The PHA Gala Event

I'm so happy. The owner of Phinney asked me awhile back if I would donate to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association that is having a gala event. This will raise money for awareness and research of this rare disease that is very close to me. I donated a gift certificate for one 5x7 pet portrait. Phinney's portrait was displayed as an example along side the gift certificate to be auctioned off. The gift certificate went for over $75!! The owner even told me that some people wanted to buy Phinney's portrait but that wasn't up for auction. I'm so happy I was able to give money to a cause by doing something I absolutely love.

Jagger the Lab

And another commission to check off the list. I tried a couple of different techniques with this one. First; for the fur on the body I tried a different fur rendering that I'm not entirely happy with but it helped me learn. I still think it looks good as a fur render but not quite there yet with the perfection of short furred dogs. Second; I used an acrylic based paint that I watered down to get the creamy color of the coat since they don't sell cream colored inks. It worked nicely. Third; I timed this one. I'm not sure how accurate it is but over the course of a week and a half, this piece took me a total of 6 and a half hours. Since I don't have any previous record of how long scratchboard tends to take me I'm not sure how to judge that. But...I think I'll judge that as being acceptable. And fourth; I had to creatively sketch in the rest of the feet and tail since the original photograph didn't supply them. Yay for creative licenses.

Okay, enough about how I went about the piece. Here is Jagger the Labrador.

Original Photograph:


Final Results [VIEW FULL SIZE]:
Medium: Scratch board with a watercolor wash and acrylic wash. Size: 11x14

Another commission.

Another commission for a family friend. They really wanted this by a certain date so I put my current project aside and spent a good two days on this one working to get it done on time. Unfortunately, the photograph that was supplied isn't the best but it was the only one the owner had. So, I made apples into oranges. Is that how it goes? This time instead of trying to get the texture on the nose, which I have yet to perfect, I decided to just highlight it with some cross hatching and I think it works. At least until I find the right texture. I also had more fun than I expected getting the crazy hair on this dog. Well here is Pooh, who is a hyper active Bichon Frise that really needed a hair cut.

Original Photograph:


Final Results: VIEW FULL SIZE
Medium: Scratchboard with a water color wash Size: 8x10

Phinney

My first commission measuring 11x14. Phinney is a Springer Spaniel and an adorable one at that. I'm pleased with how this came out. I decided to go with a 'fade' effect for the fur on the bottom instead of finishing the fur to the end of the board. I think it adds a nice artistic touch. I need to start timing how long these are taking me. I believe I worked on Phinney for a few weeks, taking about an hour, hour and a half each day. My next commission I will start to count the hours, out of my own curiosity.

The original photograph:


And the final results: VIEW FULL SIZE
Medium: Scratchboard with a water color wash
Size: 11x14 [Sadly my scanner couldn't scan the full size but it was able to scan the important part; the dog]