Mrs. Lola's Kitchen

Mrs. Lola

16" x 20"

Oil On Canvas

Private Collector

Allow me to introduce Mrs. Lola. This is a recent commission for a client that will be opening a restaurant in Oklahoma City. The restaurant will be named in honor of his grandmother, Mrs. Lola and the portrait will be displayed there.  I'll let you know when it's open for business!

I've been busy and have a lot of other portraits and paintings to share, but especially wanted to show you this one.

As always - Live Creatively!

Liz

Angel & Shadows

This is another plein air painting I did - the weather is too beautiful to be inside. I've been working on paintings for my upcoming solo show in Stephenville, Texas. Hope you can make it here if you're in the neighborhood. I have some interesting paintings to show you!

Sorry I've not been posting, but I've been so exhausted at the end of the day that I keep putting it off. I do have quite a bit to show you.

Angel & Shadows
6" x 6"
$150 Framed

Or click here to email me about this painting.

I don't generally frame my work, I like unframed paintings. This was a problem with this show, they require all paintings framed, but didn't tell me until just now. They are going to let me hang my unframed paintings, though :)

Here is a good start on a painting of a cougar in a tree. I really went too far with his face, but he is so cute! He is a young mountain lion that Jeff Heinatz photographed. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Hey There!
Texas Mountain Lion
24" x 36"
Oil on Canvas

Now I've got to get out of here - it's another long day tomorrow!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Berry Picking

This is a painting of my oldest son when he was about 18 months old. We were berry picking and he ate the whole container LOL (It wasn't very full) This is when he was walking up looking for more :)

Berry Picking

8" x 10"
Oil on Panel
Collection of the Artist NFS

Again, just a quick note, been very busy today - I will have lots to show you soon!!

Live Creatively!

Liz

German Shepherd Commission

Zora
16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas
NFS

This is going to be a great painting - this dog has the best expression! She is a huge German Shepherd, who thinks she is a tiny princess.

Below is the photo that I am working from:


I see that I have her leg too long . . . I had it right, but it looked short LOL . . . guess I'll be fixing that when I paint again. I will be putting a 'mod' look background to this painting. This is a second commission for this patron. I painted her cat with a 'mod' background, so this will coordinate. She has another dog, so hopefully, there will be a third in this series :)

My husband has had the crud for the past week, and now my throat feels funny . . . wish me luck that I don't get sick for 2 weeks! I don't have time!!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Whoo Hooo Painting Live finally!!

I started troubleshooting the video camera - Ustream problem at 10 a.m. today. Working at it on and off until 3:30 I finally got it fixed! We had a successful session tonight! Yay! It's nice to have visitors back in my studio while I paint. I'll be painting again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Central / 8 p.m. Eastern time. I might be on during the day as well. Hope to see you there!

Tonight's painting was Tumbleweed, the flyball Corgi. He was only a baby in this painting, 5 months old. He is so cute!

Tumbleweed
4" x 6"
Commissioned Portrait
Oil on Panel

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Live Creatively!

Liz

Library Cat FINISHED

Library Cat
memorial portrait of Max
Oil on Canvas
14" x 18"

Max's portrait is finished - and looking great! This is, unfortunately, a memorial portrait, which is why there is a painting of a rainbow on the back wall. Please make sure you click on the photos to see the enlargements. I'll try to remember the various adjustments I made.

Close-up of Max's face

I added light to the underside of the lamp, and straightened the base a bit. I made adjustments to the position of his paws and added a fancy quill pen to go with the jar of ink on the desk in front of him. Maybe he's writing his memoirs.
Close-up of the adorable little mouse peeking out from under the book. I changed the left side of the book because it was too square for a bunch of pages.

Hope you had fun following along on the creation of this portrait!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Library Cat . .. almost finished!

Very long and productive day today! The portrait is looking great! I am so happy with it! I hope that I can get a good photo of it tomorrow. You really can't get a very good idea of what it looks like from these photos.

