tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248537012012-02-15T23:38:31.218-08:00Meeting animals inspires my art which connects me to people who have animals so I can make even more art. Here is a part of my daily life as a animal portrait artist, the animals, the art and the creation we are all in. I'd love to have you comment, you can email me by clicking on "view my profile", or by the comments at the end of the post. Click on the envelope icon to send to a friend. I thank you so much for sharing my art and passion for animals.animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-51304712365435351122011-05-24T22:51:00.000-07:002011-05-24T22:54:26.899-07:00

Well I fianlly did it, after years of using my blog as a website, I have now an official one it is under construction still but serviceable...so I hope my friends and visitors will go see it and give me some feed back.....for some reason it does not show up on a goole search yet....maybe more visits will help.Please let me know what you think and if you have improvements please feel free to

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-38473862738032076172011-05-24T10:18:00.000-07:002011-05-24T10:23:49.071-07:00

Just could not resist one more painting of puppies, this too is from Canine Companion archives, and I met some breeders at the event, with my foot in the door, I will have access to puppies year round now as there are always some growing up for training....they are amazing dogs to be with, such a gentle nature and so smart, from decades of breeding programs for the traits that make them

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-17145784997790848092011-04-22T23:51:00.000-07:002011-04-22T23:56:15.062-07:00

I do several events a year donating art to help animals as a way of paying back to the all the inspiration they give me as an artist.This is a new place for me Canine CompaionsOn a huge 11 acre campus in Santa Rosa, this amazing place helps raise, train, and match dogs for service to exceptional people. I'm so happy to help themhere is the first piece capturing the love and protection all life

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-6325593186186168382011-04-16T09:47:00.000-07:002011-04-16T10:08:27.278-07:00

Well I didn't get the top award but I made up for that in quantity, receiving a first in oils and a second and third in pastel at a well respected juried local art show. That makes 3 winners of the 4 paintings I entered.The Apple Blossom Festival art show has been going on for 26 years and draws thousands of people. The art group I just joined puts it on each year and does a fantastic job, well

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-11082509424395621312011-04-14T10:19:00.000-07:002011-04-14T13:58:22.493-07:00

I noticed out field sketching that animals live in habitat, and my habitat skills could use some sharpening. So for almost a year I've been 95% of the time painting outside and studying the great landscape painters past and present. In Dec. by some fluke I happened on to a forum where and Canadian man with a Dutch name, Johannes Vloothuis suddenly decided to share his 25 years of landscape

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-83135513165114899322011-04-14T10:08:00.001-07:002011-04-14T10:18:16.732-07:00

Its hard to catch up so just going to post this one selected for the International Association of Pastel Societies show in 2010, sort of like the Oscars of pastel, there were almost 1000 entries from around the world and only 72 were chosen...I was gobsmacked as my UK friends say. Coming Home, Portrait of Tuddy, 11.5x20 an unusual portrait, he often came home through a field of grass and weeds,

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-14368798658530567812009-11-07T23:06:00.000-08:002009-11-07T23:45:24.196-08:00

The greatest pleasure of all the bird work is learning to field sketch, be out in the world of the birds watching them either with bare eyes if they are close enough, or with aids like binoculars or a scope. Each kind of view brings you into a different relationship to your subjects. Every trip has some new thing, they don't call it the present moment for nothing, each trip is really a gift to be

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-52550287025711549392009-11-07T19:30:00.000-08:002009-11-07T20:26:49.739-08:00

Can't believe the last post was in Aug. I've done so much since then. I actually spoke to and touched the sketchbook of the great Lars Jonsson,( hoping some magic would rub off) and listened in on a conversation of he, John Busby, and Barry van Dusen. I heard my name in the role call of the artists for Birds in Art 2009, where my tom turkey hung on the walls of the Woodson Museum with Bateman,

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-63754813382922016912009-08-10T12:04:00.000-07:002009-08-10T12:42:49.609-07:00

Here are some of my field studies from the 3 main places I'm learning about birdsFirst Bodega Bay , grebes, oystercatchers, and black turnstonesnext a few flight sketches from W 9th, these I had to work up to from a lot of observation scribbles and my cameraand from Shollenberger a Yellowleg series.

