pet portraits and animal paintings

2008-02-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

"A Distinguished Gentleman (Harley)," 14" x 24", commissioned harlequine great dane dog portrait, in acrylic on gallery stretched canvas. The above image is the painting almost completed.

Harley has inspired several paintings already (see "The Red Collar" at http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/canvases_available_for_purchase.html). He is delightful and handsome and one of the most engaging models I've worked with to date.

I am certain that I will paint him again.

But meanwhile I need to put the finishing touches on the above piece. I see a few tweaks I want to make, and more will crop up in the days to come. I like to live with a painting for a little before I deliver it to the client, and make certain I haven't missed a single detail.

Now it's onto the next portrait - a big red dog. I bet Amos (a de Bordeaux Mastiff) could give Clifford a solid run for his money!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

www.paintingadogaday.com
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
www.canineartguild.com
the gateway to canine art on the web

2008-02-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

Things have been so busy with the Painting a Dog a Day project, that I've had to slow down on the lifesize and larger portraiture quite a bit this last year. That was a tough decision to make, as I thoroughly enjoy painting at this scale, but I think it was a good one. It's allowed me to focus more so on my skills growth.

Which is a huge plus, because I find when I return to the larger scale, I do so with more and more confidance. This particular piece, one of the most recent to come from the easel, showcases a lot of the newer ideas I've been working on: color harmony, the bounce of light, modelling with color temperature changes instead of just value shifts, and balancing saturation with grays.

This is a gallery stretched canvas, 38" x 20," built on 3" deep stretchers. The empty canvas alone had quite a serious presence, as it sat heavily on the wall in my studio, waiting for the first layers of paint.

My clients supplied me with a number of strong photographs, with the composition being pulled mainly from one photo. But there was tweaking to do in order to allow equal "space" to all three horses. Lighting was adjusted, shoulders and bodies were shifted, and I took a few creative liberties (can you find them?!).

They are pleased with the painting, as am I.

Hope you enjoy it as well.

Now I get to tackle a mastiff's head and shoulders. Not quite at this scale, but it promises to be a good workout nonetheless.

Train your email to Fetch!

2006-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

You read it right! Train your email to fetch my dog a day paintings. Every day, a few hours before the Painting a Dog a Day blog gets updated, I send an email out containing a sneak preview of the day's dog painting.

Training your email is as easy as typing it into the box below, and hitting the Subscribe button.

Hmm.... maybe I should change that "Subscribe" box to "Fetch!"

Now I've got to return to a couple of holiday commissioned portraits.

Thanks, as always for looking!!

Kim

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

A Dog a Day Project

2006-10-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Was blindsided by a new idea earlier this week.

There's been so much press lately about artists committing to do a finished piece every day for a set amount of time. There's websites and blogs attributing to their productions, and it really is quite enviable that they are able to rise to the occasion every single day. I was awed, especially by one of my favs, Elin Pendleton, who recently completed an entire year of a painting each day.

Then I realized that I had the same sort of discipline all these "piece-a-day" artists had, too - it's just that I was chipping away at a larger canvas who's production could stretch over months.

But I often did little pieces to loosen up, or use up residual paint on my palette, or to experiment with color.

So why not commit to doing one of those every day?

Yeah, why not?

Think I might have had too much coffee, because I got all excited about the idea and real quick registered a new blog to highlight this project.

Call me a lemming, but here goes. Painting a dog a day.
www.paintingadogaday.blogspot.com

It's been fun so far!

Kim
Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

founding member of the
Canine Art Guild
the gateway to canine art on the web

Nibble or Stretch - My Latest Thoroughbred Painting

2006-10-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

ARTIST'S NOTE February 1th, 2008: This one was a long time in the making. I didn't rush things, as I did not want to compromise my inner vision. I waited to gain an understanding of certain techniques before tackling them on this painting, and I believe that my patience paid out. The painting is done, and currently on display at Margot's Gallery. "Stretch," 42" x 16," gallery stretched acrylic on canvas, thoroughbred portrait, available for purchase: inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

After a week of dealing with fevers and flu and laundry, I finally got to load the kids on the school bus this morning. It felt like coming home after a long torturous vacation when I stepped into the studio this morning.

