Ruby the Chihuahua

Greetings!!!
This is a commissioned painting of Ruby who I met and photographed last weekend. She's a friendly non-yappy sort of chihauhua and I enjoyed her company thoroughly. Of all the photos I took only one turned out really well because of her propensity to squint, but the good one was just perfect.

Professional help was available from my aunt's dog Buddy for this one. He took up prime position on my bed and was flowing with great tips and pointers. In fact he worked so hard he wore himself out!

Here's a time lapse video of the painting in progress:


Quote...
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Pablo Picasso

Kossie, the final Pet Portraits Challenge pet!

Greetings!!!
Kossie is an australian spotted mist and brother to Ko Ko. He is an adorable cat but loathes being fenced in. Despite all my efforts to stop him escaping, he has earned the nick name Houdini for his ability to escape no matter how many barriers I put in place. He just loves being free to roam where he will. His morning cuddle is an essential start to the day and like his brother Ko Ko, he enjoys destroying my soft furnishings and having his cattachino off the kitchen bench. One big difference, he hates Buddy (the dog) licking his ears! And he loves his chicken necks, usually devouring Ko Ko's before he has a chance to get to it.
Vicki

I feel like I've been in a time-warp of pet portraits and I can't remember a time when I wasn't whipping up an entire painting on a daily basis. Actually I'm quite weary now that I've come to the end of it, but quietly satisfied as well. When I came up with the terrific four-weeks-of-daily-Pet-Portraits idea with my trusty brain-storming assistants (thanks mum and Vic!) I had no idea how much it was going to involve. From priming boards, securing pet submissions, painting from photos to the best of my ability, taking time-lapse videos, fine-tuning my email subscription settings, communicating on facebook and my blog, setting up my 'books' to do invoicing and receipts, stationery, packaging, framing and remembering to take breaks and eat and unwind and spend time with people... No wonder I need a few days off!!!

I'm very grateful to everyone who has trusted me to let loose my creativity on their precious pets and to everyone who has bought their painting and to everyone who has 'liked' the works on facebook, left comments, sent me encouraging emails and just generally cheered me on. It's been wonderful to connect with new and old friends and also to see that it might be possible to make a living as an artist with the help of the internet and social media. One day at a time!

So what's next? On monday I'm driving up to Newcastle to submit a work for the Newcastle Emerging Artists prize. I have a couple of pet portrait commissions coming up and I'm planning to keep painting small works of subjects that inspire me, whether from life or photos. I'll continue to update the blog whenever I have new work so stay tuned. You can make sure you don't miss anything by subscribing to email updates (top right). Also, if you're interested in framing ideas, check out the new tab I created at the top of the blog called 'framing'.

Thank you again for all your support, more soon!!

Jess

Greetings!!!
Jess was born at Lake Maquarie, one of a litter of about ten pups. Her father lives in the foothills of Barrington Tops. Jess is a quick learner and will do anything for you, preferably for a reward of dried liver.   The love of her life is her frisbee and she would chase it all day if she had the chance. She also loved chasing horses but learnt a bit of a lesson one day courtesy of a hind hoof. She is now a little more wary.
Harrison Family

I love the look on Jess' face in this portrait, there's so many things she could be saying, like: "you've got some liver for me after this posing-for-the-photo-thing don't you?", or "you know how much I love you, I could look in your eyes all day" or "can I move now pleeeease???"... Here is the time lapse video of the painting in progress:



Tomorrow is the last pet portrait of my four week challenge, so be sure to come back and see Ko Ko's brother Kossie!!!

Sammy

Sammy is a 12 year old pure bred Pomeranian who has been with us for 10 years after adoption from doggy rescue. He is a placid dog who only barks when people ring the doorbell or he wants treats. Sammy likes his daily walks and can seem aloof especially to other dogs. Sammy loves to go everywhere with us and sulks when left at home alone. Apart from being a fussy eater we love him to bits and many people mistake him for a female because he is so gorgeous.
Ken and Audrey

Sammy really is a gorgeous dog, I got to meet him to take the photos for this portrait. It was challenging to capture the subtlety in colour and form of his beautiful thick fur. Here is the time lapse video of the painting in progress:



Also, my pet portraits challenge ends this friday (nearly there!!). From then on I'll be painting other things like still lifes, interiors and landscapes (whatever takes the fancy really) but will continue to do pets by commission. I've made a new tab at the top of the blog called Pet Portraits which covers all the information to do with commissioning a painting of your pet. Feel free to share it with your friends of family. They are great value and make lovely gifts.

