A Jacket for Jet & A Colorful Poodle

I had a great day in the studio today! After I straightened out the mess with my website about paypal not working for the notecards - how frustrating! And google has locked me out of my original "Daily Painting" group, so I had to start a new one without access to the email addresses of the existing membership - so join again!! Forward this to anyone you think would be interested - let's get this list going again!

JET
Black Labrador
Search & Rescue Dog

Original Oil Painting 6"x4"

This is Jet - a Search & Rescue Dog with D.A.W.G.S

After I completed the painting, Chris, his handler, reminded me that I was going to add the jacket :) - So he gets two days of being dog of the day!

The orange of the jacket really makes it 'pop' - a big improvement over the original. Probably why I meant to do it in the first place LOL

Thank you, Chris, Jet and all the other handlers & dogs out there that spend so much time and money to save us from harm.

---

I also got a quite a bit of work done on the poodle. I am doing this as a surprise for my husband's 80+ year old aunt. I am not sure how adventurous her taste in art is, but I love this painting. This little guy was "Spiffy" - and he passed away a few months ago. Normally, I start out very
colorful like this, and then tone it down with layers of more muted colors. I remember a famous equine artist said that "people want a painting of their horse, not my impression of their horse" He would go so far as to bring his paints out into the field to exactly match the horse's hair.

"Spiffy" 12"x16" Oil on Canvas
(click to enlarge)

I do try to make the paintings more colorful, but very realistic. You can't tell on the internet, but my paintigns have a lot more color than the actual animal has. I feel that this gives the aura of life to the painted surface. As I was painting Spiffy's portrait, I felt that his personality was shining through. Although I met him during his last months, he still had a wonderful personality, although he had slowed down quite a bit. I really hope that she likes the painting as colorful as it is. If not, I will tone it down and make it more realistic. It's just paint :) I'll paint my dog like this, and then I can keep it!

(click to enlarge)

The light was not good when I took this photo, the painting is not as dark as it appears here. I should get the background in while the paint is still wet, but I'm really tired and wanted to get this up on the 'net before I called it a night.

I have another project beginning to take form in my mind. I'll tell you more as I have more information.

Charity Painting for Columbia County Humane Society

Hi,

Well, it's certainly been a while since I sent out a painting. I have a very exciting announcement tonight - if you are a search & rescue dog handler, or know someone that is, please get in touch with me. I am very grateful to those who dedicate so much of their time and resources to helping others. I would like to give a FREE 4"x6" oil portrait of their working dog to any S&R handlers that contact me. So, please help me get the word out!

At the request of various rescues, I have started offering either a 100% 4"x6" charity painting or 50% of a larger (12"x16" - 16"x20") painting. Now, without further delay - here is this week's 100% charity painting.

HENRY

Original Oil Painting
Oil on Panel

4" x 6"

unframed
(copyright does not appear on actual painting)

100% of All Funds raised benefit
Columbia County Humane Society

Click here to bid on eBay

Please spend more than you might otherwise. You will be getting an original work of art from a highly collected artist, and 100% of your money goes to the rescue. The artist takes absolutely no money from this auction, she pays the listing fees and shipping fees out of her own pocket. You will be helping the animals and getting some fine art in the bargain!

This painting is of Henry, a handsome male beagle that was found by a local animal lover. This poor boy was trapped in the median of interstate 20. Henry had been hit by a car that broke one of his back legs. Can you imagine the fear he felt, the pain of a broken leg unable to move out of harm's way while watching cars approaching so close at 65 mph. He had the good sense not to try and drag himself back across the interstate where he came from. Henry has been adopted and is living in a forever home.

If you have a non-profit organization that and you would like me to donate a free painting & auction it off for you please click here to contact me. It does not have to be a dog-related rescue - any non-profit charitable organization will be considered.

Thank you again for your interest in my artwork. Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon! Please reply to this email if you want to contact me. I will answer all emails.

- Liz

Teapot #3

"Flower Pot"

Kitchen Series - Teapot #3
Original Oil Painting9" x 9"
Oil on Reclaimed Panel
$225

Or click here to email me about Flower Pot.

This is one of a set of 6 kitchen paintings - contact me to see all 6
They are available as a group for $950 with free shipping.

I've called it "Flower Pot" but actually it's a "Fruit Pot". It's covered with embossed fruit. This is one of my favorite teapots. I got it years ago at a yard sale, which is where most of my favorite things come from :)

The painting doesn't look exactly like this anymore, I was going to be a smartie and hang it up on the wall. Of course, it slipped out of my hands and when I caught it, I caught the wet paint, of course.

So it went back on the easel, and was touched up, and looks just a little bit different. If you're interested, I can post a picture of 'after the fall'

Are you ready for Christmas? I am (as usual) trying to make the majority of my gifts. As my son cals it "the realm of 'Mom-gifts'" . . . and I am nowhere close to ready! I haven't even started most of them . . . and the ones I have started, well, some have not been, how shall we say, spectacularly successful? It's okay, I still have a whole week, and only one more Christmas commission to finish LOL . .. oh and I haven't painted my Christmas cards yet, either!

Hope you have a great day! As always, thank you for your interest in my artwork and feel free to forward this to your friends.

Liz

3 Pugs with Personality

Three Pugs with Personality!

