Teddy bear painting finished

I have finally finished this 20" X 16" acrylic painting after working on it on and off for two years (click HERE for a progress photo). I call this piece "Teddy's Teddy." I wanted to portray a young Teddy posing for a photo while holding his toy Teddy bear for comfort, like a child would hold a doll. This painting was inspired by the watercolor art of Wendy Tosoff.

 

Here is "Bradley Bear" next to his portrait.

Random Project of the Week - Flycatcher watercolor

I just finished this painting of one of my favorite birds, the Alder Flycatcher. It is done in watercolors on cotton watercolor paper. This was my second attempt. The first piece ended up in the trash can soon after I started it, which actually doesn't happen very often when I paint. It took me a little while to bring myself to try again.

Random Project of the Week - Backlit birds studies

I've been using my little 5" X 7" canvas boards for acrylic studies. The Veery study on the left was done yesterday and the Osprey was done last year. I didn't realize until I put them together that I chose to paint a backlit bird both times. Now I'm gonna have to make a backlit birds series!

Cairn Terrier painting

I painted this 11" X 14" dog portrait a few months ago. It is of a Cairn Terrier named Mickey who sadly passed away recently.

Three Bostons in black and white

 This is a set of three 8" X 8" monochrome portraits I painted for a longtime follower of my blog and fellow Boston Terrier lover. Her Boston boys are (from left) Jace, Bentley, and Joey (who is sadly no longer with us).
 

I will be offering this style (painterly in black and white) when I start taking commissions again. This is a great option for those who are on a budget and/or only have low-resolution reference photos of their pets.

Cole the Labrador Retriever

Cole's portrait is finished!

Random Project of the Week - Bostons digital illustration

Playing with digital art again this week. Guess what I drew...more Boston Terrier cartoons! 😁

In this illustration I tried to show the diversity within the Boston Terrier breed. I included most of the different colors, color patterns, shapes, and sizes.

As is often the case, this started as a little sketch in my sketchbook from a few months ago (July of last year, actually).

Dorie with my original sketch

Update: This cartoon is now available on t-shirts and as a sticker! Go to my website, gscartwork.com, to buy yours!

Candy Dogs - Fudge

Candy Dog number eleven is Fudge the French Bulldog.

Introducing Dorie!

Meet Dorie, my new a-DORIE-ble Boston Terrier puppy! Dorie is a typical Boston. She enjoys pestering her big sister, Luna, then snuggling with her in the sunshine. She loves to give kisses, hop on two feet, sleep under the covers at night, and...eat everything off the floor and roll in smelly stuff. 😄 She reminds me so much of my first Boston, Sissy!

Here are my first sketches of Dorie done in pen, marker, and pencil on toned paper.

Ever since I painted the monochrome portrait of Sissy in 2018, it had been my plan to paint another portrait of my next Boston in the same style and size. Finally, here it is! It hangs next to Sissy's portrait.

Black Lab portrait update

Cole's eyes and nose are mostly finished and now I'm starting on the fur detail.

Candy Dogs - Lollipop

Keeping with the Lab theme, here is my latest Candy Dog - a very boldly-colored Labrador Retriever named Lollipop.

Labrador Retriever painting first stages

I have started on a commissioned 11" X 14" acrylic painting of a beautiful black Labrador Retriever named Cole. I had the pleasure of visiting Cole and his wonderful owners and taking the reference photos for this portrait.

Here is the progress I have made so far.

Candy Dogs - Marshmallow

Marshmallow the Maltese is Candy Dog number nine.
Circus peanuts make great bows. 😃

Candy Dogs - Butterscotch

Butterscotch the Basenji makes eight!

  Can you tell I'm having fun with this digital art series? I enjoy working on small art projects in between painting, and these Candy Dogs are quick, simple, and fun.

Candy Dogs - Licorice

Licorice the Lhasa Apso is Candy Dog number seven!

Candy Dogs - Chocolate

My sixth Candy Dog is Chocolate the Chihuahua. No crazy colors with this one; just a normal-looking dog.

Candy Dogs - Cotton Candy

Number five is Cotton Candy. Can you guess what breed this is? Click the button below to find out!

It's a Coton de Tuléar.  If you guessed it correctly, good for you! 👏

Candy Dogs - Gumdrop

 It happens to be National Gumdrop Day today, so I made Gumdrop the Greyhound to celebrate.

Candy Dogs - Caramel

And my third Candy Dog is....Caramel the Cocker Spaniel!

Candy Dogs - Jelly Bean

This is Jelly Bean the Jack Russell Terrier, the second dog in my Candy Dogs series.

New series - Candy Dogs!

 

So...I drew a pink Boston Terrier...

Why? I don't know! But I thought it was cute and it looked like it should be named Bubblegum.

And that's how this idea came about. In this series I plan to create several dog cartoons in a candy theme. Each dog gets a candy name that starts with the same letter as the first letter of its breed name.

So, to start off this series, here is Bubblegum the Boston Terrier!

Random Project of the Week - Cool sheep digital painting

I got a new art tool last week - a graphics tablet! At first it was a little difficult for me to use, especially for the outlines (I'm used to a mouse!), but I started to have fun when I got to the shading part of things. I did a quick and simple sheep cartoon for my first tablet digital painting, copying a pencil sketch I drew earlier.

Only a Katahdin owner would understand. 😉