If you enjoy this blog and would like it delivered straight to your inbox whenever there is an update, just pop your email address in the "Follow by email" box at the top right and you'll never miss a thing!

The second-last pet tomorrow will be Jess!

Holly

Holly is a lover not a fighter. She adores everyone and loves to play with other dogs, large or small. Just like Bailey, our other Jack Russell, she loves the beach, but not swimming. She won't venture in too deep, but loves to run through the shallows. Her other favourite things are food, her lovely soft bed and watching tv with the family, (especially Meerkat, Manor, or any other wild life programme). Holly is now 10 years old and still plays like a puppy with Bailey who is 7 years old.
Nick and Jan

I'm happy with how Holly turned out to make a nice partner for her sister Bailey (see yesterdays post). Here is a time lapse of the painting in progress:



And now here is the long awaited frame idea I promised a couple of weeks ago. It's a type of 'float' frame done in a way so that none of the painting is lost behind the edge of the frame (or mounting) which is important for these small works.

The idea is to choose a wide frame to increase the overall size of the painting and attach the work to the MDF backing board, which in this case was painted black. No glass is needed and the price for this particular gold frame from my local framer was $33. Of course you can choose any colour or style of frame that you like and suits your painting and the backing board can be also painted any colour. You could discuss different options with your framer who might have other ideas to suggest.

If you live locally and would like to go with a frame like this (you can choose another colour or style but the price might vary) then pop down to see Josh and Kathy at:

Central Coast Picture Framing
15/15 Clare-Mace Cres
Berkeley Vale
(02) 4388 4038

Remember to mention me and they should know exactly what you are after... Please come back tomorrow to see the next pet portrait which will be Sammy!!

Bailey

Bailey exudes the joy of life, she is the happiest little girl from day-break, until late into the night. Her favourite activity is swimming and she's quite a water baby. Bailey is a fearless swimmer which is a worry when the surf is up. Her other favourite times are spent running, playing ball, digging on the beach and delving into her large toy box. She also loves her sister Holly, (who is actually her cousin). Holly and Bailey are both pure bread Jack Russell's from different breeders in western New South Wales, but they share the same grandfather.
Nick and Jan

This is the last week of my pet portraits challenge... I love this one of Bailey. The strong side light really helped to make it a successful painting. Here is a timelapse video of the painting in progress:



I changed my email subscriptions service from Feedburner to MailChimp so if you're a subscriber feel free to give me feedback on how they compare and if you have any problems with the emails at all. If you haven't subscribed and would like to receive an email with each of my blog updates feel free to sign up! All you have to do is put your email in the box at the top right where it says "Follow this blog by email" and hit subscribe.

Make sure you come back tomorrow to see Bailey's sister Holly!!

Ava Blu

This is Ava-Blu. She is a lilac pointed Ragdoll. She is very sweet and loves to be where the action is. We got this little girl as a retired breeding cat after she had just had 8 kittens! Her personality is very kind a gentle and she likes to be snuggled up on the couch next to you.
Shelley

What a beautiful cat, I'm inspired to get a ragdoll! Due to popular demand the time-lapse video is back. I had to work out a way to set it up that wasn't going to put a kink in my neck from the tripod being in my way... I think I've perfected it now and the lighting might be better too:



For anyone reading this update by email, you can go straight to the website to view the video by clicking on the title 'Ava Blu' at the top.

This is the end of the 3rd week, just one week to go of my pet portraits challenge. I promised an idea for framing and I'm still waiting for my framer to finish my prototype which I think will be great. Hopefully I'll have that early next week. On monday I'll be posting up a gorgeous dog called Bailey so stay tuned and have a great weekend!!