My goal for today was to continue work on a couple of pet portraits that were already in process, but also to lay the ground work for a painting demonstration I’m doing this evening at the Orion Art Center.

I had already chosen my image, one taken of a chestnut thoroughbred stallion during this summer’s visit to Lexington. I cropped and made some basic modifications in photoshop, trying to reduce the contrast and pull more detail into the shadowed areas. Essentially trying to turn my reference photo into a closer approximation of what my eyes saw for themselves.

Then I stretched a 42” x 16” canvas. That’s right, this guy will be lifesize.

I worked slowly, taking notes as I progressed, so that I could talk coherently to the group tonight about the beginning stages of the painting process. I would like to illustrate and eventually publish these notes on my website, as I think a fully detailed work in process would be interesting for some.

This time I switched out my titanium white for titan buff. I had read about some tinted whites that were commercially available for oil paints, and how they achieved a warmer tone when mixed, so thought I would give it a try. So far, I’m liking the warmth that the lighter, sun-kissed values have in my piece, but I’ll keep you posted on how it works in the long run.

So I’m off to make a hearty pot of chili for dinner, then will brave the cold rain and head over to the art center for continued work on this painting. I promise to update this entry with an image when the sun shines here in MI again (don’t hold your breath, though, as we may not see any sunshine until spring now!) and I can get better lighting.

Thanks, as always, for your time!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Zoe's Portrait (an Airedale Terrier)

2006-10-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here’s a new commissioned dog portrait, starring Zoe, an airedale. She’s patiently been in my pet portrait queue, and I’ve been very excited to start her for quite a long time. Every so often a subject comes along like Zoe, a character with enough substance to pull off a larger than life painting with substantial artistic integrity.

Of course, I think the integrity bit is helped by solid reference photos. Having evenly lit non-flash photographs taken from the dog’s eye level make a world of difference, even at the conceptual stage.

The palette for this one is a little different. I cleaned off my taboret completely this morning, and set it up with only cad red dark, cad yellow dark, ultra blue, quinacridone red, hansa yellow, pthalo blue red and Prussian blue. I am tinting with titanium white.

Another thing I’ve noticed that I am embracing more easily is tinting. In the past, I used glaze and lots of yellows, thinning my paints and layering them to attain a lighter value. While that resulted in some nice saturation, I think my overall value range might have suffered a little bit. And all that yellow sometimes made color harmony a bigger struggle.

Now (not just in Zoe’s painting) I am using lots of titanium white, still with glaze. But I’m getting some nice luminosity happening, too.

So the image here is how Zoe looks after a day of layering intial wet glazes onto the canvas. I’ll keep an updated version on my website.

As always, thanks for looking.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
and 4-legged paintings

PUPPIES!!

2006-09-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get the creative juices flowing, and to play with a smaller value range (similar to what I struggled with in Lou, see his blog below), I started a new piece today.

Untitled at this point, it features a row of sleeping vizsla puppies. These pups are from a litter belonging to Thyme, who I’ve had the honor of painting before. She inspired me to learn more about this breed, with coats of liquid gold. I just adore painting them.

I’ve got a very nice pattern happening here – the stripes created by the puppies’ bodies, the (eventual) stripes on the blanket, and their precious little rick-rack collars.

I worked this one in the same palette I’ve used on the last couple paintings: cadmium red and yellow, with pthalo blue red, and lots of titanium white.

I’ve started with a generic blocking in of color – first I laid down some basic orange shapes, and placed a wash of blue around them. After that dried, I went back and drew in the puppies, concentrating on their bone structure – getting the heads and spines aligned properly. Then I put in three basic oranges, and have started to model the puppies a bit more.

This is the stage where sometimes I'll halt for a week or two, and study the piece to determine if any substantial changes need to be made. I enjoy looking at the bare bones of the painting, too - it's easier to appreciate it's abstract qualities at this point, and I have yet to mess anything up. :)

I’m planning on entering this in the juried 2007 Art Show at the Dog Show. I’m also considering making prints of the finished painting. If you are interested in purchasing either this painting or a print, please drop me a line (ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com).

