Thomas Blinks

He depicted sporting dogs with the most brilliant expressions and anatomy.  I love the way he did three dogs like the Gordon Setters Above and would get multiple views. The tails, bodies and head of the dogs move the viewers eye through the painting beautifully. Also with four ground, middle ground, and back ground. Beautiful work!

Maud Earl

Associated with painting of pure-bred dogs. Born into an artistic family. George Earl her father well known animal artist and her uncle Thomas Earl, who painted horses and other animals. She had a natural talent for capturing the character of her canine subjects.

I enjoy her style as well because it is so similar to the way I like to work. Large deceptive brush strokes, all the interest on the animal with little attention to the background. It has a feeling of being a study of the dog physically and its personality.

Silent Sorrow 1910

The painting depicts Edward VII's Wire Fox Terrier, Caesar. mourning at his masters chair. Caesar who was bread by the duchess of Newcastle, never left his masters side and even walked in the King's funeral procession.

Dave and Mocha Motivated Start to a Series

 

A picture of a special friend and teacher running agility with his pitt puppy Mocha. The loss of such a great person and seeing his dogs dispersed into there new lives motivated the start of a series of graphite portrait drawings of dogs.  I used a picture I found because I love the way the dog is looking up so hopefully. I kinda felt like maybe this face showed the questioning that Mocha would have had in her eyes and the way she is looking up as if looking  to people for her new direction. I liked showing the sequence of the making of the drawing. It kinds shows the process.

 line drawing and shadow layout.

more done

 It is starting to look good

I think I did work on it more after this picture. But it is looking really nice.

Agility Dog Sketches

Borzoi

Agility dogs come in so many shapes and sizes! I am so happy to have had the opportunity to learn about and meet so many different dog breeds. The most loved and happy pets are at these events. I did these sketches like two years ago and lost them. I was so happy to find them today! Maybe I should clean my art supplies more often.

Poodle/King Charles Cavalier

Irish Setter

Miniature Schnauzer

Human Portraits

Anatomy or Comparison...

This is a wood print. I love the comparison. When I created this, I had been reading about dog and human psychology and was taking a Anatomical Drawing class in college. The best part of having a dog as a pet is being able to read things about yourself from them. Here is some neat reading about dog and human psychology.

Animal Owners’ personality traits resemble their Pets’

Maneka Gandhi

I have 13 dogs but the two that follow me around everywhere are Rani and Mili. Rani is feisty, determined, loyal and a complete nuisance. She will not give in until she gets what she wants. Mili is gentle, graceful,patient and very intelligent. She is also murderous in her own quiet way – she attacks other dogs at night ,  birds and mice. Which one of them has taken on my character, I wonder. All my dogs are fat – that’s one trait that they probably got from me.

Prof. Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire is the author of a number of books on curious subjects such as what characteristics attract luck . In a survey, Richard Wiseman asked 2,500 people to complete questionnaires about their characters and those of their pets. The survey found that many dog and cat owners and even reptile keepers said they shared many of the same traits - such as happiness, intelligence, independence and sense of humour-as their pets and they often behaved alike.

Wiseman also discovered that the longer an animal had been with its owner, the more likely it was to have picked up his/her characteristics. The species difference did not matter. Like a married couple , the “pet” and its “owner” adopted each other’s traits.

Wiseman found about 20% of pet owners rated their own personality and that of their animals as alike. In those who had owned their animal for seven years or more, the rating increased to 40%.

One person believed that he and his dog were growing more grumpy,less tolerant and fussier about their food.  Another said that she and her cat both enjoy harassing her husband, biting his toes and attacking him when he was trying to do something. A lizard keeper said their personalities change to become more like his. “"I've had them calmly sitting and watching the television with me . If you've got lots of energy they pick up on that, and if you are fearful they're fearful too.  Generally because I'm calm they tend to calm down themselves." One parrot owner said she talked and bobbed her head like a parrot and her parrot had picked up her more eccentric traits. Owners that were happy and cheery had dogs always wagging their tails.

Not just personality , dogs look like their owners, a U.S. study suggests.Researchers from the University of California, San Diego reported their findings in the May issue of Psychological Science showing that people choose purebred dogs that resemble them. Researchers explored the myth that owners look like their dogs by seeing if judges could match photographs of dogs with their owners.
They photographed 45 dogs  and their owners, separately and showed 28 judges pictures of the owners, their dogs, and one other dog and asked to pick the true match. In most of the cases , the judges found the correct match.  Some pairs were more obvious than others. "There was a goofy guy, smiling with slightly shaggy hair and a golden retriever with a goofy smile, the same hair - everyone said 'these two go together'."

There are two explanations for this : either the resemblance had developed while the person had owned the dog, in the same way that a 1987 report suggested the facial appearance of married couples converged over time.  Or that owners selected dogs at the outset that looked like them. The researchers found that people with a friendly outlook on life were more likely to choose friendly-looking dogs. They note: "It does appear that, as in the case of selecting a spouse, people want a creature like themselves."

Which means that all animals have not just intelligence but personality. A  U.S. study  team led by psychologist Professor Samuel Gosling of the University of Texas at Austin, reports on the first cross-species personality study between a human and another animal in the current Journal of Personality and Social Psychology revealing that dogs have personalities, and that these character traits can be identified as accurately as personality attributes in humans.

The dog research consisted of three studies on evaluation of the human dog owner and the dog, using criteria common to human personality studies: extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness. After the three tests, the researchers determined that the judgments made for the dog personalities were as accurate as those made for the human personalities. There was a similar pattern of consistency, which the researchers were able to chart mathematically. Professor David Funder, chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of California at Riverside, agrees that animals have personalities - something that every pet owner knows.

