A New Painting . . . . and a SCAM

"HEY! YOU WITH THE OPPOSABLE THUMB!!"
Mackenzie

Labradoodle
24" x 20"
Acrylic on Canvas

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted. I do have some paintings, but no photos! I am so far behind. Allow me to introduce Mackenzie. She is my dog. I've wanted to paint her for quite a while, but I can't ever get the photo that I really want. I still didn't, but I like this one. When she's trying to get you to throw the ball for her, she looks up at you with the whites showing in her eyes - I love the look, but when I take the camera out she stops doing it! I have a lot more sympathy with those of you who tell me they can't get a good photo of their dog. Now I understand why I work from so many bad photos LOL

I waited until today to send this out so that I could get a good daylight photo. The painting is so bright that it's hard to get an accurate photo, but it's pretty close. I think the close-up below is more accurate.

You'll notice that the copyright is a bit different on this one - I have started a new website - what? 5 websites is not enough? plus 2 blogs? Ok have I mentioned that I have ADD . . . oh look a chicken . . . anyway, if I were a firearm, I'd be a shotgun. Anyway, this new website - WackyPup.com has more crafty type things, and will also have my wackier paintings. Mack will be the first to be showcased. It will also include things from others, like my sister who builds things from wood. If you have something that you think could be marketed through WackyPup.com give me a hollar and we'll see if we can work something out.


I'm using a different type of paint - Chroma Interactives. I'm excited to announce that I was approached to become a working artist for Chroma. This is the first painting I've done with the new paints. They are an acrylic paint that has a much longer open time than traditional acrylics. I don't usually paint in acrylics for exactly that reason - they dry so fast that I don't have time to do any blending or manipulation of the paint. Even oils dry too fast for me most of the time (but then I use a lot of liquin LOL) I LOVE these Chroma Interactive paints! The colors are fantastic and they handle well. I'm going to have to use them more to get accustomed to the properties, but so far it looks like they will be a wonderful addition to my studio. I'll be writing more about them as I find out more techniques to use them.

Now, the scam I mentioned. A while back, I painted a portrait of a golden retriver named Theodore, owned by Scott Shields. I just found out tonight that Scott is a fraud. He also owned another dog, Bear, who was purported to be the most successful rescue dog ever, won medals, and gathered a lot of publicity and money for Scott and his sister. The stories that Scott told were LIES and the dogs weren't even trained as rescue dogs.


I was one of the many who were taken in by Scott's stories. However, I am leaving Theo's painting up, albeit as a FAUX Search & Rescue dog, because it is not his fault that his owner is a fraud. He is still a beautiful golden retreiver, and I'm sure that if he had the opportunity to become a REAL search & rescue dog, he would be very eager to do it! If he understood what had been going on, he would be ashamed of his owner, but since dogs give unconditional love, he doesn't have a clue. So, this is a tribute to all the dogs we own that love us no matter if we deserve it or not.

Thank you as usual for your patience, I should be painting a bit more often over the next two weeks, because I'm supposed to be in an art show at the end of the month and I have nothing to bring LOL!!

If' you're going to be in the Fort Worth area on April 25 come by the Will Rogers Memorial Center and visit me at the Funky Finds Spring Fling - It's FREE and pet-friendly and looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I'll be painting and doing dog caricatures . . .

Live Creatively!!

Liz

JB the Scotty Gets his Turn . . .. finally

Hi,

I hope everyone has survived the storms and managed to get to a safe place. I hope if you had any losses, it was just material possessions which don't matter that much in the real scheme of things. I live in the middle of Texas, we didn't even get any rain, so don't worry about me :)

J.B. the Scotty
18" x 24" Oil on Canvas

I've been working on J.B., but haven't had any good photos. Finally got a couple, although he's so dark that the camera doesn't pick up the variations very well. You may remember this is a memorial painting for a Scotch Terrier that has crossed the rainbow bridge. This is much larger than life, since Scotties aren't that large, and this is 18" x 24". It's looking good, hopefully when I get the background in, the photo will turn out better. I think all that white space is throwing it off. Also, he looks a bit bizarre without any eyes yet. Don't worry, he'll have his beautiful, loving eyes soon.

Here is a little close up of his nose, which shows more of the variation and colors of the painting better than the larger photo above. You can click on the photos to see a larger version.

In a total change of subject, I have one of those little plastic ponds outside my back door. I've stocked it with 10/$1 goldfish which have grown and reproduced - it's wonderful. Last summer a couple frogs found it and I've been serenaded nightly ever since. They filled the pond up with tadpoles, and now we have a little frog nursery - they are growing out of their tails and climbing up onto the lily pads - thought you'd enjoy a few pics of my baby frogs :)



You can't really tell it from these photos, but they're tiny!