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
Distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Lou (otherwise known as "My Personal Struggle with Values")

2006-09-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a painting, a really good painting, doesn’t just roll off the brushes. Lou is an excellent example.

The reference material was beautiful – lots of backlit poses, no flash photography - just Lou in all his feline confidance, lounging, napping, ignoring the photographer. Typical cat stuff, which translates usually into a wonderful painting.

First I stretched a yellow canvas. A side note: Sometimes I choose to work with a colored ground (meaning that I didn’t tone this one yellow – the canvas actually came that way) – it alters the way the pigment rests on the surface, and does some very nice things with reflections within translucent layers.

So I stretched a yellow canvas and blocked Lou in. He looked great. And then the fabric dried and got all lumpy. I restretched and resoaked, and tried blocking without the stretchers. Nothing would salvage the yellow canvas – every time it got wet, it dried all lumpy.

So back to the drawing board. I stretched a new canvas, traditional artists weave this time, and got to work.

Of course, I didn’t like what I was getting. After working on the yellow, my colors seemed flat.

So I started a new one. And another. And another.

Which led me to today’s efforts. I had rubbed out all of what I’d done on the last piece, and had a blurred shape with just a hint of shading begun.

I started with highlights, working with my cadmium red and yellows again. I used pthalo blue (red) for some shadows. I started from the lightest area, and worked my way back across the painting to the shadows.

I also decided to eliminate my stronger shadows altogether. I brought them from about a 10 to a five. That brightened the piece up tremendously. (NOTE: This is the danger of working from photographs, as they always contain a full value range. Shadows become flat black shapes, and highlights are entirely washed out)

Then I decided it still wasn’t light enough yet, and softened the value range even more.

Then I wiped the entire painting out, and started over again, using only 3-4 values. Yeah, I'm crazy. But it just wasn't measuring up.

The final result of today's painting session is a very soft, green gray yellow painting. Nice blurred edges everywhere but in Lou’s face, as though the only thing that really matters in this world is the enjoyment of this particular moment, which in all reality is how the feline brain works the bulk of the time.

So I think I’ve finally gotten Lou down. Or rather, the beginning of Lou's painting. There's still lots of work to be done.

It'll be a long night!

As always, thanks for looking!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Enough slacking off!!

2006-09-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it may appear that I was slacking, but really, I've been working. Honest.

Just didn't make blogging a big priority the last month.

Will get back into the swing of things, though, I promise.

Have some exciting new ideas I'm starting to paint, and some beautiful commissions headed your way in the next couple of days.

Just wait!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Follow the Leader

2006-07-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this painting for about a week now. It is another one headed for the carriage show in Yarmouth, Maine in October of this year.

Much larger than life, the personalities really shine clearly on this one.

My father titled the piece - when he was viewing it the other day, he commented on how the one mule was very much the leader, and the other one a bit submissive. That led to my "ah-ha" moment - first it was "The Follower and the Leader," but now has been aptly renamed "Follow the Leader."

I am enjoying the pure geometry of the piece - the way the yokes encircle each face and set them agart. The abstracted patterns created by the mismatched bridles and harness. The light stroking each of their muzzles in very different, yet similar, fashion. And the clincher for me is the shift of the entire composition to the left; it's really a portrait of two mules, but because of that shift, I'm able to highlight/accentuate the near mules' interest, and create a more engaging painting.

I am working with cadmium red and yellow, and some pthalo blue. That's it so far.

Again, as with the Vanner portrait, this one too will be documented on my website. I've created a special page to chronicle just this painting, but other works in process are published, as well as paintings available for purchase.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

V is for Vanner

2006-07-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Gypsy Vanners appear almost mythical. With their flashy markings, solid bodies, and surreal manes and tails, the horses do not even seem real. Until they blow into your face, and transport you to another time.

That’s what I’m hoping to capture in this portrait.

He’s 28” tall by 24” wide, and when you step back from the portrait, appears to be right in front of you.

