This is just 4″ x 6″, it will be a sweet portrait for framing. The lighting and eye color are just perfect. I love it when their eyes aren’t washed out in a photo when flash is used, they just turn yellow and have big green/gray pupils. It’s hard to nail down accurate coloring without these natural light photos to work from. This one – perfect. The shades of green and gold are beautiful and I’ll carry that through to the sliver of a background to make her eyes stand out even more.

I’ve been tossing around a Christmas special, too. I could probably squeeze a couple more portraits in between now and gift-giving time – I’ll be tossing that around in my head over the next few days. The best part of being a pet portrait artist is the Holidays, I think. Hearing stories about the surprise and emotional response from the recipients of my paintings really warms my heart. I always feel like they’re my own little presents, those e-mails from my clients just after Christmas.

I didn’t realize that I was 13 projects behind in updating my Gallery! Yikes! I just finished getting everything uploaded, categorized, prettied up and all that, so I’d love for you to have a browse through my newest additions. You can find the thumb view here, and just pick a category from my gallery there. I’ve added blog designs, custom illustrations, two custom cat portraits, a custom dog portrait, the flowerbed mural, and other paintings and projects on my completed project list for 2006.

Phew!

Now I need to show you the final scans of Mick, Maude and Cheeky. (You can find these in my gallery as well!) Scroll on down, they each get their own entry.

(Here’s the last work in progress I posted of this painting.)

(Here’s the last work in progress I posted of this painting.)

Yes, I flipped my old design back up for the blog, for now. I’m being indecisive about it.

Here are Cheeky & Maude‘s underpaintings, I’ll finish them up tomorrow. I’ll be working on Mick‘s underpainting this afternoon.

These are two cat portrait commissions I’ll start painting in oils today, Maude (a calico) is on the left, Cheeky (a persian kitten) on the right. They’re both 4″ x 4″ square. If I get on a roll with these two, I’ll be able to work more on the Great Blue Heron until my canvas order arrives and I can start my next commissions.