Medium: Oil Painting

Notes: I’ve had the honor of painting my first Silver Labrador Retriever - her name is Lola. She’s just about 7 months old in this portrait, and beautiful as can be. She’s playful and very obviously happy with her sweet lab smile.

I enhanced her fur a bit more in her portrait than her photo really dictated because she’s got a really pretty coat and I wanted to show that off a bit.

Click here to view the work in progress, if you’d like to see how her painting came to life.

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Custom Dog Portrait : Lola

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Lee Jeans Giveaway Update

I completed Lola’s portrait very late yesterday, and without the natural sunlight I opted to wait until today to publish it here for you to see. Just a few colors on my palette for this painting; white, indigo, olive, raw umber, magenta, french ultramarine and yellow ochre. I enhanced her fur a bit more in her portrait than her photo really dictated because she’s got a really pretty coat and I wanted to show that off a bit.

Click here to view the work in progress, if you’d like to see it all together.

I’ve taken a side photo of the panel so you can see the dimension as well.

I just got my internet connection (cable) back about an hour ago, apparently it’s been down all night (thank God I was sleeping, I may have very well chewed off my fingernails waiting for it to come back up!!) I did manage to get a couple of other projects underway while I was waiting this morning.

Hope you’re having a good week!

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Lola : Silver Lab Portrait Complete

Hahaha! Okay stop laughing, I said.

Last year, I lost a whopping 20′ish pounds strictly eating core foods from the WW core food list. Of course, in standard girly girl fashion, I went shopping. I tried on a pair of Lee Jeans. I loved ‘em. I even wrote about them.

Fast forward to this year. It’s jean season again, and I’m just a smidge frustrated that uh, well, my jeans from last fall don’t fit so good.

I would say that’s cool, cause I get to go shopping again, but honestly? I’d rather save my money for a personal trainer and a fridge full of core food.

Heaven must have heard that.

I woke up one morning to an e-mail with an offer to try out a pair of Lee Jeans. All I needed to do was pick out a style and a size. Seriously? How often does this happen? Not often enough, I say! Here’s the cool thing - now it can happen to you!

I’ve been given 10 pair - yes TEN PAIR of jeans to give away. The style I chose is a little hip because I wanted to try something different. The wrap waist, button pockets and low rise might not suit everyone, but I really dig them. The style I’m wearing is “Cristina” if you’re out and about and want to pick them up.

In an effort to be a little more conservative with the jeans I chose to put up for grabs, however, I’ve selected a more traditional style for ten lucky winners:

FOR THE GALS:

The One True Fit premium bootcut comes in four different washes: Union Blue, Blackdigo, Shadow Blue, and Galaxy blue. Union and Blackdigo are darker and Shadow and Galaxy are more of what you think of when you think “blue jeans.” These are available in sizes from 2-16, short, medium or long. The plus size scale ranges from 16w to 26w, available in short or medium. For this jean, there is also a petite scale from 2-16.

UPDATE!

Lee Jeans is happy to accommodate the guys, as well. Here are the jeans that you boys will get if you should be drawn as a winner:

FOR THE GUYS:

Lee’s custom fit for men - relaxed seat & thigh, straight leg jean. Colors available are Medium Stone (denim color), Vintage Dark, and Shadow (black).

These are the jeans I’ve chosen for ten of you.

Want to enter to win a pair? Leave a comment. Want to increase your chances? Here are a few ways to do that:

1. One extra entry: Subscribe to my blog via e-mail or via RSS. (if you’re already subscribed, THANK YOU! You will need to choose another method to earn extra entries.)
2. One extra entry: Share it on twitter, facebook or another social networking site. (leaving comments on other blogs is great, but will not result in additional entries.)
3. Two extra entries: Mention it on your blog and link back here.

Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry, as I’ll draw using random numbers from comments.

Drawing will be held December 1st. Good luck!!

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Guys & Gals Lee Jeans Giveaway!

Over the years, I’ve made and received many beautiful, unique gifts around Christmas. From ornaments to framed needleworks, I have always been extraordinarily touched by the thoughtfulness and time that goes into a personal, handcrafted gift. I encourage you this year to be personal with your gift giving. If it’s coming from the heart, make it with your hands - whenever possible.

If you choose to participate, I will ask you for three things. Your favorite color, your favorite textile (this includes all fiber based products including canvas, papers and fabrics), and your favorite season. This will help me partner you with someone, as well as help that person send you a gift that you will treasure.

Would you like to join in? Here are the guidelines:

• Gifts should be handmade by you, or a handmade item can be purchased on Etsy or purchased at a craft fair, as long as you’re certain the item is handmade. Maximum gift/supply cost should be $20, not including shipping.
• Leave a comment that you would like to participate no later than November 30th.
• Plan to ship gifts no later than December 14, this gives you two weeks to create or purchase a handmade item.

I will accept participants through November 30th, then match people together and send everyone their partners information by December 5th.

That’s it! Please feel free to grab my badge and put it on your blog, the more the merrier!!

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Handmade Gift Exchange

I’ve completed Lola’s underpainting - it’s pretty rough but you can see now how the coloring all pulls together and her eyes just pop! Love her collar design too, it’s a really girlie pattern.

I’ll put the fan on her portrait and it’ll take a couple of days for this layer to dry. I’ll be working on some other projects for the rest of this week and pick Lola back up on Monday to finalize her portrait.

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Lola : Silver Lab Portrait WIP #3

I’ve finished Lola’s background color. It’s very similar to Kona’s portrait, though I’ve lightened it up a bit using Naples Yellow Light with a touch of Yellow Ochre to pull the light mint and gold in her eyes out into the background. The darks will balance the olive in her collar, with the deep fuchsia base in her collar the combination will be really beautiful.

You can see that I’ve printed several reference photos. Larger for accuracy in color, smaller for accuracy in detail. Her coat color is quite varied in the three photos, the most naturally lit is the puppy photo on the left (c’mon everybody say “awwwww“) so that will be my primary reference for her silver coat color.

I’ll work the eyes/underpainting tomorrow so you’ll see how the colors come together.

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Lola : Silver Lab Portrait WIP #2

I’ve sketched out Lola this afternoon, she’s a beauuuutiful silver lab (reminds me of a Weimaraner). She’s only about 7 months old. A couple of her reference photos show her in this same collar just a couple of months old, and boy has she grown into it! What a beautiful breed, though - honestly I’d never even seen a silver lab until Lola - and now I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for them!

My client (you can read her blog here) found my Etsy shop and ordered her custom portrait through my shop. Funny thing - I designed her blog for her about a year ago! So cool to get to work with her again. I’m just tickled. :)

I’ll be working on Lola’s background tomorrow.

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

Lola : Silver Lab Portrait WIP #1

This post is from Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature.

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