Pet Portrait - Coda the puppy

It's been a while since I've posted, but not for lack of arty output. I've kept my evenings busy for the last few months doing various commissions. One of my recent favourites is this acrylic on canvas puppy portrait of Coda, a cute little German Shepherd. I say 'little'... She's actually huge now, but just as cute.

The portrait painting was commissioned as a surprise gift from one of Coda's owners to the other.

I enjoyed this painting as I had free reign to make it as 'painty' as I wanted, so I happily slapped on the paint thickly and loosely. The result is a painting that looks different from every angle with the gloss reflecting boldly in the light off the highly textured surface.

If you are interested in commissioning a pet portrait, please visit my website, www.artbylukebennett.com

It's a Dog's Life

As promised in my last update, here is a photo of the last painting I completed, a commission no less, of Ella. A dog. (Just in case you were wondering which particular animal it was.)

The person who commissioned the painting (as a birthday gift) and the recipient were both delighted with the final product. -Always a relief. They said I'd captured her spirit and essence and said how closely it resembled her.

I was fairly sure I'd captured her look accurately enough, but if anyone should know, it's going to be the dog's owners, so having that confirmed was great.

Not as good as it should be.

Hmm, I meant to post this weeks ago, if not months... It's the final scan of a painting of Lucy, my cat. As mentioned in a previous post, there were a few things that made this picture a bit of a chore to do and trickier than it needed to be.

The main problem being the squinty eyes; much more difficult to paint than wide open eyes. She doesn't look quite right as a result. I think it shows in the finished product as, in my opinion, it's not as good as the painting of Minnie. The likeness isn't as strong either, so I'm a little disappointed. Still, consider it a lesson learnt; when painting from a photograph, make sure you choose a good image.