Hey, another week, another update! Consistency!

I’m still trying to catch up on some of those blog post ideas I’ve mentioned several times now. I have a few more to go. I finished up a page in 10 Things and I was slowly trying to wrap my head around the next, very complex page when I got the go ahead to rework another project, which will tie me up for most of the week, I think. I’ve continued with the daily manga self-portraits. It’s getting tougher to come up with interesting expressions, but I’m still finding ways to have fun with it (there’s another collage post in the near future). Oh, did I mention that in addition to the Face Book page, I’ve also set myself up on deviantart.com? Well, technically my magical wife did it, and then told me to start using it. Details, details. Hopefully it will lead to some more exposure so that I can have an audience willing to cough up some dough when I have actual art stuff to peddle.

Anywayyyyy, on to the reason for this post: pet portraits. If you’ve ever had a pet, you know how special the bond is between human and animal. The species barrier doesn’t exist, they’re just part of the family. Another life-time ago, my wife and I used to breed and show pure-bred cats…I don’t know why. But, during that time, desperately looking for a way to make art and money, I tried taking a few commissions as a pet portrait painter (how alliterative). It was NOT what I wanted to be doing, I decided, but, I produced some art and a few people actually paid me for it.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2015, my sister’s beloved, older dog, Quegan, finally reached a point where everyone needed to say their goodbyes. It was a rough moment. I don’t remember how old he was exactly, but I think he was about 15. He had been with my sister through a lot of ups and downs and life changes. During his first few years, I took care of him a few times and had fun with him. What always amazed me and made him special to me was that even after my sister moved away for a number of years and I only saw her a few times each year (and him even less), he always perked up when he saw me. It seemed like he always remembered me and the running around we did. So, after he was gone, I decided the best thing I could do to fill the void was to digitally paint his portrait for my sister and her family. I had it printed to canvas and stretched so she could hang it if she chose.

Portrait of my sister's late dog of 15ish years.

Portrait of my sister’s late dog of 15ish years, Quegan.

Around that same time, my sister’s in-laws had to say goodbye to their own dog, as well. He had been with their family for a similarly long period of time, and just before xmas 2015, my sister asked me to paint a portrait of Max to give to them as a gift, and I happily did so.

Portrait of some friends' and family's late dog, Max.

Portrait of some friends’ and family’s late dog, Max, who loved his Booda hedgehog and playing in wrapping paper.

I’m relatively happy with the way both portraits turned out. I tried my best to capture their personalities. In both cases, they all have plenty of pictures of their late pets, however I’ve always thought a picture captures a moment in time, but a painting can capture a life. Hopefully I lived up to that.