"Patrick" Pet Portraits In Charcoal

Welcome back to my Pet Portraits in Charcoal Blog!  Please read on about Patrick  and other Pet issues…BUT FIRST…if you would like your pet, or a friends pet portrayed in an 11 x 14 in Charcoal Sketch sent to you, and included in one of these blog posts for the world to see… please visit this link and get the Info!   http://www.petportraitsbycy.com/?page_id=743

Patrick is considered a mixed Terrier, more about the Terrier breed later, but as far as Patrick goes,  apparently he was a very spunky and mischievous soul, He was owned by Melissa in Littleton Colorado. Melissa’s sister Liz tells me he was quite often getting into little trouble causing adventures around the house including everything from stealing food off your plate, to chewing on your socks and playing with the electrical cords.  A smart little dog however as he would run under the bed when he knew he was in trouble.  Landy, Liz’s dog, was Patrick’s best doggy friend and they would spend much time together having  what I am sure was a lot of fun!  Patrick, unfortunately has passed on, he had some heart problems and died at only two years of age. Even though his life was short, he was greatly loved and spoiled by Melissa and her family and had a wonderful life both getting and giving much love and devotion. His family misses him dearly, and I am honored to be able to help him live on in a small way though my art and this story.

There are traditionally two types of Terriers, short legged and long legged, Terriers were used mainly in The English empire throughout the 18th and 19th century as hunting,  guard and watch dogs. Many breeds originated throughout  the British Isles region including Scotland and Ireland. Terriers are very smart and brave regardless of there sometime smaller size. They will fight a fox or other animal many times bigger than themselves. They were used for everything from hunting, to war service to guarding mines,  farms and livestock.  And as was true with Patrick, they seem to have a playful almost tangible sense of humor, and comical air about them which makes today’s hybrid breeds wonderfully fun and loyal household pets. 

Thank you for reading about Patrick and check back soon for another Cy Hundley Pet Portraits In Charcoal Blog entry!

Kenai

Hello and welcome back  to the Pet Portraits By Cy Blog. Today I want to introduce all of you to Kenai, my latest portrait  painting. Kenai is owned and greatly loved by Ariel from Firestone Colorado. Kenai is a Blue Doberman, he is the son of Goblin,(father, a Black Doberman) and Jeepers Creepers (mother, a Fawn Doberman). We ironically chose to paint Kenai in this fall/Halloween scene and I did not realize his parents were named with this holiday in mind. In fact I later found out that the owners of Kenai’s parents were married on Halloween! It ended up being the perfect setting.

Ariel met Kenai when he was 2 days old, and she was a senior in high school, She would drive down to Colorado Springs to visit with Kenai for weeks before she could bring him home, which she did the day after she graduated. Kenai is now 6 years old and I can tell he and Ariel love each other and are best friends. 

When I met Kenai for the first time he was very friendly and gentle, I could see he has had some physical injuries over the years, a broken leg at an early age and a back injury later in life, But he seemed very happy and very well cared for.  He did not mind our photo session at all, and was a pleasure to work with. Upon the delivery of the portrait he was chewing on a bone, and aside from a welcoming bark of sorts he was content to stay near us and enjoy his chewing, apparently not knowing or caring that he has now been immortalized in a painting.

It was a very pleasureful experience to meet and paint Kenai, I really like the composition of the piece, I love the color orange, and therefore was thrilled to include pumpkins in the Pet Portrait. I also love Halloween and by putting the receding, dark, yet inviting forest in the background I was able to include some mystery in the piece.  These compositional components plus Kenai’s confident pose, I feel portrays him in the Regal and important way that he deserves.

Some Doberman facts: 

Dobermans date back to 1890 when Louis Doberman of Apolda Germany crossed a German Pinscher with both a German Rottweiler and a Greyhound.

Dobermans prefer other people to other dogs and this fondness is most easily developed and seen in a one person relationship.

A Doberman is well equipped to handle jobs that require strength, speed and intelligence. He has been used as a guide for the blind and has been involved in a considerable amount of war service. Also because of his acute sense of smell he is a formidable hunter.

The original Dobermans were bred as guard dogs and got the reputation as a mean animal, nowadays friendlier strains are available and are very adaptable as a household pet.

There are four main types of Dobermans: Black, Blue, Fawn, and Red. Kenai is a Blue Doberman.

Thank you for visiting my website and reading my Pet Portraits By Cy Blog!