I modified the reference photo (found on wetcanvas.com, where artist members can post copyright free images for other members to use), but just a bit. I tucked his chin in more, so that he’s really on top of the bit, and mouthing it, as if he’s considering taking things into his own hands. I also twisted his head ever so slightly to the side, to create an upside down “V” composition between the wide blaze and the cascading mane.

The underpainting is done in cadmium red, ultramarine blue, and cadmium yellow only. This is the first pass.

The complete process on this horse painting will be documented in a new section on my website. You’ll also find links to information on commissioning your own painting and pet portraits.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Fergie - Portrait of a Red Head, err, Vizsla

2006-06-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I am nearing completion on a commission that pretty much stands on its own, at least in my book.

At 36”x36”, “Fergie” takes the cake. Or rather, she could quite easily if she were truly in front of you. The entire cake and every single crumb to boot.

This commission has been a long one – ongoing since October of last year. We had the concept right off the bat – a larger than life portrait of this vizsla’s head, staring you right on. Modelled after another one I had done of a weimereiner, very much inspired by William Wegman photographs, Fergie’s painting was going to reach for the next level.

I wanted a palette that had the same strength as the overall size, so chose a complimentary color scheme of orange and blue. If her size didn’t bowl the viewer over, the intensity of color would. At least, that was my intent.

It took a bit to collect the right reference materials, since there were several states between me and the client, and I couldn’t just hop on over to take pictures as needed. I appreciate her utmost patience with me as I tried to explain what sort of pose and lighting and perspective I was looking for.

And the actual painting process took longer than I had anticipated, too. Fergie demanded lots of quiet studying time – time where I stood back from the painting and really examined every inch, deciding where the next brushstroke was to go.

But I’m very pleased with the results.

And I’ve learned a couple things in the process, too.

I don’t have to rush through a piece. It’s ok to “process the process” – I saw things I might not have consciously recognized by slowing down.

And again, a controlled palette can make a world of difference with color harmony. Despite the range of colors in this painting, I used maybe 5 or 6 different pots of paint.

Now to add the finishing touches and my signature, and this dog portrait will be done, and a digital image will go off to the client for her approval.

View current works in process.
View the finished painting of Fergie.
View my complete portfolio.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

Groundwork

2006-06-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to participate in a show this fall at the Skyline Farm Carriage Museum, and have begun preparing a body of work specifically for that show.

I have a series of reference photos of a pair of hitched mules, full of personality, and all sorts of patterning created by the lines of the harness. I want to paint them big - at least life size - but never having painted mules or harness before, I need to do some smaller studies.

This is one of them, a 6x8 canvasboard. Very much still a sketch, even though it's done in color. It's been painted over multiple times - same subject, just alterations in the color temperature and the background.

I like the simplicity of this version, but am wondering if I am doing more harm than good in omitting his partner's shadow on the right.

At this stage I'm evaluating this "thumbnail" on several criteria:

1. Is there enough personality to warrant increasing the scale?
2. Is the image balanced with interesting patterns that properly amplify the focal point? How can I redraw this to make it better?
3. Is the light and color working?

What sorts of changes can I make to this little piece that will improve it's success each of the three areas above?

That's what I'll be thinking about, as this painting dries on my desk here, and I continue ruffling through other images.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

New Beginnings

2006-06-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

I simply couldn't get enough of my first blog, so I opted to start a second!

Actually, once I got to thinking (always a dangerous venture!), I realized that a blog dedicated to the progress of specific paintings would be helpful. Useful to me, so that I can return later and see how I solved certain problems, and useful to any potential clients/artists, so that they can get an understanding of the evolution of a piece.

As of today, works in process are still published on my website. The wet paint page on my site will only contain current paintings on the easel. This blog will hold a small history of paintings and their evolution.

I will create a posting, or new thread, for each pet portrait. I will chronicle my thoughts and ideas throughout the portrait's process, and supplement that with photos of the painting, the reference materials, or any additional research or sketching that goes on.

I know I'll learn from this. It's a fringe benefit if you also enjoy reading them. As always, thanks for your time.

Kimberly Kelly Santini
www.turtledovedesigns.com
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings