A good, good dog

Opie has left us. 

Our hearts hurt.

He was a good, good dog.

Lucky us to  have lived with  him for 14 years.

More dogs and two new tools I love

 I've continued practicing watercolor washes over ink drawings.

 Less concerned with realism-trying to get personality.

 Backing up a bit on ink-working more layers of watercolor.

And trying out new creatures as subjects.

 Leaving more white unpainted for highlights.

 Adding Chinese white gouache when paint slides and darkens what I want to stay white.

I know this is my skill level showing. But the eyes above were flat before a bit of white.

This ink seems to slide off the pen nib, a joy to use. No skritchy feel.

 I highly recommend Jetpens for hard to find stationary items. This

 Platinum Carbon Ink is truly waterproof. Pricey but worth it. They offer

free shipping if your order is $25 or more.

Another great tool, 2mm lead sharpener. It holds the graphite shavings until you empty it.
I researched these tools and the good reviews helped with my decision to buy. I like how

 spare my supplies are after the great clear out/donation this fall.

 Cool design.

Opie 'riding' the big yellow table. Yes, he sits there while I work. He barks at

critics and loves all that I make. The best kind of a studio buddy!

Animal Aid yard sale

Animal Aid is having a big yard sale next Sat, June 7, from 8 until 2.

Here is Kerri, the newest addition to the fine dogs and pups there. 

 

 

Here's Hale, who has already found a new family.

And here is Brooke who has also found a new home.

Several of my 5x7 paintings will be at the sale. So if you're in the

neighborhood stop in for the sale and maybe meet a new best friend!

Life is good

 This lovely painting arrived and I'll frame it tonight. 

The artist is Lisa Graham, a talented person I follow online.

Check out her art blog.

Lisa's generous in sharing her knowledge of mixed media

and a very cool person, very kind.

 The front yard is turning green fast. Tomatoes and herbs planted. 

Birdsong is constant. I love the light right before dusk.

This is Traveler, a new Animal Aid pup. 

Several paintings sold this past week!

I need to paint other things but am following this

preoccupation with dogs for now.

The feeders near my desk are busy all day.

No snow in sight-all is well.

More Animal Aid dog paintings

This terrier started out looking like a cartoon to me. I kept

 layering colors then used the rake or grass brush for highlighting the fur. A

little rake brushwork goes a long way. Also, I'm making a note on

each painting of which colors I mixed. Helpful if I can't paint for a few days.

 

 This dog is Hannah who lives at Animal Aid. 

This is Cody, also from Animal Aid. What a sweetie. I'm taking seven paintings

to Plantiques this Tuesday.

 We babysat the grand boy two days this week. 

It was fun but we had to take naps.

Real dogs looking for homes

This is Reba who lives at Animal Aid in Hampton, Va.

And this is Cathy who lives there, too. I'll be framing these for sale at
Plantiques and part of the profits will go back to Animal Aid.
Hazel takes wonderful photos of the dogs and they have given
their permission for me to paint from her photos.

Buster

I love this blog.

Reminds me of a dog's viewpoint day to day. Lately I'm obsessed with dogs and how life
fills up with their unconditional presence in the moment. It drags me back from dreaming
about tomorrow or remembering yesterday.

My little guy is high stepping today with a few inches of snow to navigate. Not warming up
anytime soon.