Dont forget about my 2011 free wildlife print Holiday Promotion! Check out my Blog archives for September and view the “Pet Portraits By Cy Fall/ Holiday  Promotion” post !!!

"Rocky" Pet Portraits in Charcoal

Hello Friends and welcome to my Pet portraits by Cy blog! I will be periodically sharing charcoal sketches of pets which I will be drawing either from life or from photos which I shoot.  I will Accompany these pet portrait sketches with a number of possible stories or useful pieces of pet information. Sometimes I will write about the animal portrayed and or the sketching process and under what circumstances the sketch was produced.

Rocky is my first installment, Rocky is a very fun golden retriever who is owned by the owner of the Hitching Post here in Niwot Colorado. I was the featured artist at the first Friday art walk in Niwot on November 4th.  Rocky is the shop dog and spends all day visiting the shops customers. The Hitching post sells all sorts of items that a horse owner or enthusiast would love,  from saddles, riding gear and clothing to fine art.

I set my easel up and sketched Rocky from both a photo and from life, he was at my feet for most of the process. Many people ventured into the store and enjoyed watching me sketch the dog that would jump up for affection shortly after their arrival. I have two paintings for sale at the hitching post, both can be seen on  http://www.petportraitsbycy.com/ on the horse section of my fine art prints and cards page. There are many fine artists who have horse paintings and prints for sale at the store.

Niwot is a fun and thriving little art community located between Boulder and Longmont Colorado. There are nice art galleries, coffee shops clothing stores and of course the Niwot market, owned by my good friend Bert Steele. In Niwot you can also see beautiful murals both outside and in. Our latest is a 180 foot long mural on the west side of the excel energy building. It was painted by my good friend and fellow muralist Denise Chamberlain. I have painted a number of murals in town as well. you can see some on my mural site,   http://muralsbycy.com/.  For a fun art, dining and gathering  experience, check out our little town on the first Friday night of the month!

Please check back to see more of my charcoal pet portrait sketches. I will be potentially adding  charcoal  as a pet portrait medium to compliment my Acrylic on canvas work. More on this later,  but please feel free to inquire if interested. Thank you for reading my Pet portraits By Cy blog!!

Dont forget about my 2011 free wildlife print Holiday Promotion! Check out my Blog archives for September and view the “Pet Portraits By Cy Fall/ Holiday  Promotion” post !!!

Hey Everybody!  Throughout the year I will be running different promotional specials here at Pet Portraits By Cy.  This is the Holiday seasonal promotion, yes, time to start thinking about Christmas and giving. From now, September 2011 til The end of December 2011, I will be offering the following specials on my Portraits and Products:

***** Order a Pet Portrait of any size  and receive a  free rolled Blk/Wht Wildlife print!   There are four designs currently to choose from on my Wildlife portfolio in my Fine Art Prints and Cards section of this website.  For this promotion there is one specific size for each Print. Print sizes range from 16 x20 in. to 24 x 36 in.

Cy Hundley

Hello again, I have just added my fine art products line. Checkout the Fine Art Prints And Cards button, you will see a drop down menu with new portfolio pages and ordering information. I sell Wildlife, Flower, and Horse Fine Art prints and Greeting Cards. I will regularly be adding artwork to all of these portfolios, so be looking for new artwork for sale here. All of the paintings you see here are available as both fine art prints and as greeting cards.

Also, visit me on Facebook!  Look up Cy Hundley and Petportraitsbycy. You can keep up with any Cy Hundley art news, and learn about events and organizations which help animals in need.

Cy Hundley

Hello out there fellow animal lovers. Thought I would share some information and give a few tips on the best ways to get the best photos of your animal for use as reference material for an artist, such as myself, who will use them to create a beautiful pet portrait painting. 

I am by no means a professional photographer, so I don’t want to pretend to know more than most people. I do know however what I need as far as reference material (pictures) go, to create the most accurate and striking portrayal of your pet.

As is stated in my website, given the opportunity, I would like to do the photographing. Not only because I know what I need but mainly because it gives me the chance to connect with the animal and really learn things about its demeanor and personality.  Many of my clients, however are out of state, and I need them to provide me with these all important photographs.

Here we go!  The CAMERA: you do not need a huge Len’s pro model $12,000.00  rig.  I use a simple Nikon coolpix S560. Nowadays it is really nice to have some sort of digital camera so files can be sent, manipulated enlarged etc… Every once in a while I still paint from an old 3 x 5 print but given the option, good digital files are better.