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-25055626697033706462009-08-10T10:44:00.000-07:002009-08-10T12:02:34.930-07:00

After winning a spot in the Birds in Art 2009 at the Woodson Museum, I decided to the show in person, I haven't traveled anywhere in at least 8 years so this is a big deal for me. I knew some of the great bird and wildlife artists in the world would be there, the ones who wrote the books I read, the masters of the art form I love. So thought, wow, don't want to go back there and know nothing

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-68515301662172035682009-08-10T09:45:00.000-07:002009-08-10T10:42:42.115-07:00

It's amazing it's been so long since I posted. I've been very busy making paintings of animals, just didn't think it had been so long, so this will catch things up.First and foremost 2009 has been the Year of the Birds for me. I don't do birds often, only 3 in the last 6 years. So I set out to study them intensely this year. My first work, from an encounter with a wild tom turkey who strutted his

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-68426543153682599442008-12-02T22:30:00.001-08:002008-12-02T23:10:59.286-08:00

Horses are the hardest of all the animals to get right in my opinion. Complex forms! big bulgy round masses on top of little bendy sticks. There is no way to do them well without deep knowlege of anatomy, lots of real life observation, and finally knowing something about the breeds. I set myself a challege of 30 horses in 30 days( actually finished in 22) so I could feel more at ease doing them

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-69684135425431476722008-12-02T22:07:00.000-08:002008-12-02T22:29:03.980-08:00

A lovely commission came my way for two perfectly amazing tabby cats,one longhair, Sydney, and one shorthair Violet. I did the commission of the two in oil. Vivas Las Gatitas Guapitas, (the beautiful little girls,) 16x20 on paneBoth these cats are rescue cats who landed in heaven. After the commission I just had to do this pastel of Violet with Her Tail Toy, one of my most successful feline

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-53485223661806630282008-07-06T09:54:00.000-07:002008-07-06T11:21:56.505-07:00

Moyo Chasing Lure, oil on canvas 12" x 24" original available 50% of proceeds go to Animal Ark.larger image of painting sent on requestdetail of head approx 4"x5" "Now I can die happy!" I have witnessed cheetah at run full speed in plain view doing what they are exquistely designed for! My favorite animal sanctuary Animal Ark in Reno Nevada, (animalark.org) has cheetah from DeWidlt Cheetah

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-34427636957679844142008-02-25T10:03:00.000-08:002008-02-25T11:42:29.298-08:00

Guardian of the Ark oil 16x20 Animal Ark is a sanctuary just outside of Reno NV ( www.animalark.org) In the setting of the pristine high desert, a home for animals that cannot be returned to the wild exists due to the vision of the founders Aaron and Diana Hibble. I met them when I sent a painting to DeWildt Cheetah and Wildlife Sanctuary in So. Africa. Aaron and his friend( who took my painting

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-84339351609410084812008-02-25T09:55:00.000-08:002008-02-25T10:40:42.167-08:00

Great news, the pastel I did that the painting was based on just moved me into the ranks of the Top 100 pastels for 2007 in Pastel Journal. This is a national award among 3,500 entries of the best pastel artists in the US.here is the pastel I'm beaming, only little regret is that the work was donated to help raise funds for DeWildt Cheetah and Wildlife Sanctuary, and I don't know who has it. But

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-75011241830323206532007-11-10T21:11:00.000-08:002007-11-13T20:30:53.560-08:00

This is my favorite of all the 100 Cheetah paintings, it's #86 or so, oil on a panel done with Alchemist mediums, which have revolutionized my oil painting techniques See www.ambervarnish.com Don Fels has created them after many years of study, by translating texts from the 1600's on how the Flemish masters painted. The pose is inspired by a photo by Michael Moss, see his cheetah of Pinda here

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-33015532183256437792007-11-10T21:00:00.000-08:002007-11-10T21:09:56.750-08:00

I volunteer at Brighthaven, a sanctuary for senior and disabled animals, for a few weeks all the orange cats lined up for meals, tho there are 30 cats living there, these are all the orange ones. I've tried to give each one their purrsonality. This was a new level for me, never did 7 cats...I added the Siamese Oliver, on the far left, for the contrast. Most people don't notice he's only got one

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-51308735928195028292007-11-10T20:38:00.000-08:002007-11-10T20:59:38.368-08:00

Suprise, surprise, entering my first show I won Best Media, Best in Show, Sonoma County Fair.I did a larger oil based on Come Closer. It gave me a chance to do more with the eye as it is larger, in it you can see reflected me, 2 kids, the fence, sky and field. We fed this gentle giant cottenwood leaves to tempt him this close. Including a detail of the eye so you can see. This original painting

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-89393324955118925992007-09-25T20:44:00.000-07:002007-11-10T21:48:17.442-08:00

To challenge myself to get this cheetah thing down, I set a goal of 100 cheetah works before the end of the year...all drawing sketches and paintings count toward the goal, here are a few I've done so far, mostly all based on the cheetah I observe at Safari West in Sonoma County. The only exception is Shaka, a King cheetah( a pattern variation) who lives at Dewildt Cheetah Sanctuary in So Africa.