I put a smoking jacket and ascot on Max and got just about all the books painted. I left an open space for the little mouse that will be peeking out from under the book on the left. Max's face is just about finished now, just need to add some whiskers. I brightened up the light, and fixed the perspective on the green book in the front. I may add some titles to a few of them, but I'm not sure yet.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for books, "Mice and Men" or "Cat's Guide to Life" LOL . . .

More soon!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Library Cat part 6

Ah, now the fun starts! I've gotten a good start on the cat's face. Below is the photo that I am using for reference.


The biggest challenge will be to change the lighting from a frontal light to a light coming from the right. You can see that there are shadows on the right side of the photo. They won't be there if the lamp is on that side, so I'm going to have to make a lot of adjustment to the portrait to create the feeling that the lamp is lighting him. . . . more soon!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Library Cat part 5

Library Cat - next step

The lamp and the frame have been completed. In the photo below you can see a better view of the lamp and the books behind the desk. The photo is brighter than the actual painting, but it allows you to see some of the detailing in the books.

It's really coming along nicely!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Library Cat part 4

The Library Cat is back on the easel - got the books in the background painted for the most part. Probably a few more touches as the painting progresses, but they're looking good. The painting did not photograph well, there is more detail than you can see in the photo, but I'm trying to keep it dark.

At this point, the cat reminds me of Felix the cat - I have cut the background into his head so his eyes appear too large, and his head too small. I'll fix that when I paint his head in the next few days.


The glowing rectangle to the left behind the cat became a picture frame. It will hold a 'painting' of a rainbow. I added it after I took the first photo, so it's not in the large photo.

The large dark area to the right of the cat will become the lamp. It was pointed out to me that the lamp was far too small, (or the cat far too large) - and they were right! So the lamp will be much larger than the original sketch. I get involved in planning, and sometimes overlook the obvious (like proportion).

More soon! Live Creatively!!

Liz

Library Cat part 3

Now I've got the cat just about where I want him. I have spent FAR too long playing with this. I don't usually put this much detail into the preliminary underpainting. We've decided to put him into a smoking jacket, so I took some time googling for images. There are some very natty jackets :) I'm not sure how patterned I will make it, the painting is very busy already. The next step is actual PAINT and that's when the fun starts!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Cat in the Library on the Easel

Now there's a convoluted description. I've been working on the cat in the library painting. I really like the design, I just have to be careful not to make it too bright. My paintings are generally bright and colorful, so it's going to be difficult to keep it dark and moody. I spent far too long futzing with the books and design, but it was fun. Kind of like making a puzzle. I thought I might have made the right hand side of the painting too cluttered, but I think I can change the emphasis with lighting and coloration.

Next I'll put the cat's face in. I don't usually go through this much preliminary work, but I don't really have any reference for this painting, it's just coming out of my imagination, so I want to make sure that I get all the potential problem areas resolved before I start putting too much paint down.

Live Creatively!

Liz

Ringo and his Wife Bella . . . . Mastiff Masterpiece Finished!

Mastiff Masterpiece Finished!

18" x 24"
Oil on Canvas
Private Commission

Close-up of their faces.

I really wish you could see it in person. I am very happy with the way this turned out. Below you can see the inspiration piece for this portrait. There were about 15 different variations in color, but I bought a book on art and scanned in the photo. It is much more colorful than the painting that I have here, but I'm not going to bother to replace it.

Alfred Sisley and his Wife by Renoir

I made a few changes - the color of the gloves was changed from fawn to white because the male mastiff (Ringo) is fawn colored and you couldn't tell that he had a glove on one paw. I thinned down the tree in the background, just because I wanted to :)

Tomorrow I start another interesting portrait - another anthropomorphic painting - this time a cat in a library! I'll show you the initial sketches, color study and then take you along as I go. Also I have a couple daily paintings planned in my mind :) hopefully I'll get to them.

This painting ships out tomorrow - I'm sure going to miss it!!

