Paintings With Soul

She Cracks Herself Up.  8" x 10", acrylics on museum quality panel, commissioned portrait of a goofy yellow lab, sold (TY very much). Inquiries may always come to   me . There's no gift quite as wonderful as a custom pet portrait. I paint from your photos, resulting in a surprise to unwrap that's like no other. Now is the time to start discussing and planning any holiday gifts you would like to commission. Museum quality portraits start around $400, and are priced according to size and complexity. If you have a smaller budget,   reach out to me   so we can discuss other options.

From 2005, a gallery stretched painting titled "Pleased to Meet You (Introductions)," a lifesized portrait (20" x 18") of three labs.  All week long, I've been sharing older paintings, talking about what I would do differently today. It's been a great process - really reminding me that, despite my own feelings that I don't know much about painting, I actually do know quite a bit more than I did just a few short years ago. Today's painting, well, if I were to tackle this one again, I simply would choose not to paint it at all. The composition is so bad. The idea is fantastic, but I allowed myself to fall in love with the idea instead of the execution. That's impetuousness for you! But I'll critique it anyway: 1. Compositionally, there is a nice central point, but the yellow dog's head is a tough read, and the chocolate's front leg is awkwardly cropped. Furthermore, the black dog's back mim...

"Incoming," 11" x 14", acrylics on a museum quality panel, depicting two labrador retriever pups, black and yellow, available for $599 to the first one asking nicely. Inquiries may come  to me . SOLD. Lots of in process pics and a conversation about the painting are  here,  on the studio Facebook page. I'm looking for more water dog muses - Sheldon will be needing fresh paintings in the new year! You can  email your photos to me  with absolutely no obligation to make a purchase. Now I'm off to work on the two commissioned sketches I should have started yesterday. Fondly, Kim, who is becoming far too good at procrastination ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com Water Dogs I couldn't be more thrilled to share that  Sheldon Fine Arts  in Naples Florida will be representing my artwork beginning in December 2012. Sheldon will be exhibiting a sampling of my Water Dogs paintings, s...

This is a larger painting, 15" x 18," titled "The Circle" and very much in process, pieced together from numerous photos and depicting a family of four canines. This is a commissioned painting, and as such, it already has a home - but I'm happy to create something similar for you. Inquiries may come  to me.   In process photos, many of them, are on  the studio's Facebook page .     I could talk about the circle of life and creativity and inspiration, but honestly, I am exhausted.   This weekend we lay my grandparents to rest alongside each other in the family plot. And celebrate a mass in the church they were married in 72 years ago.   And I'm holding firm to the idea that Rome wasn't built in a day.   Nor were bones magically reknit together. Or houses cleaned stem to stern in the blink of an eye. Or all sorts of other hurts mended instantly.   Fondly, Kim, who really should stop worryin...

      "Gone Fishing," 12" square, done in acrylic on museum quality panel, depicting a dog (chocolate lab perhaps?) in water. In process pics of this painting are on  the studio Facebook wall .   "Gone Fishing" will go home with the first to ask nicely - he's $599, or $539 if you are a collector- inquiries may come  to me .   I'm having so much fun painting dogs and water - but pretty soon it'll be too cold for me to shoot my own references. That said, I'm always open to considering photos any Painting a Dog a Day fans have taken of their own dogs - you can  email them to me directly . Submitting photos does not mean that you are obligated to make any sort of purchase, either - you are just feeding my muse, free of charge!!   Happy Weekend! Kim, who's going to bundle up and cheer on the Dragons at tonite's Homecoming Game after she feeds her face ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com   PS ...

  "Double Trouble," from the "Cherished" series, 10" square, acrylic on museum quality panel, depicting two partners in crime, available for $539 to the first taker.   In process views of this painting are updated on the  studio's Facebook page .   Inquiries can always come  to me! !! And thank you!!       The Cherished series is shaping up nicely. I'll have to create a space on my website where you can browse all the images, but meanwhile I did add links to the inspiration photos  shared on Facebook.   If you would like to submit your companion animal to the series, send non-flash photos to me. All the details are outlined in  an earlier post  on my blog. And you can see the candidates for the series of paintings on the studio Facebook page inside  the "Cherish" photo album .   Thanks, as always, for supporting and sharing my art with your friend...

"Timeless (A Black Lab)," 4" x 6", Golden Open Acrylics on Raymar panel, portrait of a black labrador retriever, $239 (less 10% if you already own an original of mine). Inquiries may always come to me . I painted another version of this handsome guy for a client yesterday - it's a gift, so shh!! - but his face was so wonderful that I had to do a second portrait. One for her and one for.... you? it could be - "Timeless" will go to the first one asking politely! I'm participating in 30 Days of Gratitude during the month of November. Each day I will consciously be thankful for something I might otherwise gloss over or take for granted. A couple of friends started it up on Facebook yesterday and I appreciate their allowing me to blatantly copy their idea. Which dovetails nicely into the studio's new Gratitude Project. It's been a while since I actively profiled shelter animals, but I've been working behind the scenes since this summer t...

