Skip to main content
Today has been unusually productive. I've gotten three stellar little paintings completed, all for the same client, and all as holiday gifts. This leaves me with only two dog-a-day paintings left pre-holiday, and those I am awaiting reference photos on. Oh, and I do have one other large canvas that I have been slowly working on - but he's not due till shortly after the holiday.

Since October 1st I've completed 77 dog-a-day paintings, and 5 larger stretched canvases. That includes a week off for my brother's wedding, and another break for the AKC Eukanaba National Dog Show Championships earlier this month. I guess you could say I've been a little bit crazed.

But this means that starting tomorrow I can actually kick back, take a deep breath, and maybe even get to meet a girlfriend or two for adult conversation and sustenance of some sort. Oh yeah, and I get to do Christmas shopping (and wrapping), start holiday baking (mmmm, homemade biscotti), and catch up on other household tasks that have been piling up around here (like completing that baby blanket I was knitting for my nephew who is now almost a year old!).

I'll be painting every day still, but working on that larger canvas, another even larger triple horse portrait, and a small number of paintings that I want to submit to winter exhibitions. I will not be posting every day, but will do so as the opportunity presents itself.

I'm also planning on building a page on my website that highlights dog-a-day paintings that could not be shared without ruining surprises - I will post an announcement when that is completed.

I will officially return to Painting a Dog a Day on Monday, January 7th, with the first Animal Welfare Week of 2008. I will check in periodically between now and then - after all, you know me - I'm not one to stay quiet for long. :)

But meanwhile, I'll share my favorite of today's paintings with you.


"Burton," 6x12, commissioned shepherd mix, pet portrait acrylic on canvasboard. This one is especially nice to me because of the color temperature shifts - how the darks change from cool to warm as they mold the dog's head, shoulders, and muzzle. What I've been studying in my class is summed up beautifully in this one painting (there's even a hint of flesh tone in Burton's cheeks!!)

Thank you very much to today's collector for giving me three wonderful faces to play with all day.

And thank you to all my readers for doing the same for the last 14 months! I so appreciate your sticking with me all this time - my wish is for all of you to have a season full of blessings and joy and wagging tails and rumbling purrs.
Happy Holidays!
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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tabby Kit

"Tabby Kit," 5" x 7", acrylics on a museum quality panel, depicting a tiny little orange striped guy from Morgue File . This painting can be yours for $289, which includes s&h inside the US. And in case you didn't see it, a little doodle of him is also available for sale here . Inquires may come directly to me .  Although it certainly doesn't FEEL like spring here (snow and ice and wind chills, brr!), I can tell that spring is coming. The mercury is rising a wee bit each day and the days are getting longer and brighter. Over the weekend we drove with the moonroof open just to feel the sun's meager and oh-so-very-welcome warmth (although the heat in the car was cranked, too, in the interest of full disclosure!). I wanted to work with spring-like colors today, and this little guy was still on my mind , so I grabbed a small panel and got to work. Of course, I also have Poppy to finish and some changes to make to another po
“Rapt (Shadow),” from the Larger than Life series, 16”x22”, acrylic black lab mixed breed pet portrait on gallery wrapped canvas, $699. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . SOLD. This is Shadow, who went missing on Sunday night. He belongs to a friend of mine, and has been a fixture in our community for many years. Errant fireworks scared the silly old guy into running off, and his family is busy searching for him. (If you happen to be in the Lake Orion/Oakland County area and have seen Shadow, please call 248-391-0867 or 248-391-6817) I’m confidant that he is safe (somewhere!) and awaiting discovery, but meanwhile, couldn’t help myself from posting his portrait as today’s dog a day painting . He’s constantly on my mind, and probably will remain so, until he finds his way back home. Hug your four legged guys while you can! Thanks, as always, for looking. And for sharing these paintings with friends and family, Kim Kimberly Kelly Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/ dis

NEW! Etsy Store

One of my favorite unsold paintings from 2008, "Lashes & Corkscrews," 5" x 8", acrylic on canvasboard, depicting a tobiano buckskin curly horse, $289. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com (but read further on how you can get a special deal on this painting!). Now it's ridiculously easy to browse my painting archives. All you have to do is visit my Etsy store . Etsy has a Shopping Cart (so you can pile it high with purchases from a variety of artists), is integrated with Paypal (although you may still pay by check if you prefer to), and is terribly simple to navigate. When the week has ended, I will have listed almost 100 of my favorite (UNSOLD!) paintings here, grouped loosely by subject matter. During 2009 I'll update the shop regularly, and add non-Dog-a-Day pieces as a bonus, thus making it easy to search for that perfect gift. Watch my daily postings for announcements, promotions and discount codes. If you do not receive the Dog-a-Day emails (