Tag: dog art

Boomer: Painting of a Dog

Artwork by BZTAT

August and September were such busy months for me, I have hardly had a chance to keep up with it all!

From the Animal Instincts show, the Art of Kindness Paint-a-thon, working on a major commission for the Stark County Goodwill Community Campus (stay tuned–more to come about this), and developing the “Downtown Cats” mural project, I have been in a painting frenzy.

And that doesn’t even include the pet portraits that I have been creating! It’s all good, because it is all what I love to do.

I completed the above portrait a few weeks ago but never got a chance to write about it here, so I thought I would go back.

This was a very special portrait for a friend who lost his beloved dog Boomer in May of this year.

Boomer was an American Eskimo Spitz who brought great joy to my friend’s life for 13 years. My friend asked me to do a portrait of Boomer to remind him of all their great memories and adventures.

I started by abstracting an actual photograph of Boomer in his younger days using Photoshop filters to get a reference design for the painting. The reference design was then traced onto a canvas using an overhead projector.

I began as I always do, by painting the background black and blocking in colors for the basic shapes. I use a process of building up color by painting many layers of varied colors on top of each other, always leaving some trace of the underneath layers.

The completed painting is truly one of my favorites, partly because it was so special for Boomer’s person, but also because I enjoy the overall artistic impact of the image.

Boomer’s daddy was very happy with it as well.

Custom Portrait: Painting of Three Dogs in a House

Recently, I started painting on site at Canine Action Sports Dog Training Center on Thursday evenings. Since people seem to enjoy watching me paint, and I enjoy painting dogs, it is a great place for me to meet fellow animal lovers who are interested in my work.

One of my biggest fans is the owner of the center, who commissioned me to paint a whimsical painting of her three dogs, Mattie, Rosie and Tasha.

Having seen a drawing that I had made previously, she asked if I could do a similar image with her dogs in the windows of the house. She also requested that the piece be done on a textured wood that adds to the whimsical effect.


My models from the left: Mattie, Rosie and Tasha

I began the painting as I always do, by painting the background black and blocking in colors for the basic shapes. I use a process of building up color by painting many layers of varied colors on top of each other, always leaving some trace of the underneath layers.


As you can see in the last image above, I ended up changing the base of the house, to make the black dog seem a little more plausible. The thinner house base made her head look too big for what we imagine to be her body hidden from view.

It takes many hours to paint a painting such as this, ranging anywhere from 15 to 25 hours and more, depending on the difficulty. This one was a bit more difficult, as it required some detail and had 3 animals featured. As you can suspect, every artist has intense thinking going on during the process, sometimes reflecting joy and confidence; sometimes insecurity and trepidation. It is all a part of the process.

I sometimes “tweet” some of these thoughts on Twitter as I am working. Here are some of my random thoughts that were captured in tweets as I painted this painting:

@BZTAT I’m looking at this painting and thinking…Even a whimsical painting requires some degree of plausibility, and I am not there yet.

@BZTAT When ya gotta sing, ya gotta sing, or in my case, when ya gotta paint, ya gotta paint! (in reply to a message from a musician)

@BZTAT thinks she is really not made out for detail painting. Just sayin’.

@BZTAT I am working on a piece with more detail than I am used to at the moment, and it’s making me cross eyed!

@BZTAT is painting on the wild side–wearing clothes that, thus far, do not have paint on them. (That changed real quickly…)

@BZTAT Sometimes I think I really don’t know how to paint. I just slap the paint on, and on, and on…until it finally works.

Despite the insecurities, I eventually worked through various dilemmas and finished the piece to my satisfaction. My patron has not yet seen the piece; I hope that she and her pooches enjoy it!

BZTAT with a young fan painting on location
at Lehman’s in Kidron, OH

Now, on to the next portrait–a dog named Boomer, who recently went to the Rainbow Bridge. I feel very honored to paint this very special portrait.

Life is an Adventure!
BZTAT

Follow works in progress by BZTAT on Twitter by searching #bztatptg.

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OHnear Second April Galerie and the historic Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography.

Samson: The Painting of a Dog

“Samson” by BZTAT

Meet Samson, a beautiful Pomeranian dog from San Diego, CA! Samson is the housemate a Twitter Critter friend (@PerrytheBirman) whose portrait was featured on the “Buzz from BZTAT!” on April 18. Samson and Perry’s person (@debweeva on Twitter) commissioned their pet portraits after getting to know us on Twitter and seeing my artwork online. It was a privilege to paint both of these beautiful creatures!

I have not met Samson or Perry in person, as they live very far away from me. I created their portraits from photos on their person’s Flickr page.

I knew that painting Samson would be a challenge, as solid colored animals are the most difficult for me. My style depends upon strong contrasts, and solid colored animals have very subtle visual contrasts. Honestly, Samson is the first white dog that I ever painted.


I started by making a reference image by abstracting the photo with Photoshop. This gave me an idea of the basic shapes and lines to the face. I then traced the image onto a black canvas using an overhead transparency.

I began layering colors to get different color and texture effects. I struggled, however,when I started to integrate the subject with the background. I was posting in process photos on Twitter, and everyone was loving it, including my patron. But it wasn’t looking right to me. I had to take some time away from it to get some clarity. I worked on another picture for awhile to take a break.

The image was troubling to me because the face, which takes up the majority of the picture, was very flat and abstract. The background, although also abstract, was more dimensional,
which made the face look too much like a cut-out mask to me.

I fiddled and fiddled, trying to make the face more dimensional, with no success. My style just didn’t lend well to that. Finally, it occurred to me to flatten the background instead. That worked!!!

Now that it is finished, I feel pretty accomplished, having accepted and successfully met a new challenge! There were some moments of insecurity, throughout the process. Such is the life of an artist.

Painting Samson and his housemate Perry was a great adventure! I will be sending them their portraits this week.

Next up? Another Twitter Critter friend, @Pandafur, who is a beautiful Maine Coon cat from Massachusetts!

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Would you like a custom pet portrait of your pet? BZTAT will paint your animal for a very reasonable price. For information, email her at bztat@artadventuresstudios.com.

Follow works in progress by BZTAT on Twitter by searching #bztatptg.

Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OHnear Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.