“Everyone is taught that angels have wings, but the lucky ones of us find they have four paws.” ― Anonymous
Harmless Fun and Practice
Since 2011, I had only painted seven or so pictures, often feeling inadequate and constantly comparing myself to my late uncle, who was fabulously talented. Add on a slew of internet artists dishing out realistic masterpiece after masterpiece, and I felt completely unmotivated to pick up my paintbrushes.
However, back in September, Hubby and I went to a Horror Convention where we typically enjoy mingling with all sorts of creative and wholesome people present for the positive vibes, art sharing, and culture swapping. One of the artists―Tom of Fridge Worthy Art― inspired me to start painting again, a skill I have significantly neglected since graduating college. Slowly, I learned that my lack of creation had little to do with my “lack of talent” or my “lack of voice.” It had more to do with my lack of work and follow through.
Some more encounters with other artists such as Afura Nefertiti and Way Walker blew my mind away with their unapologetic approach to creating; Walker said it best: “You don’t find your style, you stop hiding from it.”
I spent years being afraid of how my hand naturally holds a brush and swirls color together. I spent years being afraid of practice. I spent years being afraid of sharing my outcomes. Now, here I am, painting and actually enjoying the process not because I am expecting perfection, but because I am flowing with the tide of my paints and brushes. The result? Regal Pet Portraits!
Materials
- Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paints
- 11×14” Canvas x2
- Assorted Brushes: Wash, Grainer, Filbert, Flat, Bright, Ridge, and Mini Liner
- 11×14” Gold Wash Picture Frames
- Staple Gun
- Fabric Scraps
Inspiration
Pet portraits are unserious and comical, but they truly capture the love we have for the most innocent entities of our world. There were two things that inspired this project: my complicated yet loving relationship with my parents, and the regal hamster portraits by Danny Banner.
The idea was to take the regality of and affection toward my family’s golden retrievers, and manifest them into classical portraits. However, instead of the typical European aristocratic backdrops and dress, I used Chevalier de Saint-Georges and Alexander Hamilton as my references. Both were men of lowly and humble beginnings that greatly influenced the societies of their time… And, they also met tragic demises…. (Unfortunately, all pets meet tragic demises, but we can at least love them dearly during the moments that we have them).
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, born as Joseph Bologne, was a French violinist of African descent. He was an incredibly talented composer and fencer who lived as a free man of color during the 18th century. He greatly inspired a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and was so highly acclaimed that he was appointed to be the director of Marie Antoinette’s private orchestra. He was also recognized by King Louis XV and made an officer in the Royal Bodyguard.
Many of his surviving works include Violin Concerto Op.2 no.1 in G Major, Sonata for Harp and Flute in E-Flat Major, and Symphony No.1 in G Major, Op.11.
His success and professional connections to Marie Antoinette and the Duke of Orléans, however, unfortunately made him a target during the French Revolution. During the Reign of Terror, many of the French aristocrats that supported him were executed, hence ending his lucrative lifestyle.
My family is musically talented (skipped a generation through me), so I saw Bologne’s portrait as an excellent reference piece for the golden retriever named Hunter.
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton is famously one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was born in the Caribbean and rose from poverty and tragedy to prominence and influence through sheer intelligence and ambition.
He was well known as an aide to George Washington during the American Revolution, then later became America’s first Secretary of the Treasury. He designed America’s financial system and advocated for a national bank and public credit.
Hamilton notably wrote fifty-one of the eighty-five Federalist Papers, a series of essays used to defend and Ratify the American Constitution.
My family is a huge fan of the Hamilton musical, however, most importantly (like the real Hamilton), my family is extremely passionate and zealous about the importance of education and institutional integrity. There are a lot of parallels between Hamilton’s struggles and my own family’s struggles. Over several generations, they moved to pull the family out from share cropping during the Great Migration to become military officers, nurses, lawyers, doctors, and academics during World War II and after.
Hamilton’s portrait is the reference piece for the golden retriever Chase.
The Process: Two For One Deal
Other than the symbolic reason for choosing Bologne and Hamilton, there was a practical reason for choosing these portraits as well: ease. These paintings are Christmas gifts, so I wanted to ensure that I could complete them in a timely manner. This meant that I wanted to spend as little time painting extravagant attire as possible so that I could focus on the focal points of the portraits: the puppies’ faces.
I painted both portraits at the same time since they utilized similar colors and undercoats. I began with rough shapes and bold colors so that I could get the general idea and shape down on canvas. The puppies faces come from reference photos of the puppies themselves. I played around with my phone to crop and change the angles of the original photos so that I could correctly paint Hunter and Chase’s expressions.
Easy Flow of Ideas
The fun part about painting these portraits was letting go of perfection and focusing not on how perfect the likeness of the portraits were to the original photos of the puppies, but focusing on their expressions and working hard to get their essence down on canvas.
I enjoy working with undertones, so I used what might be unconventional colors to the naked eye to create different values of color in the fur and the overcoats. The fur is not just gold or just white. The fur is majority gold or majority white, but with textures and undertones of blue, red, white, and brown. The end result is multidimensional fur that registers as white, but has interest and complexity.
The same technique is applied to the overcoats. A solid black jacket will not have depth and texture. However, when layered with various shades of blues and browns, the black becomes more realistic and interesting―for, even in real life, nothing is just a single color.
The Frames Brought Magic
Originally I was going to leave the paintings as is, but the presentation was not complete until I added a frame. For the record, my preference would have been to get them professionally framed, but since money was (and still is) tight, and inflation was (and still is) out of control, I sought a more affordable option and bought the frames from The Splinterix store on Amazon.
This Project Taught Me How To Enjoy Painting
Painting these portraits taught me how to enjoy painting again. For the first time, I did not worry about how perfect my work was; I did not worry about painting anything serious; and, I did not worry about how the paintings would be perceived and received.
I legitimately enjoyed every moment of this project from choosing the colors to planning the overall shapes to framing the pieces with my staple gun. These unserious yet serious paintings are meant to capture the love and attention we have for two very special puppies within the family. As an added detail, they were also influenced by historical figures that have a lot of sway in my family. This combination of fun and intention brought a new sense of focus in my work.
What do you think about them?
Cozy Crafting and Art 
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