Live Creatively!
Liz

Portrait of a Hero - Donation #20 - Dakota

Dakota
Belgian Malinois Search & Rescue Dog
FLTF2

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From Julie, his handler:

Dakota, 3, was imported from Germany to be a patrol dog, but fortunately for me biting was not is forte. For a Mal he has a sweat personality and likes to please. He negotiates rubble like a gazelle and searches extremely fast, sometimes blowing right by scent and has to work his way back. He likes to take direction and isn't as serious about his work as Lilly-Belle, but he also has a strong work ethic. Dakota, is my "Flash dog" and Lilly is my "steady girl" they make a great pair.

FLTF2 is a Federal Search team sponsored by Miami Fire Rescue. I am a 23 year fire fighter with Miami. Both Lilly-Belle and Dakota are Type 1 FEMA certified disaster search dogs.

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Thank you Julie, Dakota and Lilly! We appreciate your hard work. I will be painting Lilly's portrait soon.

I am so happy with the way this portrait turned out. In this instance, I deleted the background from the photo and put in a generic background. I love the look on Dakota's face. However, I just realized that I never finished his collar LOL . . . so I guess the painting isn't exactly finished. I will post an updated photo when I add his bright orange collar.

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion . . . . I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (American Writer, b.1922)

Live Creatively!

Liz

Bulldog Charity Painting

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but most of the painting I've been doing are gifts, so I can't share them with you. Today I finished a painting for Bulldog Rescue - I need to get a better photo, but thought I'd post what I have for now. Please check back to get the link for the auction - remember this goes to help the dogs!

BULLDOG CHARITY PAINTING
(click to see larger)

12"x 16"
Oil on Canvas

(better photo to come soon)

This painting will be auctioned to raise money for The BCA Rescue Network, Inc - non-profit organization. There are many volunteers nationwide who love the Bulldog breed and are dedicated to its continued well-being. These volunteers find new homes for more than 1000 Bulldogs per year. Many thousands of dollars are spent to provide medical care, food, shelter, and training while the rescued Bulldogs are awaiting adoption.

Please check back to get the link to bid on this painting - remember 50% of the proceeds go to help support bulldog rescue!

If you have a charity to which you would like me to donate a painting, please let me know!

Scroll down to see the steps to this beautiful portrait!

Step #1 - Beginning the portrait - a very blurry photo. This actually isn't the VERY first step, but it's the first time that I took a break to take a photograph. I started by painting in the basic shape of the dog with burnt sienna paint.

Then I blocked in the darks and lights on his body. I like to use very colorful underpainting on animals, I think it gives more of a sense of the life and vibrancy of their being.

Close-up of Step 1 You can see his face starting to emerge from the shadows.

Step 2 - Now I'm adding the details and the actual coloring of the dog - this appears to bring him out of the shadows.

Step 3 - I now have just about all his body in basically the correct coloration. I will now refine areas and model the muscles and bones of his structure to make sure he is anatomically accurate.

Step 4 - Just about done! I will probably make a few adjustments - but basically he is finished. I have modeled his muscles, and adjusted the balance between light and dark. This is not a very good photo as it was 11:00 p.m when I stopped painting. I will try to get a better photo in the daylight.

Thank you again for your interest in my artwork, and for your patience :)

Live Creatively!!!

Liz

Olive the Sphynx Cat

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted, but I HAVE been painting. Here is one of the paintings I've done recently that is not a Christmas gift. Allow me to introduce Olive, the Sphynx cat. (I am pretty sure that is her breed, if not, I'll post a correction when I find out.) She is hairless and very striking. Unfortunately, this is a memorial painting, as she recently passed away.

in memory of
OLIVE
16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas

Here is a close-up of her face - be sure to click both the photos to see much larger views. Her owner in into 'retro' so I had fun with the background - and the reflections on the cat.

On a technical note, there were really no good photos of Olive, but I found a variety of reference pictures and pulled together all the elements that defined Olive, adding the coloring, changing the pose, etc. So if you don't have the 'perfect' photo, don't worry, I can still make a great portrait. Of course, if you have a great photo, that's nice too :)

I am working on quite a few commissions, but they are all for Christmas, so you won't see them until January. I have quite a few K-9 and Search & Rescue portrait donations lined up and should be posting some of them next week.

