Pet Portraits – Everybody’s Favorite

I painted my first pet portrait when I was in high school. My dad’s birthday was coming up and I decided to surprise him with a portrait of his favorite beagle. It was a unique gift that really surprised him.

Since then I have done portraits of pets -- dogs, cat, horses, cows, chickens and tigers.

I bet you are wondering why I included tigers on this list of domestic animals.

At one time I rented a house on the property owned by Sigfreid and Roy, the internationally famous illusionists. The duo commissioned me to do a portrait of their three white young tigers. You see, they consider the tigers to be pets.

I did get to meet the tigers up close and even play with them as I studied them. They have the bluest eyes I have ever seen. I thoroughly enjoyed my encounter with these magnificent animals and both gentlemen loved the portrait I did.

Whenever I get a pet commission I take my camera and photograph the animals in person. I get a better feel for their personality and sense of their color. In this case, Sigfreid and Roy supplied the photos. (I have had customers who had a favorite animal that is no longer with us. If they have photos I can usually do a portrait.)

Dogs are usually easy to photograph. They take commands pretty well. Cats on the other hand, as all cat owners know, have a mind of their own. You can’t tell a cat to sit. Well, you can but it will look at you like you must have lost your mind. Then it will leave the room or turn its back on you. (I have found on occasion that treats work if the cat is hungry or so inclined.) But so far I haven’t failed to get a good likeness.

Some customers have two or three pets they want in one painting. Sizes vary from 11” x 14” for a single portrait, 16” x 20” for a double portrait and 20” x 24” for a triple portrait. (Prices for these commissions are $75, $200, and $250-$300 respectively, or by negotiation.) The first two sizes are the most common. I try to stay with standard frame sizes so the customer can buy ready made frames, as custom frames can get pricey.

I have a wall in my studio filled with all my pets. It’s my wall of memories.
Pet portraits are an especially nice gift for birthdays and holidays.

What’s YOUR Favorite Animal

Specializing in animal painting and talking to people who love animals at art shows gets some interesting conversations.

Giclee Print (ltd to 10) of white tail deer

I am asked quite frequently what is your favorite animal. My response has always been “I haven’t met an animal I don’t like,” or “I have so many favorites. How much time do you have?”

At an out door art show in the park a cute freckled faced girl wouldn’t let me get by with those answers. She insisted I had to choose a favorite. I thought for a while and said, “Okay, if I have to choose just one, it’s the river otter.” Then the little freckled faced cutie wanted to know why? I sent her to get an ice cream cone and said when you get back I’ll tell you. I needed time to think up a good answer.

Fifteen minutes and here comes freckles. “Why the river otter she asks?”

“Well the otter has the softest fur. It takes really good care of its young. Otters only fight if they are attacked. They don’t pick a fight. The thing I like best is they are very playful. They don’t need an excuse to go sliding in the snow or down a muddy bank into the river, then turn around and do it all over again.”

It was time to turn the tables on freckles. I asked, “What is your favorite animal?” Her reply was, “I think I like the otter the best because I like to slide in the snow too.”

Then she went on to name a number of other animals she liked. I have found I am not alone. It’s hard to pick just one.

For many years I would have said deer were my favorite animal. When I was growing up deer were the animal I saw the most frequently and close up. They have the most beautiful eyes. Watching them run and jump is poetry in motion.

What is your favorite animal and why? Please leave an answer in the comments.

Where the Antelope Play … Or So I Thought

While traveling through Wyoming on my way to visit Yellowstone Park for the first time I was delighted to see herds of antelope on the plains. While the scenery was absolutely breath taking, I wanted to get a closer look at these unusual animals.

Well good luck!

Antelope live on the open plains for a good reason. Their wide set eyes give them the ability to see 360 degrees. Being herd animals, one of them is always on lookout. When spotting danger the lookout will flare out that white patch on its rump like a white flag and, good bye, there gone.

No understatement these little beauties can hit speeds up to 50 or 60 mph. They have been known to race cars, trains and people on horseback. Not only that; they seem to enjoy the race. They have the ability to jump fences but instead they crawl under them. (I have seen whitetail deer do the same thing.)

This was a very memorable trip and of course I was inspired to do an antelope portrait. I knew there were antelope in Nevada so I planned a trip to the central part of the state. Sure enough on the open plains I found a large herd. I still didn’t get very close to them; just going to keep trying.

I was attending an art show and talking to a gentleman who hunted. He said, “You may want to rename your painting; that’s not an antelope, it’s a pronghorn. Many people make that mistake. Pronghorns are not related to African antelope. The U.S. and Canada are the only place they exist.”

I also learned that the pronghorn was more plentiful than the buffalo before they were hunted almost to extinction. Thanks to game regulations in the early 1900s they are thriving, as are many other species.

I have painted many pictures of this unusual animal and I’m still learning more about them.

Picnic Lunch with a Roadrunner

It was a beautiful spring day, just perfect for getting out to photograph the desert in bloom. I called an artist friend and suggested we take our cameras and a picnic lunch and go to the Lake Mead Recreation Area. I needed some reference photos for a series of drawings I was working on in pen and ink. My friend wanted photos of the desert flowers. The Lake Mead Recreation Area was perfect.