Chinook

Chinook is my best mate, he has an awesome vocabulary and copies everyone's words and mannerisms perfectly. He thinks he a dog! He shakes hands, fetches a little cat ball and likes lying down on the bottom of the cage rather than sitting on the perch like a bird. He loves helping me with the gardening and chewing my note pads when I'm writing.
Tammy

I had a budgie just like Chinook when I was in high school so I really enjoyed painting him and remembering Charlie at the same time. I even got out my rarely-used pthalo blue to get that lovely blue he has down his chest and at the top of his beak.

I just added a 'contact' tab along the top of my blog. I realised there was no easy way for people to find my contact details here so now there is!

Also, just letting you know again in case you missed the beginning of my Pet Portraits challenge, all these pet paintings are 8x8" (that's about 20x20cm) so they are quite small. There is no obligation to buy your painting so if you would like to you will need to let me know by email (see the contact tab above!). If your painting was one of the first five then it will be $75, otherwise they are $100. The prices include postage within Australia, or home delivery if you live close by!

Please come again tomorrow to see the last painting for week 3, the lovely Ava Blu!!!

Molly

Molly of Glengara, a gorgeous 21 month old Cavoodle latte in colour who charms every person she meets with her very friendly nature and silky soft fur and her ever ready licks, she is so full of energy I think we could run the village on it, she absolutely loves her walks around the village, not to mention barking at any other dogs she meets and when at home is on duty every waking hour in case somebody attempts to pass the house.
Phil and Dianna

Molly lives on my street and wanted to be part of the pet portrait challenge. She's very excitable when visitors come (in this case me) so we had to bribe her with treats to take some photos of her... you can guess what has her undivided attention here!! Somehow though it turned out like she's having a fanciful dream about something rather wonderful in her doggy future. Tomorrow we have another Molly!

Hazel

This is Hazel, a very happy and energetic 18 month old Border Collie. She loves to round things up; humans, other dogs and anything else that walks, crawls and even flies past! She’s into all sorts of games like Frisbee, catch, tip and fetch (although she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of the bringing it back part yet)! She’s always learning new things and has perfected the handshake and is now working on collecting the paper. She’s a beautiful puppy and attracts a lot of attention wherever she goes – which, of course she never gets sick of!
Ayling family

The lovely Hazel marks half way through my pet portraits challenge. Being thrown into intensive painting for a purpose like this has forced me to figure out many things about the way I work, sit, time manage, rest and not overwhelm my mum with all my crazy ideas! I'm also chipping away at the businessy side of things like setting up a cataloguing system for my work and keeping track of invoices and other things to do with numbers. So it's a busy time but I'm looking forward to seeing where this creative journey takes me.

Thank you again to everyone who has participated in the challenge so far. As there is no obligation to buy your painting I won't send you an invoice unless you let me know you would like to purchase it. Just pop me off an email buy clicking here... Have a great weekend and come back on monday to meet Simba!!

"Linear thinking can take us from A to B but imagination can take us anywhere".
Albert Einstein

Paddy

Paddy is a small poodle cross who has been with us for twelve years. He loves his daily walks both in the morning and evening. His favourite summer past time is chasing lizards in the garden and he waits very patiently for them to reappear. Paddy is a great joy to our grand-daughters and usually gets greeted before anyone else. He has been affectionately ‘adopted’ by many residents in our village and welcomes into the house whoever may knock at our door. He has been known to visit various residents for morning treats and in one case used sit by their fridge in passive anticipation. In his later years he has settled well into a retirement lifestyle - walk, rest, forage, rest, walk, eat and sleep but all the time making sure we were still here.
Russell

I decided to do Paddy uncropped as the photo wasn't greatly detailed and I think he turned out really cute. I met Paddy a few weeks ago but sadly he has since passed away. Sorry Nancy and Russell, I know he was very dear to you. I hope this painting will stir good memories and make you smile when you see it.

I have to say that a painting a day is quite a challenging pace. There is a movement of Daily Painters (see Daily Paintworks for example) and to be honest I don't know how they keep it up! I think most who post daily, paint 6x6"s and that would make some difference. I'm trying to paint quickly but as true to the photos as possible to catch the personality of each pet. Anyhow, nearly half way there...

Please stay tuned tomorrow for Hazel!

