Look at these cute guys with their portraits!

Bud and Daisy

I love to see how people frame their paintings. This is a set of minis.

One of the most frequent questions clients ask me is “What kind of photos should I send you?”

My answer is always the same. Send your favorites.

I mean, there’s a reason you like that photo, right? Maybe it is the expression, or the location, or memory of a special day when the photo was taken. Chances are good that if you like the photo (and I do my job) you’ll like the painting too.

The challenge as a portrait painter is that I’m painting from a photo that only captures a slice of someone’s (or some pet’s) personality. So while I may paint an accurate representation of the photo, I always hold my breath until the client says, “I love it.”

Luckily, 99.9% of the time, they do.*

Dooley

*Other acceptable phrases include, “OMG.” and “It made me cry.”

One day in 2000 (according to imdb.com, though I could’ve sworn it was earlier) I was watching an episode of Law & Order: SVU with guest star Tracy Pollan (who I’ve been told on more than one occasion is my celebrity doppelganger.) Tracy was playing a crime victim named Harper Anderson and I don’t know why, but I was so struck by the name Harper that I immediately latched on to it and kept it quiet for years until my daughter was born.

I was so proud of myself because I had managed to “hide” this really cool, unique name from The World. In fact, when I told the nurses to put Harper’s name on her birth certificate, one of them exclaimed, “Thank god it’s not another Madison.” (My apologies to all the Madisons.)

My daughter is seven now, and it’s like suddenly I’m seeing Harpers everywhere. Even Posh and Becks named their new baby Harper.

But we did it first.

Harper, the Burnese Mountain Dog

On a completely tangential note…if you are a fan of Law & Order or pop culture in general, check out one of my favorite artists, Brandon Bird. Someday I’m going to get a Norton Defiant print because I really just need one in my life.

Remember my Kickstarter project? The one where you all crowd-funded a 2012 calendar of my paintings? Yeah, that one!

Well, as of June I’ve launched into painting the portraits that will make up the calendar. Fittingly, I started off with the cover girl, Niki. Isn’t she a beauty?

Niki, Cover Girl

Here's Dru. He's in the calendar too.

I am only doing a limited run of these calendars so if you want to make sure you get one, please pre-order here. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

Sooner or later, the blogs I read every day are going to receive fan art from me. It’s just how I roll.

Here’s who’s on my must-read list these days.

• The Pioneer Woman
• The Bloggess
• Sundry Mourning
• Girls Gone Child
• Kevin and Amanda
• Nie Nie Dialogues

Yes, there are others, but these are the ones that cause me to hit the browser refresh key several times a day so I can keep up on the lives of people I don’t know.

The internet is weird.

Anyway, here is the painting I just finished for Amanda of Kevin and Amanda. If you visit her site you can still download a font made from my chicken scratch handwriting. Enjoy!

Miley and Howie

Some time ago, a client came to me with an idea for an anniversary present for her parents. She wanted to incorporate the images of all 21 dogs they’ve had or fostered since she and her siblings were little. In one painting.

She sent me hard copies of photos from albums, old Christmas newsletters and digital images, plus a clear catalog of all 21 pooches, their name and description. I took all the photos and played around with them in Photoshop for awhile to come up with a pleasing composition. Rather than try to portray each dog in exact size proportions, I decided to feature her parents in the center with all the dogs sort of floating around them like a collage.

It was destined to be a large painting from the start.

I special-ordered 26×40″ paper and handcrafted this hoopty workstation you see below. It was great fun to paint and I love how it turned out.

My improvised work surface

Reference photos on the wall

I told you it was a big painting.

Fin!

The client picked the painting up from my studio and took it all the way to Alaska on a family cruise so it could be presented on the ship. I hear they loved it. I’m inspired to paint larger paintings now and found out I can order rolls of Yupo paper up to 60″ wide and 133′ long.

Anyone need big art?!

I seem to be giving away more art than I am selling lately, BUT…I’m doing another contest!  The theme this time is horse shows and hunter/jumper/equitation with the very specific goal of finding a subject to paint and enter in the poster contest  for the Washington International Horse Show.

The subject is very near and dear to my heart.