Mo - Great Pyrenees Pastel Pet Portrait - SOLD

A Great Pyrenees is the closest a dog comes to resembling a polar bear -- they are gentle giants, truly wonderful dogs. In my photo reference, Mo is in shadow, but I tried to create a light pattern to make him more interesting. Also, sometimes it is difficult to paint an all white or all black dog using interesting color without getting garish. In real life he is more creamy in color, but this still looks like Mo.

Scottie - 18" x 24" Pastel

Usually I think this size lends itself to more of a head and shoulders portrait. Doing the whole body in this format means the head is quite small. But this painting was about the cute pose and light falling on the figure, anyway. This is my son Scott years ago; he is now 14.

Lana No. 2 - Viszla - 9.5" x 12.5" Pastel - SOLD

Another painting of my friend's beautiful viszla, Lana. I took a bunch of pictures of her back in June, and this one in particular really showed her stunning coppery coat when lit by the sun.

No. 48 - WIP (Portrait of Scott)

Doing portraits of people as a business freaks me out a little, because getting a likeness with a person is a lot more challenging than nailing it with a dog or cat. In this case, I did get a good likeness -- what remains is to work a bit more on the face, the clothes, and the dreaded hand.

Summer Memories - Pastel 16" x 20"

I worked on this forever!!! I started it back in January, and it sat for a long time; with a recent purchase inquiry, I resolved to finish it. Believe it or not, I redid the foreground and background three or four times -- it almost got to the point where I thought I might have to scrap it, but I prevailed in the end.

A Fun Project

My niece Marisa is getting married next summer at the New York Botanical Gardens in Bronx, N.Y.  I did this little project for her.

Working in watercolors made it a special challenge. I never used that medium before ... gives me lots of respect for watercolor artists!

Now that I look at it, I wish I had made the cloud on the right less stark. Oh well, they love it and that's all that counts.

Gone Fishin" - NFS

I have been missing in action for six weeks, which makes this an apt painting for my return. Except I wasn't fishing. More like end of summer madness, with a new college freshman to move to school, a husband and a dog who needed surgery, etc. etc. Well, I'm back at my easel, and that's what counts.