Expressing the love of animals through art
Colorful and vibrant paintings that capture the essence of the animals that share our lives
Meet the artist
Background
I am a self-taught artist and have drawn and painted animals all of my life. I ride, train horses and dogs, and live my life surrounded by the animals that I love. I have raised everything from poultry to Texas Longhorns over the years. I study animals closely-their muscle and bone structure, how the hair in their coats grow and the details of eyes and faces.
I currently paint in watercolors and create graphite portraits and pen and ink drawings also. I paint equine and pet portraits and take commissions for bespoke paintings for home and office spaces.
Style
I paint in a realistic style. My work is heavily influenced by observing and living with animals of all kinds. I am particularly drawn to the eyes, expressions and pure beauty of animals and I try to reflect their personalities in my pieces.
Process
When I am thinking about a piece that I want to paint, I first research the animal/breed and any background or botanicals that I may want to include. I gather reference photos and sketch out the composition on a small piece of paper first. Once I have the composition down, I draw a detailed outline on the paper for the bigger painting.
I use many thin layers of paint to create glazes and to allow the brightness of the paper to show through and illuminate the colors.
