Hogan - Dog Portrait in Pencil

Friday, March 27, 2009



My latest completed portrait is of Hogan, a shepherd mix. Sadly, I was never able to meet Hogan, as he had passed away before his owner contacted me. Fortunately, she had a couple of photos of him that had enough detail for me to use. The photo we both liked best wasn't good enough resolution, so we discussed her other photos and decided on this one.



I cropped it, which if you've been following my art, you know I like to do with many of my portraits.


This is the greyscale version.


And here's a detail of the portrait.


In an ideal situation, I'm able to take my own reference photos for pet portraits, but when that isn't possible, as in Hogan's case or if the pet is too far away (as in Ripple's case), I can come up with a suitable option based on the photos the client does have (or can take). Sometimes I have to go with the looser watercolor style that doesn't have (or require) as much detail. Or perhaps I'll just create a smaller portrait if the client really, really wants a pencil or scratchboard drawing. This is one of the reasons I'm glad I'm able to offer different styles and mediums, it gives me and my clients more possibilities. A big part of the portrait process is discussing all the options and the client's wishes up front - if we're both on the same page, we'll both be satisfied with the end result.

I'll use this opportunity to remind you that our dear pets never live as long as we'd like, so it's important to take the time to get some good photos of them now. Even if you have no plans to commission a portrait, you'll have wonderful photographic memories that you can cherish. For tips on getting good photos of your pets, you can read this article I wrote about pet photography for the Pet Gazette a while back. If you're interested in taking photos for a portrait commission, you can also read my pet photo guidelines.

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Misty - Pinto Filly Drawing

Tuesday, March 24, 2009



I finished this ink on scratchboard drawing last week. This is Misty, a pinto filly. She's a "pinto" and not a "paint" because she's a cross of an Arab mare and a Paint stallion. Pinto is a color pattern, Paint is a breed - although there is a Pinto horse registry for pinto colored horses of a variety of breeds. So there's your horse breed lesson for the day.

As often happens with drawings or paintings that aren't commissioned, this one took a while to finish. I took the photos of Misty and her dam a few years ago. I started the drawing in 2007 as a demo for an ink on scratchboard workshop. The in-progress drawing came with me to subsequent workshops and I made more progress on it. At the last workshop I taught in February, I managed to push it past the halfway point. When that happens, it usually inspires me to finish a piece.



I also decided it would be a good drawing to enter into this year's Draft Horse Classic art show, so that gave me further reason to get it done. The drawing will debut at Dancing Dog Productions (1101 High Street, Auburn CA) for the Auburn Art Walk on June 11, 2009. I'm coordinating a show of students' works from my ink on scratchboard workshops and want to have one of my works in the Art Walk show.

This is the original photo I used for reference:


This is the cropped photo. I opted to crop out her body and focus on her head, neck & chest:


And, as I always do, this is a greyscale version to help me better see the tones of black, white and grey.


I added dark sections to the background in order to provide contrast for her blaze and the wispy white sections of her mane. I took some artistic license and opted not to show the shadow of her head on the white part of her neck and I made her face a bit more sun-lit to show more detail.

The drawing measures 5" x 6.5"

I have note cards of this drawing available in my ArtFire shop. I also have this cute photo of Misty biting a bike tire on cards in my shop.

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"Alabama Ripple" - New Pet Portrait

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

I met the client who commissioned Ripple at the Auburn Old Town Gallery one day. She's from Alabama, but was in Auburn visiting her daughter and they both came in to see the art. We had a wonderful conversation about dogs and the charity in Alabama for which she volunteers - Hand in Paw. Really, I'm not at the Gallery all the time, but I work there 2 afternoons a month, and since it's only a few minutes from home, I stop in often. So it was still serendipitous that we were all there at the same time. She mentioned that her sister had a very beloved poodle mix and she'd get back to me about commissioning a portrait as a surprise gift. She may well have contacted my by e-mail even if she hadn't met me that day, but I know that the face to face conversation helped her learn more about me and my portraits and was probably the reason she choose me for the commission. That personal touch is so very important!

At first she wanted a detailed scratchboard portrait, but when I saw the photos she'd been able to "sneak" and e-mail, I told her they were less than ideal, but I'd be willing to give it a try. Over time and with subsequent visits back to Auburn and the Gallery (where she was able to see my various styles of portraits) and e-mail discussions with me, she opted for a portrait in my Petzazz style. We're both very glad she went that route. The Petzazz paintings are looser and more interpretive, so it was much easier to work in that style for Ripple's portrait.


This was the most useful of the photos - showing a great expression and head angle, even if a bit blurry. You can see how it would have been challenging to pull a detailed scratchboard portrait out of that.


I cropped the photo to focus on Ripple's head.



I had a lot of fun with this portrait - the Yupo surface allows me to push paint around and lift it to create all the interesting texture in Ripple's fur. I also "turned back the clock" a bit - getting rid of his cataracts and making him appear less grey. I also chose not to show his back on the left, making it look more like he was sitting instead of standing.


A detail of the portrait


Even more detail of the portrait

PS - I didn't know until today how Ripple's owner felt about the surprise gift of the portrait, but now I do and I'm so pleased that she is happy with it! See the comment below.

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- - - All art and images ©Ann Ranlett, unless otherwise credited. All rights reserved. - - -
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