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

Donation #14 - Wahsatch - Golden Retriever Search & Rescue

Wahsatch - Golden Retriever
Search & Rescue Dog with
Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs

Number 14 in my series of Search & Rescue dog portraits donated to their partners.

From Darrick, Wahsatch’s partner:

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"Wahsatch and I are with Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs. We are an all volunteer rescue team who provide our services to any police agency requesting them. We do wilderness/area searches, avalanche rescues, water recovery, disaster recovery, human tracking/trailing, and cadaver. Our group is able to dispatch anywhere in the country if called upon.

"Wahsatch is a 1 year old Golden Retriever. And has a remarkable knack for trailing/tracking in a wilderness setting. His drive and focus once on the trail is amazing, and if it weren’t for the 20 foot tracking leash between him and myself, he would be at the victims side in a matter of seconds. Like most Golden’s, he thrives on attention, so a victim to him is just another person who will pet him and show him affection. He loves to please and is eager to learn, and shows it by barking happily as he performs each command, such as sit or down.

For Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs, he and all the other dogs in the organization are the most vital tools used in our search scenarios. But more than that, they are our partners, our best friends, and all are a part of the SAR family.

Fide Canem…Trust the Dog."

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I will not be broadcasting on UStream while I paint tomorrow. I will be out of the studio all day - I should be back and working at my easel Wednesday at 10 a.m. Central Time and again at 4-6 p.m. Hope to see you there

I worked on my 24"x36" canvas that I'm painting a beach scene. I am blocking out the general layout in acrylics. I may finish it in oils, but I'm having some fun with the acrylics. I haven't used them in years, and never have painted much with them. I did some interesting techniques with them today, that, had I used the 'final' colors, instead of the undercoating color, it would have looked really neat. Hope I can replicate it when I want to!

Thanks for your interest -

Live Creatively!

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 - Refining Background & Working on the Dogs

I don't know what happened with yesterday's post, all those extra pictures!! Sorry about that. They weren't visible in my version, until it arrived in the email! The internet is a strange and wonderful thing.

Ok, here's the progress on the painting for today:



The dog on the left just came off my brushes with ease. I'm sure you can see the beginning of a problem with the dog on the right . . . just "off" . . . kind of alien looking LOL I have the feeling that their real personalities are coming through. The dog on the left is a laid back male and the dog on the right seems more assertive and isn't cooperating with my brushes!

More to see soon! Thank you again for your interest! Please feel free to forward this.

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

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!