Thanks for looking, and please feel free to comment or email me - I would love to hear from you.

As always,

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

Beginning Forest's Portrait

This is the first step of a small commissioned painting. This is Forest, a beautiful search & rescue dog. His owner is a great photographer and has commissioned paintings of all of her dogs. I love working from her beautiful photos. Below is the photo that I am working from for Forest's portrait. I can see that I have his nose a little bit off. If you're interested in how I get started with a painting, you can see me sketch this one on UStream.tv


Most of the paintings I've been working on are gifts, so I can't show them, but I'll be posting the progress on Forest's portrait soon. It probably won't take more than one session to paint.

Congratulations to new collector Jennifer, in Texas who commissioned the painting of Camo, the beautiful Boykin Spaniel!

Live Creatively!

Liz

Donation #16 - Garren - Police K9 Service Dog

Garren - Police K9 Service Dog

German Shepherd
4" x 6" Oil on Panel

From his partner:

I work for the Beaverton Police Department and recently retired my first K9 partner, Garren. We retired Garren, not due to age or inability to do the job, but because in many ways he was just too nice. Garren licked the first "Bad Guy" he found and continued this trend throughout his career. Garren was gentle and I trusted him completely, even when my infant daughter would climb on his back, pull his tail, or try to grab his tongue.

Thank you Garren, Steve, and all the others who work hard to keep us safe.

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I had a very productive day. I've been trying to keep to my schedule - and I was painting live on UStream at 10 & 4 today, Central Time (11 & 5 Eastern) I finished Garren's portrait, repainted that pesky still life that I've never been happy with (I'll show you tomorrow) and painted the Bluebird again :)

Yesterday, I painted Tulip's portrait. She is a corgi Therapy dog and her partner commissioned her painting. I have started a new section on Portrait of a Hero dedicated to dogs like Tulip that are Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs and similar. These portraits are not donated, but I do give a 25% discount off of the normal commission fee.

I am now offering prints of the Search & Rescue & K9 dog paintings. I will shortly be offering prints of many of my daily paintings.

Thank you to Steve Anderson for your donation to the Free K9 & Search & Rescue paintings. Thank you to my son, Chris, for his generous donation of a video camera for my UStream broadcasts.

Live Creatively!

Liz

Police Officer Memorial Portrait Dedication

The Police Officer portrait that I painted a couple months ago was formally dedicated on Friday. I attended, but due to mis-communication and some glitches (plus the fact that I'm basically a hermit and am not always in my "assertive artist" mode) I ended up not being in the room at the time it was being dedicated. It was standing room only. I met the Dallas Chief of Police and a lot of great Police Officers, Lieutenants and others. I truly appreciate those who put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis for us!! (Especially those among us who are totally ditzy . . . . )

The ceremony was featured on the nightly news and here are some shots from the broadcast.

the screen says "Police Officer Remembered"

Unveiling the portrait

They thanked me for the donation, but it didn't say that on the news and I am really trying to get the word out that I will donate an oil on canvas portrait to the family of any Police Officer or Firefighter that is killed in the line of duty. I contacted the television station, and we'll see if they are interested. I'll keep you posted.

PAINTING LIVE - I will be painting live on USTREAM today starting about 7:30 p.m. Central Time (8:30 p.m. Eastern) I will be working on some commissioned portraits. One is a large 18"x 22" oil on canvas of a Scottish Terrier and one is a 4"x6" oil on panel of a Corgi.

This is the photo I will be painting the Corgi, Tulip from. I will probably paint Tulip in one session - start to finish tonight live on USTREAM, so join me. I will be taping the broadcast so you can watch at your convenience if you don't manage to get here tonight. I hope you do, though - I enjoy the company! Click here to see my USTREAM videos and to join me live tonight at 8:30 Eastern / 7:30 Central Time. Make sure you sign up and get a username so I can chat with you while I paint.

Hope to see you - and always - Live Creatively!!

Liz