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-54387824705435734732007-06-27T09:31:00.000-07:002007-06-27T21:15:09.157-07:00

A recent visit to Safari West in Sonoma County, turned my animal loving heart toward cheetah and giraffes! Of course cheetah are my favorite big cats, but the Giraffe thing is new. A fellow artist who loves them got me going. At Safari West, they come right up to you and you can see them eye to eye. So here are two views of my close encounter. You can have your own close encounter, because they

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-85289488925689686642007-03-27T11:20:00.000-07:002007-03-27T23:42:24.543-07:00

Named for one of Jupiter's moons, this cosmic being in fur is totally magnificent, and what a challenge to bring his presence into this painting. Calisto is a Scottish Fold, so his ears naturally fold over a few days after birth. Folds also have no dander and so are good choices if there are allergic people around. Calisto lives on a ranch in the wine country of California. He has traveled to 8

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-48705799289386493642007-02-08T12:09:00.000-08:002007-02-08T15:59:12.556-08:00

I have a new project. Out at the local county "shelter"are some animals who've been there way too long, locked up in cages. Fortunately some volunteers come to pet an play now and then. I wondered; how can I use my art to help more animals. I came up with the idea of creating a small portrait to put near the cage to draw attention. I haven't formally gotten approval yet, but because the yearly

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1144263311433184632006-04-05T11:51:00.000-07:002006-04-13T09:33:09.486-07:00

Boots adores Terry, in a very uncat like way, he's just nutty about Terry. Boots waits at the drive each night until Terry comes home from work. Terry unloads his truck, picks Boots up and hauls him around while he gets a beer and settles down. I picked this unusual pose because it perfectly expresses their relationship. Although Boots is drop dead gorgeous,( and Terry's not bad either) I just

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1144263058923670732006-04-05T11:46:00.000-07:002006-04-07T18:56:01.210-07:00

Here are some doggy friends who've posed for me, or I should say for my camera. It is easier to get a dog photo as many are trained to stay still for a time, but mostly I like to catch a candid pose even so. I just like the surprise shot that has an unplanned expression or quality. I take a bunch and usually one or two turn out. I love my digital camera A Sony 717, that has a lot of flexibility

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1144262407986650632006-04-05T11:39:00.000-07:002006-04-07T18:56:32.776-07:00

Some of my favorite cats live at BrightHaven. BrightHaven is a non-profit animal place of love and learning, where special needs and senior animals are cared for naturally in a unique family environment. Once animals are accepted they have a forever home, free to roam indoors or out in private enclosed gardens. BrightHaven is dedicated to sharing its knowledge and experience through special

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1143995507727239002006-04-02T09:30:00.000-07:002006-04-18T17:46:59.670-07:00

Ok all done, sort of, I'm never really actually finished with a work, there is always some spot I'd like to change, and this last day is always the danger zone of overworking and losing all the life.So I carefully rework the coat, change the light on the pillow, which does not get overworked because a friend walks in to see it about that time and tells me stop. Fortunately I do. Then I begin just

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1143685242994064792006-03-29T18:19:00.000-08:002006-04-03T12:24:46.653-07:00

Here we are, getting close to the finish line. I could call it the finish line if I was just after an impression As an Impressionist, I could just stop and enjoy myself. Most of the needed information about the painting is already here. But this is a portrait of a much loved and beautiful family member and close won't do it. Now begins the real work of making it true to life, as exact as I can

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1143685091581777172006-03-29T18:17:00.000-08:002006-03-29T18:18:11.583-08:00

Ok, so far it's going well, I 've blended all the colors with water, brushing the pastel dust into clay like masses that will then blend nicely just like paint. this gives a whole new dimension to the work and when set will provide an immoveable base to work on. This will allow me to rub out areas that go astray and start over, while retaining the corrected drawing and base color. Before starting

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1143495777808085202006-03-27T15:28:00.000-08:002006-03-29T18:16:14.706-08:00

Now I'm about 90 min. into the work, beginning to mass in the background areas, looking for color relationships, always mindful the dog must not mush into the background but standout. I will use rim lighting to help this happen, which means the area around her body will have to go darker than the photo by a big margin. You can't create light with only light, light is revealed by darkness, Think

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24853701.post-1143493016114447672006-03-27T12:26:00.000-08:002006-03-29T18:13:35.563-08:00

A new commission is a huge adventure. First to meet the animal, and then the animal's people is to enter a new world. When I do a portrait, several channels open, some inner some outer. I always try to work from my own photos when possible. I know the moment I get the "right" picture, something clicks inside me when the shutter clicks, like my mind and heart lock in to a particular feeling. That

animal artisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872717905032744537noreply@blogger.com0