Red Fox portrait oil painting
“Red Fox”
9 x 12 inches, oil painting
It’s not uncommon for me to do pet portraits of dogs or cats, but I think this is the first wild animal portrait I’ve done. The fur was challenging but the eyes were the most fun. The native plants in the background are apricot mallow, a drought tolerant California native plant indigenous to high desert and chaparral areas, as well as valleys.
This painting was exhibited in spring 2019 at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum, in Pacific Grove, CA on the Monterey Peninsula.
See more of my paintings on my website.
Norfolk Terrier Dog Pet Portrait
“Jack and Lucy”
Norfolk Terrier double portrait
12 x 16 inches, original oil painting
SOLD
These adorable dogs were the subjects of a recent portrait commission for a long-time client and friend of mine. Her two dogs are getting up there in years, and she thought it was a good time to have their portraits done for posterity. Lucy, on the left, is the younger of the two. Jack, on the right, is eleven, I believe. Jack had already had his summer haircut, but Lucy had not.
Now, there’s no way you can get two dogs to pose and hold a pose with the light on them “just so” … so every portrait begins with a photo session. That involves a fair amount of crawling around on the ground to shoot them from the right angle. My husband and I were shooting simultaneously, to maximize the number of reference photos we’d get before the dogs ran out of energy or patience with us. The next step was to edit the pictures in Photoshop to put together a composite where the light and direction of their gaze was consistent. After client approval of the reference composite, it just comes down to the painting, which was very enjoyable.
If you’re interested in having a portrait done of your favorite pet, please write.
Click this link to write me.
