A Little Silverpoint of My Cat

This little 5x7" board is gesso with stain, I thought it would look like spilled milk, but it is in the R&D stage.

My cat, The Dude

A New Blog from Me.

I am trying to generate some funding to help my cat, know as The Dude, get a radiation treatment to cure his hyperthyroidism.

Way back when he was first diagnosed I featured his good looks in this blog. And now I am hoping to use social networking to finance the one time treatment that will allow him to have his own life... and I can have mine!

In the hundred plus degree days we have in Arizona, there is very little opportunity to find work as I used to. With a healthy, normal CAT cat, who can be alone a few days at a time, I am going to be able to go to art fairs around the country and at the very least, go up to cooler north country for fairs and festivals!

If you take a look at my new blog: http://mycatthedude.blogspot.com/

You will see a button below that links you to a fund raising site.

The beauty is that my budget can't handle the full amount. Neither can most of my friends... but a lot of friends can donate a very little bit and it will help!

My once portly 18 pound Dude is looking a bit gaunt:

If you want to help, just follow the blog and send it to your friends! I am going to paint a few more portraits of him and every donor that sends their snail mail to me will get a thank you card of the boy and a hand written note... not that THAT is a prize!

Thank you all

100!!!!!!!

I am so happy! Today I have 100 followers...

Of course I am not painting a dog a day. I have a few other things in the go, so I am slacking!

With some luck (any commissions out there?) I am working to get a few more furry faces for you all. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support.

(a sample of the new stuff and a self portrait)

Always at your service!

dj*

Dakota's Project - The beginning.

I have been asked to help illustrate a charity publication. The little author has written a great little book on aging pets and their challenges. I am going to donate the work for illustrator's credit so it is going slow, between gigs.

This is my favorite picture so far. There are plenty more to come.

Bella Can Do No Wrong

This is a gag gift for a client's client. The "Perfect" pet is a spoiled brat to everyone but daddy who loves her.....

The Johnson Dogs

We put in a suggestion of the beautiful yard they call home and a little tail that Dexter needed to wag!
Finished size is 24 x 29" wrapped with a two inch side. I will try to photograph it in its home when installed.

Darling Dexter

This little boy is a very gentle soul. Must weigh all of 6 pounds! Right up front in the picture, he is a little vignette of sweet.

Isabella, the sweetie

This poodle mix... Maltese, Bichon...terrier? Not sure but she is a girl with a huge soul. Amid the ruckus of four roommates she just cheerfully chases a ball, and loves life!

Roxy, the noisy one!

She is a bouncing barking bundle of puppy nerves, but very beautiful when sitting still!
I worked hardest on this fur of all the others put together.

Next: Daisy

This is the same wonderful old gal I did as a mini mini round vignette earlier. She is the oldest and I always love when people let me MEET my model! Older dogs, when ill, tend to get the attention of owners who always wanted a portrait, but by the time the call me, I just HATE it when they turn into Memorials before I get done...

The Johnson Dogs... Scooter

I am near completing a large portrait of five dogs and thought you all might like to see the progress of the whole piece.
It is watercolor on canvas. I do the diamond dogs on canvas, but this is the largest piece so far.
This is the first dog, a great little Scottie named Scooter!

I will post them all one a day and so I should be finished by then!!!
dj*

Best In Show...

I feel like it is WESTMINSTER!
I was awarded the BEST IN SHOW for the Arizona Art Alliance celebration of 250 Years of Veterinarian Medicine with the AZ Vet. Assn. this evening.
My piece from THIS POST won and the art from Dec. 22 will be part of a set of greeting cards produced as a fund raising event from this show.
I am pretty stoked!
dj*

Veterinary Medicine is 250 years old!

And three of my pieces are accepted into the celebration at the Scottsdale Pavilion's Arizona Art Alliance Gallery from March 3 - April 5. We are having a nice little opening on the 5th with goodies and schmoozing. If you love art or animals, be sure to stop in and say hello.