Psychology Professor James King, at the University of Arizona and an expert on primates, said that research on chimpanzees and orangutans supported Gosling's work. King said, "Tool using, culture, and language have been shown to not be uniquely human. Now, we are seeing that our personality and personality dimensions are also not uniquely human, but shared with non-human primates and perhaps all animals."

In modern times we humans see ourselves as separate from the evolutionary chain. But are we any different ? If our looks, our personalities are the same , what makes us different ? Just our violence, greed and weapons ?

  http://www.bihartimes.in/Maneka/dogs.html

 

Dogs are some of the best therapists I know. Even Sigmund Freud, who wasn't exactly known for being the warm and fuzzy type, had a soft spot for these four-legged creatures.  Freud owned two chows, Lun and Jo-Fi, the latter of which sat dutifully beside him as the elderly analyst conductedtherapy sessions with his patients. 

Freud felt that his dogs had a special sense that enabled them to judge his patient's character.  It was for this reason he allowed Jo-Fi to attend all of his therapy sessions.  He admitted with complete sincerity that he often depended on Jo-Fi to provide him with an assessment of his patient's current mental status.  Jo-Fi would dutifully alert Freud to which  patients were experiencing stress by where she chose to sit during sessions.

Working

Graphite Expressions

Painted Graphite series. 

Show!

Horse painting from a show a while back. 

Moo

Wanted to post something other then dogs. Here are some Guernsey cows. We are taking our vacation this year at a organic farm. After a entire week on a cow farm I am sure there will be more paintings of them. 

Sketches and Doodles

Imaginary pets

I just needed to get painting...I just sat down and made paint hit the canvas. This is what I came up with. I think this is what Buffalo-my childhood imaginary friend/dog looked like. But I am pretty sure Buffalo could turn in to a german shepherd when I wanted it too as well. It was a super dog, I guess.

I have always had a dream that I could be like Harold and the Purple crayon. To paint or draw something and it comes to life...I would have had TONDS of pet horses. :)

Rein Poortvliet

Christmas wishes from Mopsie

Rien Poortvliet dutch artist 1932-1995

I have been in love with his drawings and paintings since I was a very little girl. He has a couple of illustrated books and to this day I am still just memorized by his work. He was unbelievable at capturing the real animal. Not just the way it appeared but the real essence of each animal. I even love the way his books were set up like a sketch book with writing over the work and studies throughout. He was a true and honest artist who just loved discovering his world through drawing and painting it. He shared his views, intrigues, and insights, with anyone who would spend the time to look at his work. I believe most people make the time when they see his work. I wanted to share some of the work that I love.

Rien's "shortish" Biography

His parents were strict Dutch Reformists. They had Rien's future firmly mapped out and were quite opposed to the idea of their oldest son going to study art.

Rien's talent was apparent at a very early age. After finishing his primary education he went to work for an advertising agency. (Where he was able to let his talent mature and learn the "in's and out's" of the publishing world.)

Poortvliet's heart really lay in illustration and it was by the end of the 1960s that he felt it was time to resign from publishing and change career.

He became an independent illustrator.

Not having enough work when starting out on this new journey (rings loads of loud bells for many of us out there!) he made ends meat by publishing a book of his studies and paintings. All were based on his love of animals, knowledge of hunting and respect of wildlife. This "lean" period was his blessing in disguise: so many more books followed. (I highly recommend getting your hands on (well at least one, if you don't have one already!) Barnes & Noble seem to have the best selection.

"Leven en werken van de Kabouter" (co-authored by Wil Huygen, English title"Gnomes") saw an astonishing 59 printings. 

With the Gnomes series Poortvliet acquired international fame.

He sold over 11 million copies of his books worldwide.

This fame continued to grow even after his death: his series took on a life of its own, not only were they translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Finnish, Italian and many other languages but also made into a cartoon.

(More facts and figures can be found in wikipedia)

I have tried to make this short but this Dutch painter/illustrator deserves time, credit and so much more.

Here's why....

• Poortvliet saw himself as a characteristic narrator. His drawings told the tale (and amazingly so I must add)

• In my mind, and this is what really draws me to his work, he was an artist with asense of humour, grounded, warm, clever and incredibly talented.

• His choice and deep understanding of his subjects: horses, dogs, children, everyday working people and even his wonderful imaginary Gnomes come alive, are alive...

• He fearlessly renders subjects in any medium: oil, pen & ink, charcoal or watercolour.

• He perfectly renders subjects in any genre: sketched or detailed fine art.

• Through one stroke he pinpoints the essential, mirrors emotions, highlights worlds and lives.

• His accuracy is tremendous.

• His palette of choice is warm, earthy. His studies all show a clever and convincing use of ochres, browns, golds, umber, reds...

what would I like to steal for my very own? The beauty and accuracy of his stroke.

 

All illustrations shown here are have been scanned from my treasured Rien Poortvliet books (Dogs, Horses and Gnomes)

My own Art Blog!

Making art is more than something to do it is apart of being. I am excited to use this space as a sort of computer sketchbook. The neat thing about this sketchbook is more people can see the work. I had to start with something of my Dog "Jeep" named after Popeye's Dog. 

Eugene the Jeep

The name fits my little rescue one eyed Australian Shepherd perfectly. He was a right place right time dog. He was given to me as a tiny pup because a existing eye injury. I am so happy and lucky to have such a willful and smart dog teaching me about dog behavior. He believes his jobs include keeping the yard free of squirrels and being the fastest agility dog. 

Anyway paintings capture the animals personality and expression with such accuracy. I learned things about my Jeepie from doing a painting of him. He is a special subject because he has a very unique look. 

"Jeep" April 2011

"There is no such thing as talent. What they call talent is nothing but the capacity for doing continuous work in the right way."

Winslow Homer