
Wolf in the Wood, Acrylic on wood panel, 2012 | This a wolf that resides at the Lakota Wolf Preserve in New Jersey. I photographed him several years ago.

Wolf in the Wood, Acrylic on wood panel, 2012 | This a wolf that resides at the Lakota Wolf Preserve in New Jersey. I photographed him several years ago.

Paper Wolf, Acrylic on paper, 2012 | This is a wolf who lives at the Lakota Wolf Preserve. I photographed him several years ago. This is an experimental painting using paper instead of canvas.

Joey, Acrylic and pastel on paper, 2012 | Joey is a blind, husky mix who is a permanent guest of MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue.

Junie, Acrylic on paper, 2012 | My sweet girl Junie, resting on the porch.
Especially those portraits that are not exactly realistic! An artist friend and I decided to do portraits of each other for a project. He drew me with conte crayon (I’ll post his creation sometime soon!) and I painted him with acrylics. If it isn’t really apparent yet, I paint dogs! Well, dogs, wolves, sometimes even birds when I’m feeling adventurous, but I rarely paint people. So, I already felt at a disadvantage. On top of that, this man is my friend, a really good friend, so I really don’t want to make a hash of it. I took a bunch of photos and fiddled with the lighting an composition until I was pretty happy with my plan and then I set to work. It took me a coupe of sessions in front of the easel to get to the final piece…and then I had to deliver it! Happily, he seems to like it! I was a bit worried, because what I captured on the canvas seemed a bit on the dark side. I had set out to do something kind of “pretty” and I had not done THAT at all!
I found a pile of little 9″ x 12″ canvases in my studio cabinet, so I decided to put them to use. I don’t usually work small, so it was a bit of a challenge. I started with a little, close-up landscape. I was comprised by a pile f fallen leaves and the base of my grape vine. I spotted this little gem of a scene after I returned from the Van Gogh, Up Close show and started refocusing on the things around me. I can’t come close to replicating Van Gogh’s strokes, nor would I want to. There’s only one Van Gogh! Instead, I tried to reign in my normally less-than-controlled approach to painting to the much smaller surface. Here is the result:
I used the same palette to complete another small painting. This one is much more within my normal comfort zone. I do love to paint dogs!
I completed one more painting with this palette, but I can’t reveal it yet…the subject hasn’t seen it yet!
I have been working on increasing my skill with human figures and faces. I chose a single photo and have been painting and repainting it, hoping to be able to find a style that works for me and the subject. I’ve painted her body 3 or 4 times now and still have not created anything that has been able to capture the image that’s in my mind. This is my second attempt at her face and, finally, I have found the beginning of a style that may work.