October is National Pit Bull Month

In honor of National Pit Bull Month, I've gathered my custom oil portraits of Pit Bulls (& Pit Bull Mixes) that I've painted over the years. (Some are details of larger paintings & are embedded with captions; they are part of my card/postcard collection.) Enjoy the Pittys!

Earl

Dexter

Cowboy

Duke

Pitty

Quincy

Rigby

Shine

Sutega

Ham

Miss Mouse

Lemmy

Peanut

Gertie

Mac

RidgeBacks Eye The Sky

Both Oliver & Mathilda (the smaller of the two) are Rhodesian Ridgebacks. I've painted many RR's, always enjoying rendering the smooth skin w/the subtle folds & interesting ears. The photo to base the painting on was determined right away. I think it helped the composition to raise Mathilda up a bit. The surrounding garden was important too. Adding some warm floral tones worked well to break up the cool greens.

"Eyes to the Sky". custom Oil Portrait Painting by puci, 18x24"

Painting detail, Oliver & Mathilda

hot from the easel

main reference photo for "Eyes to the Sky"

Cavalier Cuz's

ALEX (CKCS), 12x16" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

It's a family of royals, with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Alex (Alexandria) & Pippa related through the human cousin connection.

PIPPA (CKCS), 12x16" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

DSH BOOTS

This is the 3rd post to accompany my August 2016 newsletter ( http://eepurl.com/eAVss ), sharing paintings of beloved pets that had been commissioned by one family over a period of time.

Beloved Boots (featured in the August newsletter) is a very sorely missed family member.

BOOTS (Domestic Short Hair), 8x8" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

Toby was commissioned for a cousin (who found Toby in a dumpster and nursed him back to health! and is a very happy and healthy 7 year old boy now).

TOBY, 8x8" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

Peanut's Place

Beloved pit bull Peanut and her family are in their special Colorado Mountain home as I type. The furry kids love it there. But the main reason for the journey is for Peanut, who sadly has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It is her human parent's hope for her to live out her days there, as happy and comfortable as she can possibly be.

Inspired by the love of their furry kids, a privately funded foundation has recently been launched which gives grants to programs for senior, abused or neglected dogs: www.booboofoundation.org

The following photos are paintings of Peanut (finished in July 2016) and of Tali & Tamah (2014 painting commissions).

PEANUT (Pit bull), 10x12" oil portrait painting by puci

TALI (Rottwiler), 22x28" oil portrait painting by puci

TAMAH (Rottwiler), 22x28" oil portrait painting by puci

Auntie's Prizes

I'm in the process of putting together my monthly e-newsletter.* This month I'll be featuring 6 new beloved pets & their oil portraits. Among them is Maine Coon cat Goldie and, as I'm describing him in the "Pet Tails" section of the newsletter, I happened to think about the many other custom pet portraits that Goldie's human auntie had previously commissioned me to paint. So, as an adjunct to my August 2016 newsletter --and because I thought the idea kind of fun-- I've gathered all of "Auntie's Prizes". Enjoy...

* Would you like to subscribe? Once a month my newsletter will (hopefully) hit your email in-box. Here's the link: http://eepurl.com/eAVss

GOLDIE (Maine Coon), 8x8" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

DASH (Jack Russell Terrier), 10x12" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

NIGEL (Persian). 8x8" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

PASTA (Yorkshire Terrier). 8x8" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

ERROS (Spitz-Shepherd), 16x20" Pet Portrait Oil Painting by puci

FOXIE (Shiba Inu) & SAKE (Japanese Spitz), 16x20" Oil Portrait Painting by puci

Yorkie Yorkie Pug: a Triptych

Although I've painted multiple oil portrait paintings for the same customer, I've not painted a triptych (a set of 3 associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together --or separately). I'm not sure how other painters approach it, but I decided to paint the backgrounds in unison (back & forth and back & forth) thinking that this would help lend a certain consistency throughout. I decided this wasn't really necessary (and in fact was a bit of a pain). When I ran out of a certain color mixture on my palette, it was easy enough to mix more, as long as I retained a spot of that color for matching.

Here are the girls together:

Triptych oil paintings of Mia, Gracie & Mimi

And each girl in their separate oil portrait:

MIA, long-haired Yorkie

GRACIE, short-haired Yorkie

MIMI, Pug

Doggy Parody, American Gothic

The credit for this idea goes to The Canine Kid's Uncle Evan. The original intent was for an active & fun representation in oil paints of Cheever, Grizzly, Grace & Tuck. But the problem was the lack of proper photos for me to work from. So we moved forward to some dry-humor kind-of-fun.

The finished painting:

THE CANINE KIDS, AMERICAN GOTHIC, 32x44", custom Oil Portrait Painting by puci

Some facial close-ups:

so serious! :-)

Onward to the painting progression:

from penciling in the outlines to finished oil painting

And here are links to other relatively-large painting-progressions:

BELLA BASSET BELLA:

http://puciart.blogspot.com/2016/03/bella-basset-bella.html

THE GREAT DANE CONNECTION: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-great-dane-connection.html

THE ENCHANTRESSES: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-enchantresses-start-to-fini.html

KAREN'S KIDS: 

http://puciart.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-painting-progression.html

CHARLIE: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-painting-progression-charlie.html

 

Bella Basset BELLA

As I type, Bella's oil portrait is still drying. (Today is Tuesday & I'm hoping the oil paints are dry enough to pack & mail the painting this Friday. Keeping my paws crossed...)
Anyway, here's bella BELLA, including photos as the painting takes shape along the way:

"Bella BELLA", 32x44", custom Oil Portrait Painting by puci (the finished painting)

Some details of the finished painting:

some details (w/da-tail)

Onto the painting progression: 

the painting as it takes shape

Thought you might like to see the chosen reference photo used for the painting:

"THE" photo!

And here are links to relatively-large previous painting-progressions:

THE GREAT DANE CONNECTION: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-great-dane-connection.html

THE ENCHANTRESSES: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-enchantresses-start-to-fini.html

KAREN'S KIDS: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-painting-progression.html

CHARLIE: 
http://puciart.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-painting-progression-charlie.html

The Great Dane Connection

Somehow I didn't get around to posting this "Great Dane Connection" when the painting was finished back in 2013. But here it is now, along with photos of the painting as it progressed along the way:

Jackson & his AnnaBelle, 44x32" custom Oil Portrait Painting by puci (finished painting)

Some details of the finished painting:

nose2nose & lovehugs

The painting progression:

the painting along the way

The reference photo:

photo used for the painting

The Enchantresses, start to fini

These 3 enchantresses have worked their magic on their human parents, on me, and... on my husband too, who showed lots of interest as the painting took shape on my easel. (I think part of the charm was the relatively large size of the painting: 32x44".) He encouraged me to take photos as the painting progressed, so I did. (Good idea Honey!)

Going backwards, here's a photo of the finished painting:

"The Enchantresses",  32x44" custom Oil Portrait Painting by puci

details, faces

Now, the painting progression:

Australian Labradoodles Molly( blonde), Lola (chocolate) and Morgan (mini blonde)

And the chosen reference photos:

lots of photos to choose from but these were the faves