Serious Thinking

 

It seems that when it rains, it pours sometimes and I've just received word that both of my recent commissions have had devastating news concerning pets in their lives.

I'm waiting to hear the outcome of a referral visit to our state vet school where Allee, the little female Coton de Tulears that I just painted was sent after she was found to have a tumor in her mouth.  

And, when I delivered the portrait of Kelly, the Golden Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix, the owner told me that bone cancer had so debilitated one of their dogs that she was going to be euthanized that day.  

I only met both of these ladies recently when they commissioned me to paint their dogs and both have become special to me.  Maybe it's because there's a bond to begin with because of our love of our pets but my heart is breaking for both of them.  It's especially difficult with Allee because I got to meet this little one in person and just fell in love with her and her "brother", Max.  I know how much her owners love her too and that makes it doubly sad.  

However, I'm really trying to stay positive here as I haven't yet heard how the appointment with the specialist at the vet school went.  There's a possibility that the tumor can be treated and that's where I make my mind stay.

And, while Kelly had passed across the bridge some time ago and I didn't know her or her "sister", I still feel the pain of my customer.  It's so difficult to lose one of your fur children and even more so to face the possibility that you might.

Agility Dogs

Sometimes the little dogs get a bad rap and are viewed more as little spoiled companions instead of a small dog with big abilities.  I just finished this painting of a little terrier going through an agility trial - something he should excel at doing.

This painting was done in gouache in a watercolor type manner and on Arches rough watercolor paper.  Gouache isn't my normal medium so it was fun to explore it a bit more.

Introducing ----

"Coal"

Coal, one of our dogs.

Jeanne G. left a comment asking about our dogs and why there aren't any pictures of them on my blog. I replied that they both hate to have their picture taken. However, this is a photo of our "purebred Lab" (joke) female who is not happy but will even put up with the camera if she's allowed to lay her head on my lap.

You can see how unhappy she is about the camera by the way her ears are plastered so flat to her head. Normally they are are in a relaxed state and sometimes (especially if there's food involved!) they're even all perked up!

We have both a male and a female Lab (?) mix. They are not litter mates but are about the same age. Both are rescues and little is known about their lineage. We got the male first but since I was working everyday at that time, we thought he might enjoy another dog to keep him company.

We like Lab mixes and try to adopt black animals whenever we can since they're often overlooked by people desiring a dog. When a local rescue group advertised a purebred, black Lab puppy, we decided to go take a look at her. When we arrived at the foster home, we saw a short, squatty black puppy with ears that nearly reached the floor! We instantly knew that this was no purebred Lab! But, she was sweet and housebroken so we took her home with us for a trial run to see if she would get along with our male.

She has the temperament of a Beagle and who knows whether the black coloring came from a Lab or just some neighborhood black dog. But, we've had her for over 13 years now and have become used to her un-Lab-like quirks.

I guess we'll keep her!

I'm in Love!

"Cavalier King Charles Spaniel"
Pastel on Velour
Copyright - Jan Gibson

"Samson"
Pastel on Velour
Copyright - Jan Gibson

I ordered some velour paper and it arrived a little over a week ago. I was busy with a couple of commissions so didn't get a chance to try it until a couple of days ago. I have to say that I absolutely love it! The only thing I don't like about it is that mistakes are almost impossible to correct. But, with pastel, like oil or acrylic, you can paint over a mistake.

The first painting of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is from a reference photo from one of my art groups and I think there's more I could do to it. I just didn't want to take the time to tweak it when I painted it.

The second painting is of the little LowChen commission I posted photos of in an earlier blog post. I ended up combining several photos to get this painting. I've just emailed the dog's owner and have not had a chance to get a response back from her as to whether she likes the portrait or not. This dog was made for a pastel on velour, I think. The velour is very responsive to the curved strokes needed to depict his (& the CKC's) wavy hair in a way not readily available in another medium. With the portrait of Samson on the velour, I combined my love for the dog (I just want to steal him from his owner & kiss him all over his face!) with my love for the paper! A perfect combination, huh?