A Dog (Pet) a Day Project

Each day, I try to complete a "Daily Painting" in addition to a larger work. This "Daily Painting"  is a painting that is small format and is completed in 1- 4 hours. This little painting usually answers an artistic question. It may be a study for a larger painting.  It may be an exploration of a particular set of colors. It may be trying a new brush, a new stroke, or a new technique. Every daily painting is an exercise, mostly in "looseness" and happiness in being a painter.  Each one completed adds to the number of canvases and hours of painting to grow as a painter.  One of the subjects I love to paint is pets. I am a cat person, but I love to paint dogs as much or more than cats. Perhaps this is because dogs are so "joyful" and "in the moment". Perhaps this is because I have not met a dog owner who isn't happy to have his or her pet pose for me as I pass walking with my camera and to date, no cats are leash-trained.

Recently my friend Kat Coy, who is a fabulous painter, (see her work here) shared one of Clair Hartmann's wonderful dog paintings (see Clair's work here). Clair has this fantastic project to support her local animal rescue. Both Kat and Clair have fantastic descriptions of "how to take photos of your pets" and Clair has some remarkable pet poses.
Hmmm...1. I have a sweet friend who is passionate about a local animal rescue.
               2. I love to paint dogs (and cats).
               3. I want to continue learning from daily paintings, and sometimes finding subjects is time consuming.
So, I hope to copy Clair Hartmann: paint daily paintings of pets and support the local animal rescue that is my friend's passion. These will be 8" x 10" size. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from these pet painting sales will be donated to Animal Crackers. If there are enough completed, a book containing the best images will be created with 100% of proceeds going to Animal Crackers. If you send me an image, your pet could be a "Cover Dog (or cat). To any of you that are coming May 9 to my Spring Open Studio to look around, please think about bringing a photo of your best pet!!