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 II

Molly is a gorgeous, 14 year old, tennis ball obsessed girl! She is affectionate, enthusiastic for all things that involve her, from a cuddle to a long walk, but her absolute favourite will be a good game involving a tennis racquet and ball! She will often make her opinions known, whether it is about dinner, or escorting her 'mum' to the train station in the morning.
Maria

I struggled somewhat to get this painting to work since in the photo Molly was quite a distance from the camera and she lacked a lot of detail. I'm learning what a difference the quality for the reference photo makes. Anyway, I think it still shows her very sweet nature and she looks like she's just resting after a romp around the park chasing her ball.

Please visit again tomorrow to see a special feathered friend called Chinook!

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!

Simba

My name is Simba and I am a three year old Chocolate Burmese.  I am an Aussie, currently living in Singapore. I have a gorgeous but annoying younger sister called Poppy and Bella and Liam are my besties! I have an infatuation with socks and I love to carry them around the apartment like 'prey' and leave them as gifts for my owners. I also like to show them how much I love them by rubbing myself all over their leather shoes and handbags. I have mastered using the human toilet since moving overseas and I'm very proud of my achievements! My favourite place to sleep is on top of the fridge where its warm and I have a birds eye view!
Vanessa

Simba was the first photo so far in the pet portraits challenge that was taken using a flash (as opposed to natural light). It confused me initially trying to work out if the light was cool or warm and correspondingly, whether the shadows were cool or warm. Possibly because there is so little shadow area and a very cool purple half tone light... so my conclusion is that flash light is in fact cool which creates warm shadows. I think painting natural light is definitely easier as the planes of the form are clearer and there is a more obvious separation of shadow and light areas. All good experience though and she came up nearly as cute as she is in real life. Tomorrow we have Molly!!