Archive for April, 2010

Sophie – Shih Tzu Portrait painting

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Sophie is a gorgeous Shih Tzu puppy that I had the opportunity to photograph several years ago. Sophie’s all grown up now, so taking a trip back in time to capture her cheeky puppy personality in this painting was alot of fun!

Shih Tzu’s are an intelligent, active toy breed whose ancestry is rather obscure. Believed to have originated in Tibet, they are the oldest and smallest of the Tibetan ‘holy dog’ breeds.  The breed is known for their naturally long, flowing coat, however, they do require a lot of grooming and care, so many pet Shih Tzu’s choose to have their coats clipped short for easy care.

Shih Tzu puppy portrait

Shih Tzu puppy portrait

Greeting cards, laminated, matted, canvas and framed prints of “Sophie in The Sunshine” can be purchased from my Redbubble giftshop:Buy art

Art prints and gifts for Shih Tzu dog lovers.

Sourced from: michellewrighton.com (© Copyright All Rights Reserved 2010.)

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Italian Greyhound | Dog Portrait Painting

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Italian Greyhounds would have to be one of the most elegant and delicate looking breed of dogs and they have the most beautiful eyes! Italian Greyhounds, or “Iggy’s” as they are affectionately called, are the smallest of the sighthound family and despite their Toy breed classification and companion dog status, many still retain the instinct to chase small animals and birds!

The breed has a long and noble history spanning thousands of years.  Mummified remains of dogs similar to Italian Greyhounds have been excavated from the tombs of the Pharaoh’s in the Valley of Kings and it is believed that the breed originated in Egypt around 3000BC.  These small hounds were taken to the  Mediterranean by the Romans around 600 BC, and because of their popularity in Italy during the middle ages, they became known as Italian Greyhounds and were frequent companions to European Royalty and Aristocracy including Mary Queen of Scots, Charles 1, Catherine the great and Queen Victoria.  This elegant breed has been portrayed in art throughout the centuries from paintings to carvings and ceramic statues.

I strive to capture the essence of the individual animal in my artwork and so much of this is conveyed through the eyes, which are what compelled me to paint this gorgeous Italian Greyhound from a photo reference by fellow artist C. Sheeter.  I hope I have captured that unique spark in ‘Magnifico’.

Magnifico - Italian Greyhound Portrait Painting

Art prints and gifts featuring my Italian Greyhound Painting ‘Magnifico’ will be available for purchase shortly,if you would like to receive notification when merchandise is available, simply follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/artistMichelleW) or on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Perth-Australia/South-West-Photography/108861603360?ref=ts).

SourcedFrom Sourced from: michellewrighton.com (© Copyright All Rights Reserved 2010.)

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Taj | Border Collie Pet Portrait Painting

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Busy, Busy Busy!  It seems like there is never enough hours in the day to get everything done – and that is my excuse for not updating my blog more regularly and I’m sticking to it!   One of the big things that is taking alot of time -many, many, many months – is a BIG PROJECT that is slowly nearing completion (click the link and follow me on Twitter for the announcement on that one).

I’ve also got a few new paintings to add to the blog, and a couple more that I am still working on, one of a dog painting, the other a horse and rider that is not flowing the way I would like it too, maybe a few days break from that one over easter will allow me too look at it again with fresh eyes.

Several people have asked how I complete my digital paintings with my graphics tablet and stylus, so I’ve also been working on a small series of articles explaining the different types of digital art and the process that I use to create my digital portrait paintings – some people seem to think that digital paintings are ‘one-click’ photoshop effects, but that explanation couldn’t be further from the truth!

In the meantime (because I have to run and feed the horses their breakfast!) this is a pet portrait painting I have recently completed of my gorgeous Border Collie dog, Taj (yes a painting for me!).  This is one of those paintings that just flowed without interuption, I suspect because I know the subject so well:)  Taj is a rather extroverted character, he’s never met a stranger and is such a show-off, he loves posing for the camera and really is the perfect photograhic and art model!  It may run in the family, because one of his uncles is the Border Collie in the Better Homes & Gardens television commercial.

border collie pet portrait painting

Prints of Taj’s portrait painting will be available for purchase from Redbubble and Zazzle shortly.

SourcedFrom Sourced from: michellewrighton.com (© Copyright All Rights Reserved 2010.)

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