Joe COOL with a twist of pink!

I've known many artists who paint exclusively commission work for their clients. Pet portraits are just one category of commission work, others consist of family portraits, architecture (homes or business buildings) and the like.

But let's talk about pet portraits. I used to say and think that the true art of nailing a commission piece (creating a stellar painting versus one that's crap) had to do with capturing the "essence" of the dog or cat or bird.  What I meant by that at the time was that I thought the artist must have had some magical intuitive sense that enabled them to capture this lil pup or cat or whatever and depict it in a painting as you might see it in real life.  "That's my BOO!"  Turns out...it's SOO much more than that!

I have a WHOLE new appreciation for pet portraits today.  My opinion began to evolve the moment I started painting this piece.  Funny how when you paint something coming from a place of what you "used to think" your philosophy adapts as the painting unfolds.  (This is one of the MANY things that I adore about being a painter...spills out into life itself.  Life reveals itself to you in a completely different manner when you're a painter. You view things in color tones, shadows, depth, focal point, framing, etc.  Your view of the world as it unfolds changes completely!  Or maybe it's just my perspective that's changed?)

Well, there's a whole lot of gibberish about painting psychology. The fact of the matter here is...this painting was FUN!!!!  I'd been aiming to paint a piece for my dear friend and dog extraordinaire, Lori Eberly.  Lori has owned and raised Brussels Griffons for as long as I've known her. And I wanted to give her a painting as a gift because she has and continues to be such a fabulous dog sitter for Reese (our miniature fox terrier). We refer to Lori as "Aunt Lori".

I was nervous when I took this piece over to give to Lori.  Was she gonna like it? Are the colors true to a Brussels Griffon puppy? Did I get the beard right? Did I get the ears right? Well, good news...she loved it! Which was naturally a huge relief to me.

This painting is about the size of a cd case, painted with a hot pink background and lots of browns and grays.  I have since explored the Internet for other images of various dog breeds wearing goggles. FUN!

Lori suggested that I paint portraits of other peoples dogs.  Sounds like a fun new avenue of Rachel art! We will see where this adventure leads?

Want to purchase a painting as a gift for a friend or for your own collection? Shoot me an email and let's get started!  rachel (at) racheldicksondotcom