My latest commission, this is Duke, painted in my Totem style. While I often like to post work-in-progress shots online with paintings I’m working on, the first look at this one is the final image. As it was a birthday gift for the client’s wife, and the client is also a friend, there was a slim chance that she might see it online and recognize it as her dog. Let’s face it, ruining a surprise is just bad for business. This was completed at the end of last month then sent off to my printer in Calgary. The final print was a giclée on canvas, 18″X24″ with a shadowbox frame. Shipped to Dallas, it arrived yesterday and thanks to the magic of online video, I was able to see the reaction when it was opened. That’s just icing on the cake.
I know I say this a lot about paintings, but this was a lot of fun. I had a number of reference photos to work from and the client chose my exaggerated caricature Totem style of painting over my portrait style and I really enjoyed painting Duke with his happy goof expression. It’s true that I enjoy both painting styles in which I work and I allow clients to choose which one they prefer for their image, but the Totem style is my favorite. I laughed out loud a few times while painting this image and am glad I finally get to share it.
For those who like the tech details, I painted this digitally in Photoshop CC using both a Wacom Cintiq 13HD and a Wacom Cintiq 24HD display.