The SHOTS: I like to have at least 4 or 5 different pictures to paint with. One of these has to be the EXACT  pose or likeness that you want me to portray as your pet portrait, of course some minor changes can be made, legs crossed, ears perking (teach you how to get that to happen later),  straightening of messy coats etc… The other photos need to show close up of the eyes and snout, true coat color and 1 or 2 other relaxed poses as the animal just plain old being itself. Most of these photos,especially the one that will be painted should be taken at or near the animals head level, if possible.

The LIGHTING: It would be best to photograph your animal outside in morning light with the sun behind you and shining onto your animals face and coat. These are optimum conditions that of course cant always be met, any cat owners out there know this! Dogs and horses are easier to get the lighting right with. Mainly try not to use a flash as this can change the color of things on the animal.  Having said all this simply put anything you  can do to show the true color and shade of your animals coat and eyes will make for the best reference material. Flashes going off in the face of an unsuspecting animal is not good either so if you have to use one, be kind and don’t have them look directly at the camera.

CLARITY and COMPLETENESS: It is very important that the photos are clear. Mainly the eyes, snout and coat texture.  You do not need to use a tripod,  most of us can hold the camera steady, just be aware that the animal may not want to always cooperate with a static visage. always check your shots for clarity. Make sure as well that you get all of the animal in the photo, at least everything that you want painted! If nothing else take some extra shots of body parts which may have been left out of the “one” photo that you want painted. Also along those lines, make sure any characteristic marks that are unique to your animal can be clearly seen in the pictures. 

SOME EXTRA TIPS: Be opportunistic!  if your pet is snoozing in a cute way or doing something fun or cool looking have the camera handy and photo the event, keep an album, the more the merrier!  Use a favorite ball or toy to help the animal to strike a pose.  I am not a fan of using food or treats for this, but as a last resort it has happened. Any time your animal is acting in a way that totally exemplifies its character, TAKE THE PHOTO! Ears  up  and mouth closed is desireable for a classic pet portrait…use a high pitched whistle,softly of course, not as to hurt the poor things ears, or kissing sounds, I have even used bird calls to get that look in both dogs and cats. When photographing horses just move slowly and evenly throughout the shoot, they can get a little anxious about jerky movements and the camera clicking etc…

 I hope all this will help you with the photographing for your pet portrait. These photos are extremely important especially if the animal cannot be met in real life…….Good luck and have fun!

Chat with you soon, Cy

Abbey

   Hello everyone!  Just finished a new pet portrait of Abbey.  She is a wonderful half  Border Collie,  half Retriever.  I had a great time photographing her.  Normally I like to take photos in the morning sun but by the time I got to her house the skies were threatening rain.  All still turned out wonderfully however, and we stayed dry with good light for camera work.

      Abbey was very friendly and obviously loves people. At the beginning of the shoot she was a little nervous about this new big person pointing a weird little box at her and she spent a good amount of time wondering over to her loving master Dan. I soon won her over, however, when I found her favorite ball.  All she wanted to do after that was sit there and pose beautifully waiting for me to throw it for her, which I did, by the way, many times! 

      Dan explained to me how that is exactly how she  looks at him when it was time for catch and fetch, with the ball at her feet, looking up with those soft eyes, so this is the pose we decided on for the portrait.

     As Dan and myself discussed the composition for Abbeys pet portrait Abbey would be on her love seat chewing her toys with not a care in the world. I would call her over now and again to look at eyes or other protrait specific stuff and she would always comply and then return to her seat, seemingly very happy to help. 

Abbey is happy to be immortalized, and Dan says he now has two Abbeys!

Thanks for stopping by, more to come soon…..Cy

So after lunch, I’m planning my world changing blog post concerning the differences between Acrylic and Pastel paints when executing a pet portrait painting, sit down, rub my hands together as the excitement gains momentum… I mean… MY FIRST BLOG POST! LETS DO THIS!……..My mouse is jumping all over the desk, my trembling hands log in as I prepare to begin writ…………….what? Nothing works, the server is down or the connection is lost or maybe it’s solar flares – don’t know – I’m no techie! And I realize this blogging deal is no different than anything else in life, there will be times of struggle. But I am hopeful as I wait, and wait, and the excitement slowly biulds again, cause I know soon …I can join the fun for real……  Talk to you soon, Cy