Daisy

Daisy will be 9 in November. She's a very good natured girl, obedient, loving and especially loves children. She's an extremely gentle dog, doesn't bark and seems to need to help with all the household chores!
Gail

Daisy is an adorable dog, maybe it's her ears! I think it turned out to be a happy little painting with the yellow background.

I rearranged the painting space in my room the other day so that the wardrobe mirrors are behind me. It's so helpful to see the painting in reverse because the eyes get tired after a while and can no longer see drawing and value mistakes. Having a quick glance in the mirror is like looking at the painting after a 10 minute break, mistakes leap out at you from everywhere! Note to self: when I move back to my own place set up a mirror behind me.

I went to meet my new local picture framer yesterday to discuss economical framing options for these little paintings. I think we've come up with a good solution which works out about $33. The framer is making me up a prototype which I'll photograph and post on my blog when I pick it up next week, with detailed description so you can ask for the same thing at your own framer if you like the idea. More about that next week. Please come again tomorrow to see Paddy!

Kooka

'Our Kooka' is a wild bird that has been visiting us on and off in the Blue Mts over the past eighteen months or so, since around January 2012. She starts to appear on our balcony most mornings for a very tiny portion indeed of organic mince meat and soon gets into a daily routine lasting several months. Then one day, all of a sudden, she flies off never to be seen again, or so we think. Lo and behold, our kookaburra reappears four months later to resume her daily visits for many more months, becoming so familiar with her hosts that she will quite happily sit on the feeder's lap. Sadly for the latter, she has yet again flown the coop, at least for a while.
Marnie A

I was really looking forward to painting Kooka, since I've met her personally on my aunt Marnie's balcony in the Blue Mountains... as it happens, I really struggled to get the background to work. In the photo there were the railings of the balcony to the left and behind but because the light was hitting them quite strongly and Kooka was in shade, they were too distracting. I scraped and repainted them in every non-distracting way I could think of and eventually because time was limited (one pet a day!!) I decided to paint the background without the railings... Tomorrow we have the lovely Daisy!

Timmy

Timmy is a playful energetic Lhasa Apso cross who loves people. He is a lively, affectionate and faithful companion who loves to sit beside my chair in the garden. He's a bubbly pooch who has a deep curiosity and love for helicopters...when he hears one overhead he runs outside stands on his back legs with front paws to the air indicating he wants to be lifted up to get a better view. His sporting activities include chasing one particular ball which is falling to bits and chasing the noisy cockatoos flying above the house. Oh yes, and Timmy loves a good ear massage and a warm rub on the back of his neck.
June

Timmy was great to paint, so much flowing hair! I didn't manage to get a time lapse for various reasons... still I'm happy how this one turned out. Stay tuned tomorrow for Jake!

Reo

Reo is an eight year old Australian Stockhorse. His fancy name is Baymak Reo, but most of his friends just call him Reo. Reo likes apples and is scared of butterflies. Because everyone knows that butterflies eat horses. Especially the little white ones. You know, the ones with sharp teeth that pretend to eat broccoli but really they hide in the grass and JUMP out and try to grab unsuspecting horses by the throat, so they can drag them back to their lairs and eat their flesh – yeah, those ones. Broccoli – pft! Reo is so not fooled by that.
Karen

I really enjoyed painting Reo, he's a lovely horse even if he is scared of butterflies... Here's a video of the work in progress... I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do my videos with lighting etc so hopefully by the end they'll be much better. Tune in tomorrow for Cattie!

Pet Portraits Challenge kicks off... here's Ruby!

This is Ruby, we rescued her from death row at the pound when she was 3 months old. She was an abused dog, having had her tail broken by her previous owner. Ruby is the most loving, loyal dog and greets everyone she meets with kisses and a wagging tail. She loves going for a run, is very fond of cashew nuts, and most of all, she loves to snuggle up to you any time of the day or night.
Phillipa

Ruby is my sister's dog, thanks Phil for starting me off with the lovely Ruby! Thanks also to everyone who's sent me pics of their pets, I'm looking forward to painting them all. If anyone is interested in having their pet painted, please see the instructions for sending photos and learn more about my Pet Portraits Challenge here.

I'm also experimenting with an app called Lapse It and made a time lapse video of this painting. Enjoy... and do come back tomorrow to see my cousin's horse Reo!