This is a painting I am working on in between commissions for my own portfolio - it might seem a bit strange but I have very few pieces of my own artwork to show clients because most of the work I have done over the past few years have been sold.  Which of course is a good thing, but I would also like to enter a few competitions and can’t do that when I keep selling everything, so hopefully over the next few months I can add a few pieces (at least six) to my own collection here and there. 

I’d also like to experiment with a much looser style and try out some more landscapes if I get a chance.  To help keep me motivated to achieve these goals, I’ve joined in the Australian Art Forum’s Winter Challenge with will run from 1 May to 1 September.

It seems that most artists that paint with a high degree of realism tend to produce  pet portraits with traditional landscapes or portrait backgrounds, and those artists that paint in a bold contemporary style usually don’t paint in highly realistic detail.  I would like to pursue a slightly different direction with some of my artwork, although I don’t think I will ever move away from my realistic and ‘up close and personal’ style, I want to explore combining that with modern contemporary backgrounds.   Bright bold background colours and landscapes full of beautiful saturated colours that border on the real/surreal/hyper real.  Will it work?  Can it be done?  LOL, who knows, but I am sure it will be fun to find out:)

This one is likely to take a while to complete as I am fitting it in between commissions.  ‘Poppy’ is 16″x20″ on gallery wrapped canvas.  This is a big experiment as acrylic is a new medium that I am teaching myself how to use.  The thing I love about being self-taught is that you can try new and unusual techniques because no ‘expert’ teacher has deemed there is a right way and a wrong way. 

Personally, I think as long as you use good quality artist’s materials, you can’t go far wrong by simply experimenting to find out what works (or dosn’t) for you:)

So here goes my experiment with ‘Poppy’.  I’ve deliberately chosen to offset the black labrador to the right hand side of the canvas, and to use a landscape orientation rather than portrait.  My vision for this one is to have the dog sitting a a field of red poppies. So I have to learn how to paint flowers as well, which will be fun:)

The first image shows my sketch of the Poppy, and the beginning of the background field, which has been created with many thin glaze layers of paint which has taken about 3.5 hours so far.

The next progress shot shows how I have started to block in the main shapes (shadows and highlights) in the underpainting using various dilutions of paynes grey.

More work on the underpainting and additional glazes on the background.

Stay tuned for the next updates on Poppy!

Michelle

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There are so many animals of different kinds that end up in Rescue due to abandonment or abuse worldwide, not to mention the huge number of wild animal species affected by human behaviour and destruction of habitats. Most of the Rescue and Charity Organizations that help theses animals depend solely on donations to help them continue with their work.

While I have supported various animal charities for many years, I guess like many animal lovers, Ive always wanted to be able to do more to help more of these organizations continue with their wonderful (and desparately needed) work. The problem of course is that there are so many worthwhile animal charities that need help, from dogs and cats to native Australian animals, tigers, pandas, wolves and endangered wildlife worldwide, how is it possible to help all those in need of financial assistance?

I am happy to create and donate artwork for fundraising purposes, however due to the time it takes to create my very detailed portraits, there is a limit to how many I have time to fit into my schedule. Also, rather than donate to just a couple of organizations I would like to help as many as possible as possible, and so I have come up the idea of an “Art for Animal Rescue” Referal Program in which $15.00 AU of each paid pet portrait commission referred to me by any organization in the program will be donated back to that organization.

A selection of different size website links, banners and graphics are available for Groups to use on their website or newsletter, and a small poster promoting my “Art for Animal Rescue” program can be sent out for display on a noticeboard if the group has a public facility.

The program is open to non-profit, no-kill groups, including animal breed clubs that do rescue work, wildlife groups and registered charities. International organizations/rescue groups are welcome to join the program (must be able to accept payment through Paypal).

If you would like to support your local animal charity, please ask them to sign up for my “Art for Animal Rescue” program so that I can support them to.

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Michelle

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This is my latest painting of a gorgeous rescue Greyhound “Teddy”.  Rendering his fur realistically was a bit of a challenge.  I will probably leave this for a few days then make some minor adjustments before varnishing it.

This one is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

Michelle

Technorati Tags: greyhound, pet portrait, dog art, painting, artist, artwork, dog,

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This is the first full acrylic painting I have done using Art Spectrum Colourfix paper as the support (I usually only use for acrylic to paint the background or underpainting then add the details with colour pencil). This one of ‘Kruger’ is 9″x12″.

This support seems to work exceptionally well to help portray the bristly nature of the Shar-Pei fur (although their coat’s look soft and silky, they are actually a bit harsh and prickly!).

I get so involved when I am painting that I always forget to stop and take photos so that I can post a work in progress post, but I managed to get a couple this time, the first is the initial sketch, the second with a partial underpainting and then the final portrait.

Michelle

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I can’t believe this year has gone so quick.  It hasn’t been very easy so far though, as we had a death in the family, and my husband was hospitalized with a serious medical condition he has that flares up every now and then, not to mention the broken nose my little girl got playing t-ball. 

However, I finally feel that I am able to climb out of the cloud that has surrounded me for the last few months and throw myself back into my art, which is always wonderful therapy, so stay tuned for lots of new artwork including animal charity donations that I am planning! 

Michelle