Feast or Famine

6x8 oil on canvas panel- DSFDF challenge

8x10 oil on RayMar- Memorial piece

6x8 oil on Ray Mar- Annie

11x14 oil on wrapped canvas - Rocky and Linen

8x10 colored pencil, marker and pen on paper

So the Kabrian piece I did last week for someone's 7 year old.  I had two in progess pieces I finished yesterday (Rocky & Linen, Memorial).  Then I went start to finish on Annie when I realized I needed to do the DSFDF challenge because it is due today!  Along with a couple of sick kids, I've have neglected my blogging and I apologize.  

I will also apologize for the next four days because I'm leaving at 5 in the morning to catch a plane to Minneapolis to visit a friend whom I've known since I was two.   I'm sure I'll be back on a regular course after that.  Hugs.

First Pet Depot Commission

So I've let you know every step of my trying to make this art thing a new career.  Here's my first commission through the Pet Supply Store.

The customer read an email from the store and brought her daughter and several photos of the pooches she wanted a painting of.  These dogs [Rocky the Bichon and Louie the Dachshund] were her husband's babies.  She wanted to give him a painting for his birthday on April 4.

She had seen the sample of the Bichon I had displayed at the store and liked the style.

So you see one of three photos she had for me already bless her heart.  The other two were a photo of Rocky without his fluffy fur in his eyes and a closer photo of Louie.  I asked what color background she wanted and she said she really like the blue in my sample.  I told her I would send her a jpeg to make sure I was going in the right direction and another jpeg for the final painting.

I sent her the first image of the painting to make sure the composition was okay.  I sent it a day after we met and she said she thought I was almost finished because she thought I had already captured their personality.

I was unhappy with all that space on the left of Louie so I thought I would break it up with grass and because the customer and her daughter were obviously the masterminds on this I called and asked if it was okay if I painted ladybugs to represent them.  I also asked what kind of toys Rocky and Louie liked to play with so I could fill in some of the open spaces.

They sent me photos through the email of Rocky's lamb, Louie's ball and a toy they played tug-a-war with.  They also asked if I would paint bumble bees to indicate here husband and her son.

The first rendition had bumble bees hovering over Louie's head.  If anyone remembers the Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi as a rebel bumblebee you would know how silly they looked.  Of course they were not happy with this and I changed it to the final rendition that they were satisfied with.  

I'm sure I brought on most of these snags on myself.  Any advice from seasoned commission artists is truly appreciated.

11x14 oil on gallery wrapped canvas