Winter rains had been plentiful so the flowers were in abundance. After two or three rolls of film were taken of beavertail cactus, globe mallow and a number of flowers I am still trying to name we decided to find a shady spot to picnic and relax. So far I hadn’t seen one desert critter.

We were enjoying our chicken sandwiches and trying to decide were we might find gambles quail and road runners when I saw a movement to my right in the bushes. I stopped everything except breathing and watched the bush. Finally I could make out the head of a road runner watching us. I told my friend we would just ignore the bird, and I took a piece of chicken out of my sandwich and gently tossed it in the direction of the bush, picked up my camera and waited.

Not only did the road runner come out to eat the chicken but it came within three feet of us as if it was asking for more.

Good thing I made extra sandwiches.

He paraded back and forth like a good runway model.

His reward? A good chicken sandwich. My reward?

A roll of close up photos that I have for reference and fond memories.

Picnic Lunch with a Roadrunner

It was a beautiful spring day, just perfect for getting out to photograph the desert in bloom. I called an artist friend and suggested we take our cameras and a picnic lunch and go to the Lake Mead Recreation Area. I needed some reference photos for a series of drawings I was working on in pen and ink. My friend wanted photos of the desert flowers. The Lake Mead Recreation Area was perfect.

Winter rains had been plentiful so the flowers were in abundance. After two or three rolls of film were taken of beavertail cactus, globe mallow and a number of flowers I am still trying to name we decided to find a shady spot to picnic and relax. So far I hadn’t seen one desert critter.

We were enjoying our chicken sandwiches and trying to decide were we might find gambles quail and road runners when I saw a movement to my right in the bushes. I stopped everything except breathing and watched the bush. Finally I could make out the head of a road runner watching us. I told my friend we would just ignore the bird, and I took a piece of chicken out of my sandwich and gently tossed it in the direction of the bush, picked up my camera and waited.

Not only did the road runner come out to eat the chicken but it came within three feet of us as if it was asking for more.

Good thing I made extra sandwiches.

He paraded back and forth like a good runway model.

His reward? A good chicken sandwich. My reward?

A roll of close up photos that I have for reference and fond memories.

Close Encounter with a Fox

When I was a teenager we lived on a farm. I used to get up early to take care of the chores and if the they didn’t take too long I would go out to the woods and roam around looking for wild blackberries and blueberries because mom made the best berry pies.
We had been especially busy and I hadn’t gone to the woods for a while. One morning I heard a dog yapping at the back side of the farm. We all thought the neighbor in back had gotten a new dog and tied it up. The next day the dog was still yapping, and on the third day it was sounding pretty hoarse.
My chores were done and I decided to go visit our neighbor. I crossed the field and entered the woods. As I approached the fence line between our farms I saw a dog hanging by its tail in the barb wire fence. I unwound its tail and the poor thing was pretty weak from lack of food and water. I carried it home and put it in the corn crib, gave it some water and went to tell my dad so he would doctor the dog’s tail. Dad had just finished breakfast when I told him about the cute little red dog I found. Dad wanted to know why our coon dogs and beagles were setting up such a ruckus. I said they got all excited when I put the new dog in the corn crib.
When dad opened the door to the corn crib the dog started growling at him. Dad took one good look, closed the door and started laughing. He laughed so hard he couldn’t talk.
Of course I couldn’t figure out what was so funny.
Finally dad said, “FOX! That’s a FOX not a dog. How did you get it home without it biting you?”
I just carried it in my arms and talked to it and petted it. It never growled or tried to get away. The fox wouldn’t let anyone else get near it, so I held it while dad medicated its tail. Unfortunately it lost half of its tail. When my fox was healed and strong dad said I would have to let it go free. Of course I wanted to keep it, but it just wouldn’t be fair. So the next morning I took the fox out to the woods and said goodbye. He looked back at me a couple of times and was gone.
Every time I see a fox I remember carrying him home and my dad’s reaction. For a long time after that neighbors and my dad’s friends gave me the nickname Foxy, which I secretly liked.
Of course I just had to do a painting of a red fox, which I titled Fox in Prime Pelt. Before it sold I decided to have 300 limited edition lithograph prints made of it.

Choosing the 'Grand Slam' for My Subject Matter

Knowing as much as I can about an animal I want to paint is very helpful in being accurate and capturing their personality. To that end, research through books and documentary films have helped give me more information on habits, predators, environment and breeding.
Organizations such as The Fraternity for Desert Bighorn Sheep and The Wild Sheep Foundation have a wealth of information on all species of wild sheep.

I was most interested in what sheep hunters call the grand slam. Rocky Mountain Sheep, Desert Bighorn Sheep – a subspecies of Rocky Mountain Sheep, Dall Sheep and Stone Sheep – a subspecies of Dall Sheep – and this is where I concentrated my research.
Most people would be surprised to learn that the limited numbers of sheep is not due to hunting or natural predators, but to expanding civilization, livestock and domestic sheep.
Actually sportsmen’s conservation agencies have funded research and studies to save the Bighorn Sheep.
I hope my artwork will help draw people to the appreciation and importance of saving these wonderful creatures.