Art Tips Blog

[Lamb]

I'm starting on pet portraits for Christmas. So far I have 3 lined up for family and will have one more for a church member by November.

My problem is getting started on the portraits. I know I need to get them started so they can dry since these 3 will be oils but I have no motivation and no tips to get anyone else motivated. Maybe a reader can help me?

 

[Lamb]

I have discovered that I hate working with oil paints. The 3 portraits I had planned to do in oils are now going to be done in pastels. I'm 1/3 of the way completed on all 3 in one day!

Tip of the day: If you're not happy working in one type of medium, switch! Your confidence will show through for your skills to achieve what you intend.

 

[Lamb]

Those 3 portraits I talked about in my previous post are not completed yet. I'm not sure why I'm finding it so difficult to get them done. Well, the last one I do know is because the photo I'm using is just awful. So I kind of have to know what the animal looks like in my head from doing other cats as well as knowing which way the fur is laying and how the nose is shaped. I suppose it's a lot more brain activity than one would expect from doing art.

I finished up a portrait yesterday that was mostly done in charcoal of a black dog and I used colored pastels do to the eyes and make them pop! I'm so pleased with how it turned out and I can't wait to show it to the customer. I don't want to give it to her too soon because I know she has another dog and I don't want her to think next time that I can crank it out as fast as this one. The other dog is brown so it will need more work.

 

[FredVB]

That is a really good tip to switch the medium when you are not satisfied with your work as it is, thanks.

I'm starting on pet portraits for Christmas. So far I have 3 lined up for family and will have one more for a church member by November.
My problem is getting started on the portraits. I know I need to get them started so they can dry since these 3 will be oils but I have no motivation and no tips to get anyone else motivated. Maybe a reader can help me?

I think pet portraits are great to work on. I hear some say animals do not have souls. If you can see the soul the animal has I believe it will really help the potrait come out well.

Knowing I have creativity that I want to express, and regularly using time for it, is what I find helpful. It does not happen in a vacuum of course, what art I see and what I read can have things I find inspiring for what can be produced with the creativity. I don't know how helpful this to you but I will be glad if it is.

 

[Lamb]

Thanks, Fred. I'm awful about being creative regularly. I suppose I've gotten lazy in my old age

 

[FredVB]

Thanks, Fred. I'm awful about being creative regularly. I suppose I've gotten lazy in my old age

I am not so young either. But with some occasion I found calling for pursuing the use of my creativity, I discipline myself from using time for just passively enjoying my time to routinely work at the expression of the creativity, more than I ever had when younger, though I find how I can make time for it better now. Reading that I enjoyed helped for inspiring, but I can choose to lessen that a lot for the time to express the creativity (save for reading the Bible, which is still important to continue with).

 

[Lamb]

Now that all the gifts have been given, here are the 4 portraits I worked on in November and had to finish up by mid-December to mat/frame and give as gifts. One was a commissioned portrait and the other 3 were family gifts.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

I went to the American Academy of Art in Chicago and I am a portrait artist mainly doing pet portraits.

Wow! That's amazing! :high5: Is that your job? Do you have a website where you display and sell your works?

 

[Lamb]

Wow! That's amazing! :high5: Is that your job? Do you have a website where you display and sell your works?

Thanks! I no longer have a website because I got sick of dealing with customers.

It's hard to get decent photographs from people even when I'm very specific in what I expect in order to do a good portrait. If I can't see details in the photo how am I supposed to just make it up in the artwork??? They don't get it. Plus I never charged enough for the time I put into the artwork.

I have been doing portrait art for over 20 years now...going on 25 soon. Now it's mostly done as gifts for friends and family.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

Thanks for posting

I primarily "paint" with pastels (chalk) and still use my box of pastels that I bought for life drawing class back in art school in the late 80s. I've used other mediums as well but always return to my beloved pastels.

Here is an example of something I did for my husband 2 years ago:
View attachment 320

Most times for people the eyes can be the focal point but sometimes you can make a piece more interesting by drawing the eye to something else like a stray curl or the smile. On some animals I love having a shiny nose like for a dog.

I've never had a good enough manager to make a lot of money from my art. Advertising/marketing is what kept me fed! LOL

What makes pastels your favorite medium? Do you find them easier to use than other mediums?

 

[Lamb]

What makes pastels your favorite medium? Do you find them easier to use than other mediums?

Yes, I find that I can achieve the look I want very quickly and when I mix my colors I know what the results will be without them becoming muddied like paints tend to do if you aren't careful.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

Thanks! I no longer have a website

What about social media? Do you post your works on DeviantArt, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter and other art-related social networks?

 

[Lamb]

What about social media? Do you post your works on DeviantArt, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter and other art-related social networks?

Since I'm not doing portraits for a business anymore I don't post anything on social media or other sites. If I have to get back into doing them to make money then I'll be posting on a lot of sites for exposure. There are so many other artists to compete with on the internet so I don't think it will be as good as it was 20 years ago when I was getting sales online. I think I would have to push more advertising locally by going to some art fairs or craft shows which I would hate to do since I don't like talking to people LOL

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

What's your favorite animal to paint?

 

[Lamb]

What's your favorite animal to paint?

Dogs. There are so many different types of breeds and they don't all look alike so it's fun.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

Is there any animal species that you've only painted once in your life? An exotic animal or something like that? If not, what animal species that you've never painted would you like to paint? A raccoon? A monkey?

 

[Lamb]

Is there any animal species that you've only painted once in your life? An exotic animal or something like that? If not, what animal species that you've never painted would you like to paint? A raccoon? A monkey?

Those are interesting questions! I started doing art of farm animals when we moved out here to the country and that was new and exciting for me. I think the most unusual would be charcoal drawings of my daughter's guinea pigs and then I also did a cross stitch ornament of them.

 

[Lamb]

One more art tip...don't forget about your art you left hidden someplace because you didn't want to finish it. Finish it. Spray it with the fixative when you're done so dust doesn't build up on it.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

One more art tip...don't forget about your art you left hidden someplace because you didn't want to finish it. Finish it. Spray it with the fixative when you're done so dust doesn't build up on it.

That's a great piece of advice. Did you happen to stumble across one of your unfinished works?

 

[Lamb]

That's a great piece of advice. Did you happen to stumble across one of your unfinished works?

Yes, I had done a pastel painting of my niece's husband's cat and I never sprayed it or sent it to him. It was at the beginning of covid when I did the piece and at the time I didn't want to mail something to them and have them wonder if covid traveled to them as well (not that I had covid, but some people were too afraid to touch their mail).