Pets.....gotta love'em

"Sadie" | 6" x 6" | Acrylic on Canvas | Private Collection

This is my latest pet portrait commission. It was an anniversary gift from a really thoughtful man to his wife. Sadie is a Lop Eared Rabbit who has been a beloved pet of theirs for all of her six years of life. What a lovable little face. She was an incredibly fun subject to paint. It just shows how much we love our little animals who make us laugh and love us no matter what life brings to the day. There is nothing like that kind of unconditional love.  We're as lucky to have them as they are to have us.

This is another example of my small 6" square "Head Shot" pet portraits. They come framed in a choice of finishes in floater frames. These frames give the illusion that the canvas is floating inside the frame. It's a nice clean way to display the portraits. The sides of the canvas and frame are 1 1/2" deep so that they can sit on a shelf or table or hung on the wall.

In November I will be teaching a class at the ArcWorks Community Art Center on Foster Street in Peabody. It will be a class for children running for about four sessions. I'll be teaching them them how to create pet portraits from photographs. If you know any children who may be interested, check the ArcWorks website or contact me for more information. I will write up more information on it as soon as it's available.

A Portrait using Multiple Photographs

"The Wildflower Trail" | Acrylic On Canvas | 40" x 30"

   This is my latest portrait commission. The subjects of the piece are two sisters. The setting is Baxter State Park where the girls love to go with their mom. The composition was created using multiple photographs taken at the park. 

   The mom and I worked together to create the composition. She wanted the girls walking through the field of flowers, but didn't have the exact pose in any of the photographs that she took. After looking through several different photos, we picked several that I could work with to come up with the layout of the painting. By combining them digitally on the computer I was able to create the composition for the piece that became my reference for the painting.

   Below are the images that I used. The heads were taken from the top photograph. The smaller girls 

body was taken from the second photo with her walking through the field. The older sister's body was taken from the second photo on the right. The bottom photo was used for the background and road.