The pieces are in my blog... below on the 18th (fresh off the easel)

and on Dec. 22.

And a real oldie but cute:

All the info is here online!

A vignette for a clent

I am doing a bigger piece for a new client and while we are planning, she asked for a 2.5" circle for a favorite frame....
SMALL but mighty!

Back Office

My entry to a show about veterinary medicine....

Zoe

This was the donation to the Friends of Animal Care and Control Hero's Dinner. Cute little Cairn:

First real commission of 2011

I met this lovely girl at my storage unit!

Arizona Art Alliance Demonstration Today

This is one of those progress shots.
I had to man the show at our gallery in Scottsdale, so I brought a nice little image from a recent Giant Schnauzer rescue event.


Now that the holidays have actually arrived, it is time to get set for the pictures YOU really want for yourselves....

This will be posted when I finish it. I will have prints available on FineArtAmerica.com

Another Memorial

One of my donation pieces... a little too late.
(HINT TO PEOPLE: Get the painting when you think of it. Enjoy your art AND your best friend so you don't cry when you get the painting...)
It has been an emotional season for me and too many of my pieces are memorials. Makes me very sad. BUT the good news is that the art is always of happy times.

Michelle

I was up too late, too much coffee and finished this before going to bed. One last memorial for a (hope we can make it in time) Christmas gift for a mom.

A Schnauzer and its Human.

A double portrait from my local Giant Rescue group event on Sunday.

Great Pyrenees Diamond Dog

I do watercolor on diamond format canvases that make great decorator accents. This is one of the last Christmas commissions (UNLESS MORE COME IN!) ready for delivery.

Bella

This is a challenge. The painting is a client gift from a businessman to a friend/business associate. We have a tight budget so it is going to be reproduced and available for cards as well on my Fine Art America site when we are approved and going.

There is something about Tibet!

I guess I am a master of messy hair! This is a pup from my favorite Tibetan Terrier breeder. Generations of dogs! How cool.

Two Police Dogs - Memorial

I got a note from Boston, from a wife of a K-9 officer. She wanted to give him a portrait of his two favorite partners as a Christmas tribute.

The Little Sister

The third of a set of paintings as a great-grandmother's gift to her daughter of the grand kids

Big Sister

The German Shepherds are coming up Monday, but for now these human puppies are coming off the easel.

I told you we would be doing more species....

The first of three beautiful Grandma Gifts for the holidays.

More Horsing Around!

I seem to have been discovered by the horsie set!

The amazing star on the front of this memorial piece was a challenge, but I personally find it one that keeps looking back at me from my easel.

YES, I am crazy.

NO! You may not get one of these!!

This is literally only 5"x7". I am doing a special favor for a returning client. I DON'T do multiple subjects in the Holiday special pricing (even though you add 50% more for each added subject) but to see if I COULD this is a double portrait in black and white....

I start multiple portraits and my regular pricing at 8x10".

Now I have to see if I can get my eyeballs screwed in right again!

A Gift, Many More to Come (I hope..)

I am starting to finish up the early bird gift givers. This is a larger 6x8" piece and when I start getting too busy, this will be the smallest size I offer, but for a few more weeks the minis are still available!

Specializing in white and/or black dogs!

Christmas is starting!

Although this is a private commission, not a gift, it is the first of what I would call the RUSH.

One of my minis and, as I am now all mammal, it is not a dog.

A Little Audition Piece

I am hoping to illustrate a little book on dogs and kids. I can do both but I will need to figure out how to get myself enough of them to populate the book.

First try

Splashy Pom!

I brought my unfinished cat to the dog park today, but could not do a cat... just couldn't... so I did this splashy little Pomeranian.
9x12" watercolor.

Unfinished Demo from Last Night

I had a LOT of people interested and charity events are ALWAYS more fun than real life!
The dinner was great and the winners incredible.
By asking the first person who I met, I decided the Rex Cat reference I had ready would be my demo.
It is pretty dramatic as is, but I am going to finish it tonight.
REMEMBER... we are not just dogs anymore!

