Portrait Gallery
Westfield Calendar Girl
This painting used 4 reference photos merged together to produce the final painting. A lower quality, pixelated photo as the main head shape, a close up photo for specific detail, a photo of the rosette and a photo of the bridle which also needed adding in.
I utilised my knowledge of horse anatomy and bridles as well as light direction to create a cohesive painting with all the elements that the client wanted.
The first stages of this painting required getting the eye and proportions correct which took a few attempts, but once these were finalised, the bridle, mane and rosettes could bring life and personality into the piece.
Having recently started painting numerous rosettes on Champion animals, I used the photo and previous knowledge to insert this rosette in seamlessly.
Sally
Jack Russell
Above you can see the different stages of painting Sally the Jack Russell. Sally was unfortunately no longer with her owner, but they wanted a lasting memory of their dog.Â
We didn't have 1 particular photo that was a perfect image for a painting, so I started working from 5 different photos of her. The request was to also include the patch on her shoulder. This meant that I needed to compose the painting by understanding the anatomy of Jack Russels, how they sit and where the patch would be. Using references of the other similar dogs helped me work out the best position for her, and then the actual photos of Sally gave me all the details I needed.
Calli and Tigger
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Cocker and Springer Spaniel
These two spaniels were a big challenge, but as an artist I developed so many new techniques throughout this process. The curly black ears were the most detailed aspect, and required a methodical approach to keep them consistent from bottom upwards.
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In Comparison, the straight liver coloured ears of Tigger the Springer had so many highlights and lowlights, that I used a wide colour palette throughout.
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The resounding success was qualified by their 2 year old human recognising his family dogs as soon as he saw the painting... to me, that is success.
Siberian Cat
At first glance you may say a cat is grey, but on closer inspection the colour palette is very broad for this painting. greys, blues, browns, beiges, greens, and pinks.
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The fluffy effect really came through in the final stage of smoothing out all the brush strokes, filling in any gaps with larger brush strokes and blending out any harsh lines.
Barney
Springer Spaniel
I intend to capture the personality and character of your pet so that every time you look at your painting for years to come, you are reminded of who they were and not just what they looked like.
Barney is a dog who is happiest in wet and mud, running around a big field, and so when I was asked to paint him, we decided on this photo of him dripping wet, water droplets hanging off of his ears, eyes shining with happiness.