Latest and Greatest

2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

I just finished painting this little gentleman yesterday. Today I got to go to Rose City Vet Clinic to pass it off to Becky, the person who commissioned the portrait. You may also remember her adorable dog that I painted earlier this year:

2008 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

Becky is the sweetest! She is so happy with her portraits, she's waiting to get a photo of her 3rd baby for me to do another commission. I was also really exited to find that all of the portrait flyers I'd left at the clinic had been taken, so I left a few more and talked to another employee and one of their customers about having their pet's portraits done too! Yay for networking!

When I started out with this portrait venture, I was really nervous, as I normally paint people (of course, I am also doing people portraits!!). I know that I have very good drawing and painting skills, but still my confidence wavered as I moved into a new realm. Honestly, I wasn't even sure whether or not I would like painting pets! But with each new commission I find it more and more enjoyable. It is so much fun to capture the expression in these furry friends, and the happiness it gives to their owners is irreplaceable.

Speaking of which, I have two more to get to work on! Here I go!

Portraits for Mary

When I recently started doing pet portraits, at first I wasn't sure whether I would like doing it or not. What I did know is that, as an artist, I have to be creative and versatile in the ways in which I make my income. I also knew that I had to be true to my own style, which is very illustrative.

I had a lot of fun painting my cat, and Ryan's squish bunny, but then I did a portrait of Diego. His mama was so incredibly happy when she saw the finished painting. Seeing her reaction told me all I needed to know--this is something I would like to keep doing, something fun, worthwhile, creative, profitable, and on top of all of that it is a great way of closely connecting with other people and making them happy.

Of course, I love painting people as well, and how could I resist doing this painting of my friend Mary's parents in their awesome 70's wedding photo?!?

I did a pet portrait for her as well, her sweet dog Simba: