The most often painted breed of dog? Labradors!

Face it. People love their Labrador Retrievers! Black, yellow or chocolate, they love them.They live with them, sleep with them, play with them and enjoy them! So perhaps it is no surprise when I share with you that Labs are the dogs that I create the most portraits of.
Enjoy a few recent ones that I have done!

Bailey 14 x 18 pastel

The Perry labs

Another "Perry" lab

Page Labs 24 x 30 oil

Work in Progress-heading to Kenya!

The fun of being a portrait artist is that I never know what's around the corner-no two portraits are alike! 
Recently a client came to me and is returning to her native Kenya for a visit that coincides with the 50th anniversary of that country's independence. So, we came up with the idea of a portrait of the 4 presidents who have held office during that time period.....plus the addition of the Kenyan flag and several monuments. 
The only way to create this portrait idea and make it reality is as a collage...but the surprise was that it was flying to Kenya in a suitcase which nixed the first choice medium-pastel!

Now pastel can take a fair amount of abuse. And once it is framed and behind glass, it will be around for generations!  I ship pastels all over the world but I do not ship them with glass! 

So right now I am hustling! The only photos are random AP news footage that she had pulled off the Internet and since it is for her own enjoyment and as a gift to a friend, it's OK to use them. But that also means there are few good ones for our purpose! The hustle part comes with deadlines vs an oil painting.......of our most popular mediums-pastel, pencil, watercolor and oil...., oil takes the longest to dry. So today I am back out in the studio, trying not to procrastinate in what promises to be a sterling day outside....ah well, I'll just open up the studio doors!
Here's a peek:

The gentleman at the upper left is Jomo Kenyatta, the first president. The upper right man is his son, many years later who is the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta. And waiting to be completed (well actually they all are-this IS an unfinished oil!) is Daniel Arap Moi and  Mwai Kibaki.

The space between the top two figures will be filled with the Kenyan flag and two popular monuments-soft focus as the emphasis is on the 4 men.

Somewhere I have to figure out where to put the "50 years" that the client wants included.....the real fun of this at times is the "winging it" part! No photoshopping or printing on canvas for me. You can see the pencil lines on the gray background of Moi who is unstarted, but I will step back to see where I want to add the other elements and apply my 25 years of wisdom there! Now that's MY idea of freedom of art! Keep an eye out as I have several other works in progress without quite the tight deadline! 

A girl and her mule

I loved meeting this family in October and photographing their daughter and her beautiful mule, Fancy! From that came my 24" x 26" oil portrait with their barn in the background. I didn't need to go to Florida in order to photograph their barn; her mom had an image on her cell phone. (ah, modern day wonders!) An earlier post had the painting in progress but now you can see the finished oil!

Morgan was showing Fancy and there is one thing about competitive showmanship classes-in that world there is just one correct way to present your animal!

Morgan with her mule, Fancy. 24" x 36" oil portrait

Trio of Labradors! Following a work in Progress

There is no doubt that oil portraits "pop!" They are challenging in the sense that the artist (lol-me) has to work quickly to lay in the colors and work wet paint into wet paint to blend. Of course often I have to step back, let it dry before adding details.

Oil in progress Three Labs" 24 x 30

This large oil is a work in progress meaning, I'm just not done with it :-)

Although the owners handed me photos of their "boys", none were what I need for the "pop" factor. So I went back later and snapped quick photos with my old Nikon D70. Good for what I do so need to update to fancier more expensive models!

This is a large 24 x 30 oil and I gave them several choices initially. I like to do rough sketches so that the client gets a feel for what I'll be creating for them, and the actual size-a HUGE plus! Nope just sketches-no photoshop for me!

I usually wait and let collectors see the finished work but the dogs are completed enough for them to see what I first showed them in a sketch so after teaching a class this morning, I'll run down and let them have a peek!
 

The wedding portrait

If you've been keeping up with some of the previous posts you'll find this 24 x 36 oil portrait in various stages!
 Created from several "not so great" photos,  it is now ready to ship to Florida and its happy owner in time for her.....50th wedding anniversary!!...just one more li-i-i-ittle thing I need to do.........per her request :-) (stay tuned!)

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Davis

Bridal portrait in progress

Creating a bridal portrait in oil is nothing new for me. Creating portraits from very old photos (even tintypes) is not new for me. But to create a bridal from 50 year old photographs is!

