This is a 9x12 acrylic painting of Miah the Yorkie. Miah is an awesome dog that has lived way longer than the vet originally expected. This painting was a gift for her owner from the owner's daughter.
Yellow is Miah's owner's favorite color so we chose a bright vivid one to use as the background, it really brings out the sunny nature of the painting.
I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics the past 2 weeks, and I am quite sad they are over. I have a soft spot for the winter games, as I grew up in Park City, UT and was there for the 2002 games. These days there are people that I went to high school with that are Olympians! It is really cool to see them on TV knowing how much hard work they put into doing what they love.
Did you know that Art competitions were part of the Olympics from 1912 until 1948? Medals were awarded for works inspired by sports-related themes. While sports-related imagery isn’t really my thing, it’s cool that this was once a thing! I know these days they are working to incorporate art more-so, however not for medals. I do some sports related work in design though! Check out my Ultimate Frisbee designs!
Ryan and Grandpa, 9x12, Oil on Canvas
Happy Birthday to my brother and my grandpa! This painting was a gift for my brother's birthday, which he shared with my late grandpa.
I pretty much just focused on reproducing the photo with some more painterly aspects. Ideally I would love to do a painting like this a bit larger and and bit looser. I kept this one pretty tight due to time restraints. In a painting where I do paint the background, I do like ones like this, there are some recognizable elements, but they can be abstracted and a bit fuzzy.
It was also a bit difficult to paint this one due to it's only been a little over a year since my amazing grandpa passed. This photo was taken before I existed, but it shows what a caring, great person he was. Also he was always so tan!
Anyway, Happy Birthday to them both!
This painting is of Millie, who sadly has passed. This painting is 8x10 and in oils. We focused on featuring her wrinkles, ears, and droopy face. Her owner really loved her titling her head to the side when she looked at you.
“She was almost 100 lbs but thought she was a lap dog. She loved to snuggle on the couch, and was very lazy, until she was outside or around other dogs. She loved to be chased and to wrestle. She could chase a ball for hours but was terrible at retrieving it to the thrower. ”
I really enjoyed capturing all the subtle colors in the black of her snout. It had a lot of violet and red undertones. Working with oils on this one really allowed me to blend those colors together.
This painting is of Kane, a rescue puppy from Houston, Texas who now resides in Indiana. This is a 8x10 oil painting that was a gift for his owner!
This painting was a fun one, working on a dog that is mostly white is a bit of a challenge. You really have to look and see the variations of color within the white areas within the photo. So often I used violets or blue's as undertones and built up from there. When oil painting there is a bit more mixing that can be done on canvas, compared to acrylic painting.
Also I apologize for the lighting in this video, my oil station has a camera that likes to adjust to focus on its own and I don't have the angle of the camera perfected.
I absolutely adore this painting, I mean look at those eyes! He is all grown up now, (and still cute, I've seen pictures) and this painting is to remember his puppy days.
“Luman is a pit bull and lab mix. He is a very curious, gentle, playful, and caring dog. He loves to dig, and get into things he shouldn’t. He will sometimes follow me around or sit next to me and watch whatever I am doing. He can be very playful, he gets very excited when we come home and will force us to play fetch with him. He often whines playfully when him and my boyfriend are goofing around. What I love about Luman most is that he is a very gentle dog. When giving him a treat, he will slowly move his mouth towards it and grasp the treat with his lips, it is very cute. And in the mornings, we often wake up to him giving us soft and gentle kisses. You can tell that he really loves his home, and my boyfriend and I! ”
This painting is of Sally, the beautiful herding dog who sadly is no longer around. This was a fun painting to do because the background was really nice to paint along with the dog. The painting is 8x8 in Acrylic.
Detail
““Sally came from herding stock and we bought her at a feed store. When she was a puppy I played soccer with her and she would nip at the backs of my legs to herd me. She was a very loyal dog and was protective of her small pack. If my mom and I weren’t walking right next to each other on a hike then she would run between both us to make sure we both were okay. She was sort of an alpha female and when she played with other dogs she sort of tried to herd them and would sometimes bark in a shrill tone. She was intelligent and really enjoyed playing find it in the house. We would put her in her crate and then hide a toy or food and she would search every room and hiding place until she found it. ”
Sally and the reference photo!
This piece was commissioned by Dottie's daughter as a gift for her 93rd birthday! Dottie along with her cat Maui are featured in the painting. According to her family, friends and many accomplishments, Dottie has lived a remarkable life - read more about it here!
Painting her was a pleasure and was a nice challenge as I don't paint people that often these days. You can view the timelapse below.
Here she is receving it on her 93rd birthday!
This painting was a commissioned one as a gift for her owner, she was a pleasure to paint!
And some more of the process on paintings!
Happy NEW YEAR! It is 2018 and everything is bright, new, and shiny! Well not really, but we can pretend the slate is wiped clean and we get to start again.
With this New Year comes planning and organizing for the New Year! While I attempt to do this to an extent every year, I usually end up with a hodge-podge organization system by, oh, February. I am the type of person who writes things down on paper, multiple pieces of tiny scrap paper that is.
So this year I am starting with a Bullet Journal. A Bullet Journal is essentially a planner where YOU get to (have to?) write everything down. The method was originally created by a gentleman who wanted a simple method to keep track of to do lists, it has evolved into a cult of crafty people who obsess with penmanship (not really, just people passionate about planning). While I am NOT passionate about planning, I do like getting my thoughts on paper and it does help me focus.
Monthly Layout.
Weekly Layout.
Daily Layout.
Another reason I am going with this planning method is, I knew I was not a fan of pre-printed pages, as they never really contain what I personally need. In this, I can add pages on goals, business plans, monthly, weekly and daily layouts, and more. I can create all my lists in one spot and work in (hopefully) one place.
So in planning out the New Year, one of my goals is to use this system and try to stick with it. If you have questions on this system let me know and I can direct you to resources!