"Inseparable: Keva and Sadie," 8" x 16", commissioned labrador retriever portraits , acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!). My client adopted Keva and Sadie from a lab rescue group. It was estimated that they were about 7 years old, and suspected littermates. Now closing in on 14, these two girls remain constantly together, loving life and all it brings their way. When my client commissioned their portraits, I suggested the possibility of breaking one of my rules (that being only one dog per painting) in order to best accommodate their togetherness. She was very enthusiastic about the idea. And when I unveiled the painting to her, coincidentally Keva and Sadie were in the exact same positions as I had painted them, curled up together on a favorite rag rug. An example of life imitating art! Besides painting, I am planning other activities behind the scenes. For one, I am thrilled to announce that I am a member of the exclusive creation team for the ...

"Shepherd Mix Pup," 6x12, puppy portrait in acrylic on canvasboard. Proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to the Oakland Pet Fund, dedicated to turning Oakland County ( http://www.oaklandpetfund.org/ ) into a euthanasia free community by 2010. This pup's tag said she was 2 years old, yet her scrawny build led one to believe she was much younger than that. She had an honest and earnest face, the sort of dog that devotes itself to its family. I hope that she finds one by the year's end. She was only one of dozens of dogs waiting to be adopted, and twice as many cats. It was so tough going into that shelter, knowing that we couldn't take them all home with us. Not even one. (Well, at least not last week.) You can view her and the other animals in waiting at www.oakgov.com/anmlctrl . . Adoption isn't the only way you can help out. Consider donating your time. Picking up an extra cat toy or two. Or donating old leashes, collars, and blankets. Toge...

“Aussie,” 6x8, lab Paws With a Cause puppy portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $180. $36 from the sale of this painting will be returned to PAWS. Additionally, any commissioned dog-a-day portraits of PAWS dogs will result in a 20% donation back to the parent organization. Inquiries can always come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. Aussie is currently being fostered by a volunteer with Paws With a Cause. Paws With a Cause is an organization that serves people with disabilities through service dogs. You can learn much more about their mission, programming, and how to get involved, by visiting their website: http://www.pawswithacause.org/ . PAWS breeds their own dogs, primarily because of the investment in each one for a specific job. There is no leeway for health issues that could be prevalent in a shelter or rescue dog. Particularly since each service dog is headed for a lifetime of responsibility. Puppies are sent to foster homes, where they are socialized, complete obedien...

“Jackpot (Black Lab Study),” 6” square, commissioned Labrador retriever pet portrait . Jackpot is a pretty special guy. All the dogs I paint are, but this one wears a little halo (which I didn’t include in the painting, but you can see it’s glow in the lower right corner). Jackpot is a service dog with Paws With a Cause. A little over a month ago his person was hospitalized with some serious health issues, and Jackpot went to stay with a foster family. Poor Jackpot became ill as well. The good news is that both patients are rallying. And the story gets nicer still. Jackpot’s foster family, for whom I’ve already painted a handful of times, commissioned this piece for Jackpot’s person, so that she could have a bit of him always with her while she continues her recovery. Proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated back to Paws With a Cause. I do that for every PAWS dog I am lucky enough to paint. I know that you, my readers, only get the one dog-a-day story daily. I, though, a...

“Sonny,” 8x10, commissioned painting , yellow lab pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (THANK YOU!) I love painting yellow labs, and haven’t had the opportunity to for a while now. Their colors are so subtle, the way they slip from flesh to orange to violet to blue. Sonny was so much fun to paint! I especially like how he’s leaning into the painting…… Today I delivered my work (7 large paintings) to Margot’s Gallery for this weekend’s show opening, so my studio feels a little empty right now. All of the artists’ work looks gorgeous – I cannot wait to see her space full of art enthusiasts, and share a glass of wine with the party-goers. For additional information, including directions to the gallery (Oxford, Michigan), please call Margot at 248-628-5398. Thanks, as always, for looking. And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family. See you tomorrow, Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/ distinctive pet portraits & 4-legged...

“Little Jessie,” 4x8, mixed breed pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (thank you!). This is Jessie, who’s lineage could possibly include lab and a little beagle. She has a smoky quality to her golden fur, and distinctive dark eye liner. I blocked her in with the typical yellow lab coloring (cadmium yellow dark and cadmium red dark tinted with titanium white and a smidge of green gold), but then added some blue (pthalo) and green (gold) glazes overtop when it was all still wet. Then I drybrushed the entire surface, eliminating all my edges, but leaving her blurry shape. At this point I also make certain that all the little “pockets” in the board are filled with color – that’s one less detail I need to worry about later. Once that layer dried, I went back in and laid down more generic shapes, starting with a careful redrawing of the edges. I gradually push the shadows deeper and pull the highlights forward, allowing the brushwork to model the form. And I spend a go...