In this 24 x 36 oil portrait, the client asked me to use her husband's face from another photos...which I have roughed in. There were numerous small changes to make from the original photos and all very do-able.


At this stage the client has seen it and loves it and I must confess to being relieved as showing a partially completed portrait is always an "iffy" prospect!

Keep an eye out for updates!

Painting dark skin tones

First draft of 18 x 24 oil

When painting people, you have to take into account the surroundings...will they be neutral? A scene of some sort? A room? Going back to the "less is more" concept, the other thing is will the background or clothes detract from the subject?

So here, in an 18" x 34" oil are the challenges, not the first being that I had 3 days to paint this! And just a few photographs! The woman sat at a desk in a different set of clothes. The clothes they wanted were in another photo of her standing....white with some decoration.  And the hair was from still another photograph (the second image is the "correct" hairstyle:-). 

After roughing in the portrait clothes and sending it to the clients, I realized how the white overwhelmed her dark skin tones.  So I completely changed all the colors surrounding her so that the opposite happens....SHE pops:-)  Take a look.


I have not changed anything in her face except I darkened her teeth just a shade.

Second draft and changes to 18 x 24 oil

Now the focus is on her and not the white outfit!

Little girl in white oil painting

This 16 x 20 oil was quite a challenge! Photographers all deal with photoshop and a large number of artists do as well now. Sometimes I think that a little more sketching would bring the brain back as "photoshop" is something an artist always did....long before the computer! This little girl came from 2 photos. I created a pastel of her sister 6 years ago and they had an "oil photograph" made. So I had a photo of the little blond headed sister-full body and a head and shoulder photo of the other dark haired sister...basically combining them together and then deciding to add the arm to the right as the original photo showed (vaguely, in parts) her little arms pulled up to her body. But after painting that, it looked awkward, so I rubbed out the arm (with a crowd watching) and sketched it back onto the canvas and then painted it. Fun with a crowd around! Anyway the client was THRILLED with the results.
The very cool thing is that the dress in the oil was detailed (more so than the photograph) and it had been made by the grandmother. Both little girls wore it for their portraits (6 years apart!) Grandma's Dress is an heirloom as is now this portrait!

A breathing, living portrait

A fine art portrait is more than a likeness of the subject. A portrait should virtually breathe on it's own!
This 24 x 30 oil is a good example of that concept. By intertwining the likenesses of the subject with a visual example of their long term relationship and devotion to each other the portrait took on a life of it's own.

In other words, it went far beyond "looking like the subject" or what a photo is required to do. A fine art portrait creates a perpetual record of a subject on that day, in time and the interaction to the environment around them. A moment in time. A forever reminder that life is good!

Making changes in a portrait for a client

I completed the changes for the client in this large oil of their 3 charming sons.

Look carefully and see what I did compared to the image I posted 2 weeks ago!

We are getting ready to head to the Indian Wells Art Festival in Palm Springs, CA. The show is April 2-4. What a fun cross country adventure!

Family oil of boys and their pets

What a delightful experience it has been to work with the Faykus brothers! Their joy of life and their home in the country pours into their everyday attitude and being! Although their 30 x 40 oil is not quite done,I have had the family live with their portrait for a few weeks to get a feel for the overall impact. So just a few tweaks to do here and there and this beautiful moment in time is theirs forever!
Originally I photographed the boys and their huge Newfoundland and mellow Golden Retriever (and Siamese) in the late fall.
I created a more springtime look to the portrait and although everything is pulled together to create one cohesive look, the viewer can't tell that I used many reference photos!

But in this scene it is all about the exuberance of childhood! The rough and tumble relationships between brothers. The family pets involved with their young masters. And the growing up with an emphasis on being outside in all weather. It is an opportunity for growth and discovery at its most basic level!

I look forward to the final unveiling!

See more of my Portraits!

Creating dark oils

This 16 x 20 oil portrait was different and I loved it! The dark background is a change from most of what I do and it creates a very Old Masters look.







The client wanted to show that very special relationship between she and her horse and we achieved it!

Family oil with dogs

This 20 x 24 oil is a good example of bringing in all the elements of an early spring day with kids and dogs! It's real life at its best and what better way to remember it than with a lovely OIL portrait?

Look further down for a LARGE family oil with all members of the family present!