Tag: Dog

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Art Life in general

Sketching Saved the Day

Happy Guy Sketch from a photo on Sktchy App

I had a terrible, scary day that included a near poisoning of my dog and other misfortunes, that left me a nervous wreck. Finally, in the evening, I spent some time in my studio sketching this cheery guy from the Museum/Sktchy app that completely changed my pissy mood and I went to bed happy. Here’s what happened:

A big slob of a PGE utility guy came to check my gas meter. When my dog barked, he threw big chunks of a leftover cookie that was in his pocket (who keeps loose cookies in their pockets?) to her over the fence.

He tried to tell me it was dog treats but I quickly saw it was pieces of an oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie. I knew chocolate was bad for dogs but I learned that 7-8 raisins or grapes are enough to cause death from kidney failure. 

I couldn’t tell how much she ate before I found the mess of chunks and crumbs and cleaned it up. The internet said it was a veterinary emergency and to immediately call the ASPCA Pet Poison Control Center. I paid $95 to spend an hour on the phone with them.

While the toxicologist and vet were consulted and I was on hold, I made an urgent care appointment to have her stomach “pumped.” Finally the Poison control doctors decided that if she ate less than 7 raisins we could watch and wait for 48 hours so I cancelled the urgent care vet appointment.

Then I made the call to PGE to report his awful behavior, AND that he put a bag of his trash including a “Brief Relief urinal bag” and wet wipes and more gross stuff in my garbage can and left trash on the ground. PGE promised to pay the $95 and any other associated costs. And to do something about that guy.

Update: good news, it’s now past 48 hours and she’s OK!

Miss Millie, my 12 year old dog, a formerly feral street puppy from Taiwan
Categories
Art Bay Area Parks Drawing Dreams Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Wordles and Pictures: Back to Journaling

Sketches of two dogs and a lady in a dress as illustrations for Wordle “Adopt” and “Frock”
Daily Dreams and Wordles Illustrated (Frock and Adopt)

When I started my blog, JanasJournal.com in 2006, it was an illustrated daily journal where I shared my world and my creative journeys through many different media. Now I’ve returned to my journaling roots and I’ve found inspiration from a surprising source: the daily Wordle puzzle, which I solve and then illustrate each day.

A view from my favorite park along the SF Bay, Point Isabel

While my journeys may have become more interior thanks to the pandemic, illustrating where my imagination and dreams take me keeps me entertained. But I’m also including sketches from places I go in real life, like Point Isabel above, a huge park along the SF Bay where dogs can run free, roll in the grass, splash in mud puddles and rinse off in the bay.

Wordle: Unlit and Dance

I’m using a page-a-day Hobonichi “Cousin” journal with weird, very thin, lightly-gridded paper along with fountain pens, drawing pens, watercolors and Tombow markers.

I will share more about the materials as I get the backlog of 3 months of journaling, dreams, Wordles and pictures posted.

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Sketchbook Pages

Millie at Rest: Doggie Eyes and Noses

Millie at Rest, Sketched in Procreate on the iPad
Millie at Rest, Sketched in Procreate on the iPad

Sketching my dear little Millie, the Formosan Mountain Dog, a rescue from Taiwan and always a source of inspiration for drawing, painting, and getting out in nature every day for a walk.

Categories
Animals Oil Painting Painting

Dillon, a Dog Portrait Commission

Dog Portrait of Dillon, oil on Gessobord panel, 8x8"
Dog Portrait of Dillon, oil on Gessobord panel, 8×8″

Now that Christmas is over I can post this commissioned dog portrait oil painting. The person who requested it had previously been gifted this commissioned dog portrait and asked me to paint their friend’s dog Dillon to give to them as a gift. Below are the steps in the process.

Continue reading “Dillon, a Dog Portrait Commission”
Categories
Animals Gouache Sktchy

Ay Chihuahua! Creating Color from Black and White

Chihuahua: Make color from B&W: Gouache, 8x10"
Chihuahua: Make color from B&W: Gouache, 8×10″

When the Sktchy (see previous post) Weekend Art Extravaganza inspiration was to make a color sketch from a black and white photo I found the photo below and couldn’t resist putting a little color in this little guy’s life. I used to make fun of Chihuahuas, comparing them to rats (which can also actually make good pets if you don’t mind the smell). But after a couple of friends adopted chihuahua mixes, I have come to really appreciate their funny and quirky personalities.

B&W Photo Reference
B&W Photo Reference

Categories
Animals Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages

Mika, Formosan Mountain Dog Portrait

Mika, a Formosan Mountain Dog portrait in oil paint on linen panel,, 10x8 in
Mika, a Formosan Mountain Dog portrait in oil paint on linen panel,, 10×8 in

This little cutie was a fun challenge to paint. Below are some steps along the way, including the reference photos that I joined and edited in Photoshop to simplify the background and combine the tops and bottoms of her ears. Her ears were too tall in my first sketch (done in gouache in my journal). I must have added extra length when I assembled the two photos in Photoshop so edited them down to life-size in the painting.

Mika’s owner was happy with the painting and noted that Mika, who is a playful goofball in real life, seems so dignified in the painting. That gave me the idea to ask owners to also provide videos of dogs I’m to paint in the future so I can get a better sense of their personalities. I tried to include some of the family’s garden in Mika’s portrait but I struggled with getting the spring flowers to behave in the background. I painted over them with sky, planning to try them again, but when I sent Mika’s owner a photo of the painting with the sky background, she liked it better that way and so did I.