“Love Me (Hayden),” 8” x 8”, lab mix puppy portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection. Another thank you goes out to a Best Friends Magazine reader for commissioning Hayden’s portrait, and sharing her story with me. Hayden had a rough start to life – at a mere 5 weeks, she was the first of her litter to be thrown out of a moving car onto the highway. Her foster family fell in love (how could anyone resist this face?!), and a year later Hayden leads a happy, healthy and permanent life with them. Still a little timid, she’s not one for car rides, but who can forgive her? Goes to show that with love and understanding, just about anything can be healed. With respect to commissioning your own dog-a-day portrait , I have a few slots left for the holidays, but essentially am booked through February of 2008. If you are interested in commissioning a dog-a-day portrait of your own, and want to lock in the current pricing (ranging from $50 to 160), I need your commitment prior to ne...

“Such a Lady (Amy),” 8x10, acrylic mixed breed pet portrait on canvasboard, private collection (thank you!). This painting was a long time in the making. I kept painting it, then backing away, and not seeing enough contrast. There are all sorts of lovely light blues and lavenders and greens in Amy’s underbelly and chest, and I simply wasn’t building enough contrast into them. And with the humidity today, the glazes took their sweet ole time drying, so that extended everything as well. But I love the halos in Amy’s spots, and they are a fun treat to paint – doing them up in lighter tones, gradually building to their darker centers. The trick, for me, to painting animals with these sorts of markings, is to paint their basic body shape first, and model that with the shadows, midtones, and highlights, and then go into that with the spots and other markings at the very end. You also need to balance those smaller brush marks between all the values – not just the lightest or the darkest. Pul...

“Lucky,” 8” square, dog portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (thank you!!). (Lucky is a retired PAWS service dog, and I will be donating proceeds from the sale of his portrait back to PAWS with a Cause.) I inadvertently took yesterday off. I spent the day running about a zillion errands (ok, maybe it was only 12), and by the time I sat down last night to paint, I was whipped. After a little bit of procrastination involving a glass of wine and a few mouthfuls of Ben & Jerry’s, I realized I could paint the daily dog today (Saturday), sine I had committed to demonstrating all day long at a local street festival. We set up early, at 7am, and the rain was gently falling, but the light was beautiful, the way it bounced around underneath my canopy. I started painting Lucky around 9am, and moved onto a larger horse canvas later in the day. The rain came and went, but it did not seem to keep anyone away. In addition to a full day of painting, I met all sorts of great peopl...

I’ve spent all of today surrounded by dog-a-day paintings and other project ephemera, getting ready for Orion Oaks Elementary School Fine Arts Night. I’ll be taking about 3 dozen of my favorite dog-a-day paintings over to the school, where I will get to take over a classroom, and lead about 300 children (during the course of the evening – not all at once, thank goodness!) in quick lessons on making their own little dog portraits. We’ll be working in oil pastels on card stock, but the general idea will be the same. This is always one of my favorite nights of the year. But I did take a quick break from all the organization to do a study of another PAWs dog, this one a puppy in training. Now almost 2, Sirius was released by PAWS and is now a “keeper,” meaning a very well mannered and terribly loved family pet. “In Training (Sirius),” 6x8, dog portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, private collection (Thank you!). As is my policy, 20% of the sale of this painting will be donated to PAWs with ...

Meet Shelby, a sweet weimereiner-labrador cross who excels at squirrel patrol. She also makes an excellent couch potato, or so I’ve been told. Of course I was attracted to all the color in Shelby’s coat, as it is a delightful combination of warm rusty shades with blue to lavender highlights. And those eyes – deeply set, kind and intelligent. Shelby was a delight to paint. “Shelby,” 8” x 16”, acrylic dog portrait on canvasboard. SOLD. Thank you and congratulations go out to Bob Kilway and his family for commissioning Shelby’s portrait. Thanks, as always, for looking. And for sharing these paintings with your family and friends, Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/ distinctive pet portraits & 4-legged paintings http://www.paintingadogaday.com/ come. sit. stay. enjoy the art. Founding member of the Canine Art Guild http://www.canineartguild.com/ the gateway to canine art on the web

After almost a full day of procrastination, capped off by spending a few minutes with our neighbor’s lab mix this evening, I returned home and painted a pair of soulful lab eyes. There’s something about a lab’s gaze - their saturation of honesty perhaps - that I find purely irresistible. So, that said, I give you today’s dog – “Yellow Lab Study,” 4x8, acrylic on canvasboard, $60. All inquiries can come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. I am continuing to collect images for future dog-a-day paintings. Digital images can be submitted to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . Regular photos can come to the studio: 346 N Anderson, Lake Orion, MI 48362 (sorry, regular photos cannot be returned unless you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope). Thanks, as always, for looking. And for sharing these paintings with friends and family. Happy New Year! Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/ distinctive pet portraits & 4-legged paintings http://www.paintingadogada...

"Gracie," 5x7, mixed breed (lab and weimereiner?) painting in acrylic on canvasboard. Not for sale. Thanks, as always, for looking, Kim Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini www.turtledovedesigns.com distinctive pet portraits & 4-legged paintings