Hope you and yours are safe, warm & dry tonight -

Live Creatively!

Liz

Tucker - Chocolate Lab SAR Dog

Tucker
Search & Rescue Dog with DAWGS

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From Marianne, his handler:

Tucker is a 2 year old chocolate lab. He is originally from Corry, PA where I picked him up at 8 weeks old. He became involved in search & rescue at 4 months and has loved it ever since. Tucker's favorite things to do is swim, hike, play tug-of-war, fetch tennis balls, and destroy stuffed toys. He is a quick learner, strives to please and gets along with everyone. We do just about everything together and is adored by everyone that meets him.

Disaster and Wilderness Ground Searchers (DAWGS) is a Connecticut based volunteer K-9 search and rescue organization. DAWGS is dedicated to the training of search and rescue dogs, handlers and support personnel in order to provide professional and highly-skilled search and rescue teams in the event of emergency response events.

Thank you, Marianne & Tucker for your dedication of time and money to save us from harm.

If you are a member of Search & Rescue, K-9 or Mounted Patrol, please allow me to paint a small portrait for you at no charge, in gratitude for your service.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT

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Now, on the art side of things - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this painting! This is hopefully the beginning of a trend LOL . . . I've had some really successful paintings lately. I don't know what exactly I love about this painting, it's just the look I've been going for with my art. It wasn't a particularly easy painting, some just fly off the brush (like Spiffy) but most are like this one - some success and then a lot of struggle (in this case the colors on his face were tough to get) At least at the end of the day, I'm happy with the painting :) It, of course, looks tremendously better in person, the colors just don't come across on the internet.

. . . I should have asked Marianne to explain the bell he is wearing. I assume it is so that they know where he is when he is searching. Or maybe he just likes to pretend he's a cow :)
The painting is signed, but the website copyright appears only on the internet. Your replies are appreciated :)

Another English Springer Spaniel

Black & White English Springer Spaniel

"Hunting Season starts when?"

Original Oil Painting

4" x 6" - Oil on Panel, unframed

Christmas is coming!
Click here to bid!

The painting is signed by the artist,
the website copyright appears only on the internet

The most recent charity auction for
English Springer Spaniel Rescue
Raised over $300 Click here to see!

SCROLL DOWN OR CLICK HERE TO VIEW OTHER DOG PAINTINGS

Click on any picture to see larger view

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If you have a dog rescue that you would like me to donate a painting to, please click here to contact me.

Large Dog Commission

This is becoming painting of the month, instead of painting of the day!

Remember the painting I showed you a while back? Well, it has been finished and delivered, so I can now show you the steps I go through on a larger commission. After looking through the photos the the client has sent me we decide on one that would make a good painting. In this case, it is a photo of the two golden retrievers on a path. They also provide me with some additional reference photos that show the dogs' faces and coloration more clearly.


I tone my canvas, (darken it a bit with thinned down paint) This is done so that I can better judge the relative lightness & darkness and the color of the paint that I apply, as opposed to putting it on a stark white canvas.

Here is the initial freehand drawing on the canvas:

I decide to change the front dog's tail so it is less awkward looking. All my paintings are done freehand, and you'll be able to tell in the next few days when totally mess up the dog on the right, which I don't really understand because she looks just about perfect right here. Well, just wait, and you'll see how I can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory LOL . . .

Since you've already seen the step above, here is the next day's progress:


Starting to block in the dark areas and lay out the basic composition shapes of dark versus light. Tomorrow, it'll start to get fun!

As always, thank you for your interest, and your letters and support!! I truly appreciate them!

Liz

Catching up!

I have been having some real issues with both painter's block and withdrawal from wanting to communicate with anyone, which combine to make it hard to post anything to my blog. The fact that my family reads my entries adds another level of complexity LOL . . . I don't mind pouring my heart out to strangers, but knowing that someone I might have to actually face is reading this, well, it does tend to inhibit me.

I have finally gotten back into the studio and done some paintings, even some of my 'daily paintings' - which were mailed out to my daily painting email list, so if you want to make sure you don't miss any of the paintings, be sure to join the list (there's a button somewhere on this page).

One of the 'daily paintings' I sent out was the process by which I painted this large (24" x 36") painting of two chihuahuas. Each day, I sent a new photo of the progress on the painting. You can see the steps on my daily painting page




Thanks for your interest in my painting, please let your friends know about the paintings, and feel free to write. I personally answer all emails.