed so that she could be the puppy instead of having them. We had just lost our very beloved Rocky and my husband Les had told me that it hurt so bad he didn't think he could do it again and that Rocky's buddy Dusty would be our only dog. My heart really wanted to give another dog a chance at a good life but I was trying to understand his wishes and accept it. Then one morning he said "come and look at this" pointing at his computer. So I looked over his shoulder and there was a picture of beautiful Rainey - Les said "I just wanted to show you our newest family member"! Then he told me Rainey's story and how he had been talking to Brook Hicks who runs Heeling Hearts and felt that Rainey would be a perfect addition to our family. That was almost exactly a year ago and he was so right - she is keeping Dusty (and us) young with her energetic spirit. We are just crazy about her!"
I thought it only fitting to donate a portion of the sale of Rainey's portrait to Heeling Hearts ACD Rescue.

Painting 2, "Rainey" Australian Cattle Dog Oil Painting

Painting 2,"Rainey," 8"x10"x 3/4",

oil on stretched canvas (sides painted black)

private commission (sold)

photo reference: Shelley Lampman

10% of the proceeds will go directly to

Heeling Hearts Australian Cattle Dog Rescue

This is the 2nd painting completed for my Painting a Pup a Day project and I am really pleased with how it turned out! It was a bit of a challenge as Rainey's coloring is pretty unique, I found myself going back and forth with the black and white paint...a little black here, a little white there. I originally was going to make the background a reddish color as she was laying on a reddish blanket, but then decided to go with a golden background to accentuate her eyes. I loved the little splash of color her heart shaped dog tag added to the overall composition. Rainey is owned by fellow Art 4 Critters member, Shelley Lampman. I thought it fitting to do an Australian Cattle Dog for my 2nd painting as my husband is also an Aussie and we actually just returned from living in Australia last year! Our dog, Jedha, is actually part Stumpy-Tailed Red Heeler which is a Cattle Dog breed.

Stay Tuned!

Ok, so I think I will be changing my blog posts from Day 1, Day 2, etc. to Painting 1, Painting 2...and so on...I am finding it impossible to complete an entire painting in only one day and although I do want to loosen up as an artist, I don't want to do so at the expense of the quality of my work. Soooooo, I am currently working on 2 paintings, I tend to do this, work on one, put that down for a bit, work on another. Anyway, I want to really enjoy this project vs. becoming incredibly stressed out to the max, thinking 'oh no! I haven't posted a painting today', so although my project is indeed called Painting a Pup a Day, my postings will be more like every 2-3 days, maybe even 4 if it's the weekend. I promise to have a piece posted either Sunday or Monday, so stay tuned! :o)

Painting 1, "Solomon" Golden Retriever Oil Painting

Painting 1,"Solomon," 6"x6"x 3/4", oil on stretched canvas(sides painted black)

Inquiries to Loveall4Him@aol.com
photo reference: T. Beth Kinsey (http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/)
10% of the proceeds will go directly to Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue

This is the image of my very first painting for my Painting a Pup a Day project. I typically finish my paintings in the evening and was not able to get a good photograph until this morning, so more than likely this will be how my postings will go. I will be uploading a photograph to my Flickr Painting a Pup a Day Group which has grown to some 117 members. Even more photographers have so graciously contributed their photos for this endeavor. A sincere thank you to everyone who has been so generous in uploading their photos to the group and for your encouragement and enthusiasm! This is quite a challenge for me, to try and complete an entire painting a day, and I will be honest I think the only way I will even come close to doing so is by starting one the day before and then finishing it the next day. This year I hope to loosen up my style a bit, add a number of new breeds to my repertoire, and fine tune my skills as a painter. It's an exciting journey for me as an artist and I am humbled that so many are taking the time to follow along.