See you Sunday?

Sunday is the HSCC's 14th Annual Walk for Animals at Battery Park. I will be painting at the event and the piece will be raffled off with proceeds going to the HSCC. I will also have some new small pieces Im excited to show. They will be for sale along with some of my larger pieces. Come say Hi!

I am working on a couple very very large pieces that will be placed along the route of the walk. I wanted to do four but time has only allowed me to do two. Before even sketching these pieces I wanted to walk the route to see where things might go. Here is a pic of Jackson and my friend, Vanessa as we strolled the path. Jack is about to do what he does best while V kindly handled his leash and allowed me to take pics all morning. That turned out to be an excellent day. Walking with Jack, kayaking with V followed by lobster and shopping. Now THAT is a day off :)

Hope to see you Sunday!

LOVE IT!

I have been trying to think of something new for the upcoming HSCC event. I will be painting live while there at the event but BJ and crew are kind enough to provide me with someone to man a table so I may also sell pieces. A percentage of all sales will continue to go to the HSCC and I hope to see everyone there! Stop by and say hello as I believe I can paint and talk at the same time. Anyway, here is what I have decided to tackle for this event...




How cute, right!?! The easel is about 4.5 inches tall and made of solid sturdy wood. I found a variety of small canvases to paint on that will look great on these mini easels. The one pictured here is about 3" x 5" and possibly my favorite. I really like them. Dare I call them adorable? I think people will like them and they will be new, affordable pieces. Now if I can actually paint on these itty bitty things!? Oh, and ofcourse this...



This is Missy. She is not a large cat at all but she looks like a giant next to these mini things. The camera came out and she had to see what was up. Cute, cute and more CUTE!

MY SKETCHBOOK

When I started painting, I did everything free hand and on the fly. I still do everything free hand but I tend to get most of my ideas when I cant actually sit down and paint. Since painting grew from sketching and drawing, I thought why not go back to a sketchbook? So (because Im a dork) here is one of my favorite sketchbooks. And how handy it is to have it labeled so clearly. You know, in case I forget what it is. Is that my kitchen sponge? Is that YellowDog's leash? A baked potato? Noooo, its my SKETCHBOOK! Duh.....silly me. Thank goodness the thing is labeled.

Nothing super fancy and it is just from Barnes & Noble. What I love about this sketchbook is the large (but not too large) spiral binding and the paper. Ooooh the paper. Its a bright thick smooth white paper and it doesnt let my favorite pen (another post maybe) bleed through. I also found the super thick and strong covers provided the perfect set up when it came time to paint. I could prop up the book off to the side (safely out of painting range-usually).

So here are a couple peeks into my sketchbook and the paintings that came from the sketches. You will see the paintings do not match the sketch exactly and that is intentional. Sometimes when I go to paint I find that a part of the sketch stands very well on its own or maybe I picked a huge canvas and I need to add to the background for color or depth or I drew a couple sketches with similar backgrounds but want the paintings to differ more from each other.

EXCELLENT NEWS!

BJ called me this afternoon to tell me that Beth Parent from WCAX paid a last minute visit to the HSCC this afternoon. What a great way to get the word out about the work the HSCC does for our area. BJ is amazing and Im sure that will come through in the interview. The good news doesnt end there. BJ also told me they spoke about my artwork currently up at the HSCC. How great of BJ and how flattering! I adore Beth Parent. I love it when I turn on the news and she is anchoring. And Im not just saying that because BJ told me she owns a beautiful dog! So if you were watching WCAX tonight and are visiting my site for the first time...

Hello! And thank you for checking out my work. My newest pieces are shown in posts below. Email me with any questions. Even better, they are on display and available at the HSCC in South Burlington. I think art is always best seen in person so pay them a visit and check out both their wonderful place and my artwork. I would love feedback so drop me an email at yellowdogart@aol.com and let me know what you think.

Everyone should be able to own a piece of original artwork so I try to keep my prices reasonable. If you purchase a piece currently on display at the HSCC, 20% of what you pay will go directly to the HSCC in your name. The same goes for commissioned pieces. If you see a piece you like but would prefer a smaller version or a different set of colors or would like to incorporate your own wonderful family or friends (of both the two legged and four legged variety), let me know. We will make it happen. Some pieces at the HSCC have been purchased but as they go to their new homes, I will be creating new pieces to replace them.

Please be patient with me as I learn how to update my own site but check back on this blog daily for updates and sneak peeks at the newest pieces!

So Jessica formerly of the HSCC really liked the Rabbit Ears piece and was thinking it would make a good gift for her brothers upcoming wedding. She had some different color preferences and ultimately decided on the biggest canvas I had in stock. And when ti came to the end, I LOVED her choices! It was so much fun to do this for her and she was so excited about the process. And I have to say she did a great job on choosing details for the piece. Amazing. I hope her brother and his new wife to be know what she put into this gift. I tried to take some pictures to show her the process but forgot to share them with her before she left for PA. So here for everyone to see are a few steps in the process.




Above I am testing the same three colors in different areas of the painting. Jessica wanted a wine color scheme so we ofcourse went with Napa Red! I just made small mock ups of the piece and alternated the colors.





Here is the color set up I planned to go with. It is what we originally discussed but it was good to verify this was the best choice. The lighter green background allowed the dogs to pop. And using the red for the dog making the rabbit ears helped point the focus to the mischievous one.





Here is a peek at my messy messy downstairs studio. Using the largest canvas I had in stock (36"x48") left few places to play with this piece. Not to mention I havent cleaned any studio area in my house since I started working on pieces for the HSCC event a couple months ago(guess what Im doing this weekend?!). I put the base coat on the canvas while on a table. Although I dont love using an easel I did move the piece to an easel for the rest of the work.




I am very happy with how the piece came out and I think Jessica was too. She is such a sweetie. Im bummed I didnt meet her sooner. You cant really see from this picture but I added tiny little girly eyelashes to the green dog. The two pups are supposed to symbolize her brother and his wife-to-be. And in my cold medicine induced state, I almost forgot to take a picture before sending the piece off on its way. This is not the best pic but I had to use it because you can see a tiny bit of YellowDog's butt. He is pretty used to the camera at this point. At this particular time he was sulking because he knew I was leaving and not taking him. I just couldnt with that huge canvas in the car. No worries though, he got a nice dog ice cream treat when I returned. Plus, my portion of the proceeds from this commission went towards YellowDog's vet bills. Cute little sick booger!

And the rest of my most recent pieces... (see previous post for others)




Taking the Time 20"x30"




Going for a Ride 24"x36"
SOLD!



Greetings 24"x36"
SOLD!




Scottie 16"x16"



Greyhound 16"x16"
SOLD!



Boston Terrier 16"x16"



Schnauzer 16"x16"



Bulldog 16"x16"



Beagle 16"x16"




Great Dane 16"x16"




His Highness 18"x24"



Peek on Green 18"x24"
(one of a six part series)

Im battling a terrible cold so I didnt get to update the web site as I had hoped this week. So I thought I would post some images of pieces currently available and on display at the HSCC in South Burlington. Go check them out! Its a very nice place and these pieces look better in person.

Walking the Neighborhood 36"x48"

Dreaming 36"x48"

The Candy Series

Each piece is 6"x8"

A close up

a closer close up

Rabbit Ears 24"x36"

Play Ball? 36"x36"

Play Frisbee? 36"x36"

YellowDog Jumping Over the Moon 24"x30"

SOLD!

Full Moon 24"x30"

SOLD!

Let Go! 24" x 48"

Go for a Walk? 20"x30"