First Demo Today

I went to the AZ Art Alliance Gallery where Gabriel's Angels, a therapy dog program, was supposed to have a doggie costume party. I only had a few hours because tonight was a big charity event!
I have been having fun doing a much looser looking dog style, more contemporary of late. So the bloodhound was the sample I took to the event (tomorrow's post) as my demo of size and style of my silent auction prize.

Fast Evening at the Park

So... I run out and bring my easel and my kit and a quick layout of this... and FORGOT MY PAINTS!!!
Well, I had my pencil. It is actually 9x12"

Two Redheads

I got mostly finished in the park and decided these needed some jazzing up so I got all free and splashy for two lovely dogs.
9x12"

Back in the Park

I have finally been brave enough to venture out again. The blog crashed to a halt when both my Mother and Cat were ill last year about this time and I just lost the momentum. But...

I started this demo at a little show I was hanging, and decided the weather was so nice, I would continue it in the dog park!

Not promising a complete dog every day this year, but I am going to post even the progress shots... for SURE a dog a week. AND we will include cats and others...

Two lovely red headed Setters in progress.

Leonard, probably done.

I have a bad habit of being hyper focused. When I get a commission and have the times, I lock my knees in front of the easel and paint for up to 18 hours at a time and then burn out.

Leonard was a bit of a binge. I am happy as is, but I will probably live with him a little and see if I really want to add the background (I suppose the client will make that decision for me) but for today, he is complete.

A slide show...of the Amazing Leonard.

I started this demonstration piece in the Grand Opening event for the Arizona Art Alliance Gallery and previewed it against the wall of my human portraits

This a commissioned piece in progress (I hope)
I will post the finish in a new post but add to the show as I work.

Keep checking back!

ORDER NOW! Christmas is not that far off.

Because these are such perfect gifts for holiday giving, I offer my 5x7" minis seasonally and it is that time.

Here is my inch by inch guide to estimating your costs if you go larger or any different materials... it needs a click...

Mercury

I quite am smitten with this girl!
I got a call because she had been rescued from euthanasia two weeks ago and her mom wanted to add her to the gallery of great dogs on the wall. 6 years old and the SWEETEST, she is my first Weimaraner I have had the pleasure of meeting for the portrait. REALLY great girl.

A really great Dane

This charcoal is a memorial gift to a client. Another of their Harlequin Danes was immortalized years earlier with a young upstart. Now a portrait charcoal is a reminder of a great friend.

Horsey Hug

Yup, these are some of the big doggies out here!
I have a few requests for horse portraits and am very happy to do them. Because I am a bit busier doing other projects, I am going to only post commissions or whims from now on. I have found the many irons in my fire are starting to heat up!

Double Boxers

HI!
Summer is getting hotter in the BEST sort of way!
I am back from all my human wanderings and back into animals.
The blog will start branching out after this one, but for now, we are back with a lovely pair of Boxers.

A Token Dog in a BIG Project.

I have been working in Chandler AZ for the last month on a 7 panel mural for part of their new civic area. The concept is art looking back... or what it must be like from the "ART'S" point of view. Random viewers and this couple and their pet populate the walls of Vision Gallery in Chandler

Second Demo acrylic painting.

It occured to me that I have one one horse, a group pose and the last bull dog and those are my ONLY acrylic pets! This white cat was another attempt to only use the student kits but I will say, the nature of acrylic paints was taking it a lot of very interesting places. So here is a unique one... CROSS SPECIES AGAIN!

Teaching Demonstrations

I am now an official Grumbacher educator. I will be teaching in local Michael's art stores in the Scottsdale are starting July. This is the first of my demonstrations. As I have not done any animals for months, I grabbed one of my great shots of a local British Bull and did this piece, using only the student paint kit.

House keeping...

I found a surprise posting that I never actually showed the finish...
CLICK HERE
and see the Christmas surprise all done!