Katie’s underpainting is complete now, and woah! She looks a lot different! (Check out the painting in progress link to see the progress all together.) These are all the darkest values in her coat and muzzle, I’ll lighten things up in layers to give her that creamy yellow lab coat.

(View Katie’s painting in progress)

I’m working on Katie’s portrait now, starting with the most detailed areas (as usual). Her eye, nose and mouth (tongue!) are moving right along, I’ll have her ears and the rest of her coat and collar blocked in and the entire underpainting ready for the next layer over the weekend.

(View Katie’s painting in progress)

Katie’s background is finished – a really rich, milk chocolate brown warms up into a gorgeous finish that reminds me of soft brown leather. This will really draw attention to her face and bring out the creamy yellows in her coat.

You can view her portrait as it has progressed here.

 

With the New Year comes new art in my studio. These are the rest of the commissioned works that I’ll be completing in oils over the next few weeks.

A. Custom portrait of two very wonderful people, this is 8×10.

B. Custom cat painting – this is Elsie. This portrait will memorialize her, as she’s recently passed over the rainbow bridge. Her mom sent me the story of her life, and by the time I was finished, I was reading through blubbers and drips. She had a beautiful life, and she’s got a wonderful mom. This is an 11×14.

C. Custom cat painting of Willie, a pretty longhaired tuxedo cat. He’s 8×8.

D-E-F & G. Custom lovebird paintings. These are 4×4 little bitty canvas panels that will get matted and framed out to a larger size to really make them a focal point. Lovebirds are gorgeous, as you know, and there are two pair in this family. I have all of their names, but they’re a bit jumbled as I’m not sure yet which name goes with which pretty bird.

H. That pretty little kitty, Cheeky, done up in a larger, 6×6 portrait.

Then there’s Katie’s portrait, and then I’ll get crackin on the Heron painting – because it won’t be long before it’s time for my first exhibition (in March) – and I’m a last minute crunch kinda gal.

Suffice it to say – my New Year’s Resolution? To Paint. A lot.What’s your biggest most important goal for the New Year?

Wow, you guys are great! You gave me a lot of really awesome feedback, and I appreciate it! I’m going to show you another photo of Katie, then tell you the photo I’ll paint her portrait from and why I chose it.

Katie, the remote control hog  Katie is more like the remote control hog of a lab. The lovin’ whap you in the arm with that long tail yellow lab. When she looks up at her mom, she’s sweet and wants to please and play at the same time.

She’s a smiley, happy girl and the photo on the right is SO her. Now I didn’t expect you to know that just from a few photos, but I was really curious to know if you would sense her personality from the assortment I put up.

After I studied the photos again and read your comments, I got to work this morning on her sketch.

Now – to choose the hue for the background! (Anyone want to pick a nice shade from another painting in my gallery?)

Custom Dog Portrait : MacTavish
12? x 16? Oil Painting
Traditional 3/4″ Deep Wrapped Canvas
© 2006 Leanne Wildermuth
All Rights Reserved

see face detail on this painting…

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Caution: Wet PaintI just completed this lovely Scottie portrait, several more layers of fur have been added to really make his coat shine and give him dimension. I deepened the shadows just beneath him, and signed the painting – which means I feel finished – however there may be slight changes by my client before the painting is officially complete. I’ll scan him when he’s finished and you’ll see more accurate color, the background tones are hard to capture with a digital.

View the entire progress of this dog painting here.

I wanted to share one more work in progress shot before I finish up this portrait – the darkest darks. I’ll be doing a lot of lightening now, layering up to the lightest lights.

There’s a big difference in this one from the last work in progress, you can view them all here. He’s really coming to life – the next image you see on this dog painting will be the final photo and then the full scan & detail shots when it’s dry.

 

I’ll be finishing up MacTavish today and tomorrow. This is the current progress shot, his eyes and nose are complete and I’ve started deepening the fur around his eyes.

You can view all of his portrait painting progress here.