Categories
Animals Drawing Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages

Leo Take Two: Same Dog, Revised Painting

Leo, Dog Portrait, Take Two, oil on panel, 8x10
Leo, Dog Portrait, Take Two, oil on panel, 8×10

After I varnished Leo’s painting and was going to deliver it to the family that commissioned it, I realized I wasn’t satisfied with the background. I asked for and was granted permission to adjust it. It’s a good thing Leo’s people are very patient: I asked for an extra two weeks but then my dog Millie started having epileptic grand mal seizures and my cat Busby got sick and I was spending more of my time nursing animals than painting them.

Finally, after many visits to the emergency vet hospital, my family vet, and a veterinary neurologist (thank goodness for pet insurance) Millie has stabilized on her meds (no seizures in over a week), and Busby has sadly has passed on to Kitty Heaven. He was a beautiful cat and my remaining kitty Fiona misses him, even though he was a bit of a bully, like big brothers can sometimes be.

Back in the studio I explored how to rework the background. What bothered me was the way the it divided the painting in half vertically and how vague it was. With my realistic approach to the dog, it felt like the background needed more detail so I tried to suggest some of the actual greenery in Leo’s Northern California backyard (see photo below) and added some sky to add depth.

Below, copied from the previous post, are the reference photo and the work in progress before I got to the finished painting above.

Categories
Sketchbook Pages

Leo: A Dog Portrait in Oil and Gouache

Portrait of Leo, Formosan Mountain Dog, oil on panel, 8x10 in
Portrait of Leo, Formosan Mountain Dog, oil on panel, 8×10 in

Leo is the same breed as my pup Millie, a Formosan Mountain Dog (both rescued from the streets of Taiwan), except Leo has dark brindle fur which I found much more difficult to paint than Millie’s blonde fur, especially when working from a photo (at bottom of post) without much variation in light and shadow to help create dimension and volume on a surface that is already so varied and random.

Study for Leo Dog Portrait, gouache on paper, 8x10 in
Study for Leo Dog Portrait, gouache on paper, 8×10 in

Before starting the oil painting I did the above quick gouache study to send to the collector who commissioned the painting to give her a sense of what I was planning. I hadn’t decided yet whether to include their backyard.

Below are a few steps during the work in process and the original photo I worked from.

I got really interested in painting the ferns on the left in the photo but decided to simplify the background, which was attracting my eye more than the doggie. I changed Leo’s fur coloring a bit in the painting based on some additional photo references that showed the fur as being darker and warmer-colored than in this photo. I’m so glad Leo’s people are happy with the painting!

Categories
Animals Oil Painting Painting

Whiskey: A Mini-Aussie Dog Portrait

Whiskey, Portrait of Mini Aussie, oil on Gessobord panel, 8x10 inches
Whiskey, Portrait of Mini Aussie, oil on Gessobord panel, 8×10 inches

I had so much fun painting Whiskey, a Miniature Australian Shepherd, for her owner Diane. I started with a rough sketch (below) on vellum tracing paper (erases easily and is strong) and that’s when I discovered the heart-shaped spot above her nose. I’m not sure if it’s just a reflection or an actual marking in her fur but it was one of those joyful discoveries that happen when you look closely at things.

Preliminary sketch of Whiskey, graphite on vellum tracing paper, 8x10 inches
Preliminary sketch of Whiskey, graphite on vellum tracing paper, 8×10 inches

After sketching her, I printed out an 8×10″ copy of the photo and traced it onto the Gessobord using a sheet of graphite Saral Transfer Paper between the photo and the panel. Ideally I would work on a drawing until it perfectly matched the photo and then transfer the drawing to the panel, but on commissions I need to work a little more quickly than my imperfect drawing skills allow.

Below are 1) my painting and my reference photos, 2) cropped and 3) original. Isn’t she incredibly adorable!

Categories
Animals Oil Painting

Millie, A Dog Portrait Oil Painting

Portrait of Millie, oil on Gessobord panel, 10x8 inches
Portrait of Millie, oil on Gessobord panel, 10×8 inches

This painting was a labor of love: love for my sweet Formosan Mountain dog Millie who has come a long way (literally and figuratively) and love of painting. Millie was rescued from the streets of Taiwan as a 4 month old feral pup and flown to SF with some other rescued pups. She was very fearful and independent (e.g. standoffish and stubborn) at first, but after one year together she is now a very happy pooch who makes me laugh every day with her quirky ways.

I love painting dogs, and gladly accept commissions to paint animals of any kind (including humans). You can see photos of the work in progress as I painted Millie below.

I started with some sketches (posted here previously) and then took photos of her in the studio to paint from. (The little bow on her collar was from Mud Puppies Tub and Scrub at Pt. Isabel after they washed off the sticky brown mud from her dive into the bay at low tide). I did a drawing on tracing paper from my favorite of the photos, corrected the drawing by taping it to the iMac monitor to compare to the reference photo and then transferred the drawing to a Gessobord using Saral Transfer Paper. I used Panpastels for the first block in and then began painting with oils, starting with her face.