16"x20"
Pastel on Paper
Private Commission, NFS

These three adorable dogs were actually painted from one photograph! I don't know how she got them to sit like that LOL

Don't worry, if you can't get all the critters to behave at the same time, most of my portraits are painted from multiple photos.

Here are some closeups of their faces:

DON'T FORGET:

English Springer Spaniel
Available on eBay
Great Christmas Gift!
Starts at $59 - click here to bid

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

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

I know the daily paintings are supposed to be of things other than dogs - and I promise to post some other subjects next time! I am leaving town for a couple weeks, so it might be a while before I post another photo. Back soon!

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

Please sign up for the mailing list and you won't miss a single dog!

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

Shiba Inu Charity Painting

Shiba Inu

Original Oil Painting

4" x 6" - Oil on Panel, unframed

Every bit of the money raised by this auction will help dogs receive the treatment they need to live long healthy lives - please be generous!

Now, I have to admit that I had never heard of a Shiba Inu dog until they contacted me to do an auction for them. They are gorgeous dogs, sort of like a small akita. They come from Japan.

The last auction, which I did not put on my blog (shame on me) raised $160 for Papillon rescue! I hope this one does as well. It is already up to $66 and I just started the auction a few hours ago.

100% OF ALL FUNDS RAISED WILL BENEFIT RESCUE AT
MIDWEST SHIBA INU RESCUE

Detail of brushstrokes on painting - larger than life

Thanks for your interest in my artwork - and for your wonderful emails!

Liz

Golden Retrievers - FINISHED

Here is the portrait! Complete and finished!

Golden Retrievers
24" x 36" oil on canvas

A couple of things that I did differently from the original photo:
The colors are much brighter and more impressionistic.
In the composition the foreground has been darkened
to make the dogs stand out more
and to allow the fall colors of the trees to really pop.

In the close-ups below, you can see a the brushstrokes a little more
but you can't really see the subtle and complex
colors and textures in this painting.

Close-up of the dog on the right - no longer alien!
She has a ring of light, almost white fur around her neck.

Close-up of the male dog :)

The client first said "Oh! It looks so much different than it does on the internet"
(which is what I always tell people)
After she presented it to the recipient, she sent me an email saying
"Liz, we love the painting. Thank you for all of the work and updates!"

Thank you for your interest. I am off to visit the Ft. Worth Art Show today - should be a lot of fun and inspiration! Please forward to anyone interested :)

Liz

Golden Retrievers - blocking in the background

I want to integrate the dogs into the background, so I start blocking in the basic areas of the background. I am going to make the background much more colorful than the photo. At this point, the painting is much darker & brighter than it will be when it is finished

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

Two Pitchers & an Orange

Two Pitchers & An Orange

16"x20" Oil on Panel

(available $500 - click here)

This is a reworking of one of the first paintings that I ever did.
I didn't change much except to add the white tablecloth.

There was originally a white tablecloth in the setup for the painting, and it is reflected in the jug,
but I was just learning to do backgrounds and I just painted it all purple :)

The 'redone' orange reminds me of Cezanne's paintings, so I left it with the dark outline.
It's always been one of my favorite paintings, and I want to paint the jug again.

Here is the original painting:

What do you think? is it an improvement?

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

I've been working on a couple large commissions.
I plan to show you the process for one of them after it has been delivered.
It is, as usual, a surprise for the recipient, so I can't show it to you in "real time".

I will also be showing you the process for a portrait of a house that I will be painting this week.

Thank you for your interest!!

Please ask any questions - all emails answered!
Please feel free to forward to anyone that is interested.

Ugh . . .

Ok . . . this is today's painting. A commission mired in the uglies, but that's what I did all day today - hopefully get it pulled out of the uglies tomorrow . . . there are too many things wrong with it to tell you, but hopefully you'll see the difference when I post it tomorrow (or Thursday, since I have to take a 2 hour drive tomorrow afternoon, might not have time to post)


Started a new commission today - two beautiful Golden Retrievers - another big one 24"x36" - Just blocked in the dogs. I don't always do this much detail, but I was having fun with it :)

As always, thank you for your interest and support. All emails answered, forward to your friends!

Nude Revisited

I had painted a quick nude study a while back - I revisited it today - there were some things about it that bothered me. I was not happy with the face in the original painting, and some of the shadowing was too dark and stark. I had the color too hot in both the light and the shadow.

I ended up repainting it almost completely, but I am much, much happier with it. The face is especially nice. One of the problems that I have is that I am doing this almost completely from imagination. Therefore, I have very little actual shadow or color information and have to invent it. This is not as easy as it sounds! It is much better to have actual visual information to paint from.

Here is a detail of the face. If you'd like to see the entire nude (with strategic "bikini" triangles) click here.

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

Pucker Up

"Pucker Up"

4" x 6"
Oil on Panel

Available

White German Shepherd Charity

It's time for my charity painting once again -
This time it is a striking white German Shepherd.



Oil on Panel 4" x 6" unframed

ALL FUNDS RAISED WILL BENEFIT
WHITE GERMAN SHEPHERD RESCUE

CLICK HERE TO BID

Detail of brushstrokes on painting - much larger than life-sized

I hope you will consider bidding on this painting to help raise funds for White German Shepherd Rescue operations.