BANO - Donated K9 Portrait
4"x6" Oil on Panel
Portland Police Bureau
From his partner:
Bano
is a German Shepherd trained to trail and
alert on fresh human scent. We have worked together about 7 years and he
is currently 8 1/2 years old. He is a powerful and sweet dog who
really enjoys work. Throughout our time together, he has
apprehended approximately 180 "bad guys." Bano has also located
multiple articles such as firearms, knives, drugs, ETC. during his
course of duties.
Thank you Officer Elias and Bano for all you do to keep us safe :)
If you are a member of K9 or Mounted patrols, please send me a photo of
your animal so that I can donate a portrait to your Department. I also
donate paintings to Search & Rescue handlers & Military dogs.
There is absolutely no charge, so get in touch with me, or forward this
to someone you know who would like a painting.
Today, I received an interesting email from Jasmine Murray asking questions about my work. I thought I'd post them here.
The problem is that I truly love all kinds of art and all kins of
painting mediums, so most of my answers are pretty generic. I did go
through and pick out a few examples, though, do I get points for that?
Here are the questions from the email:
What media do you like to use the best and why?
I have painted in just about all media at some time or another. I love
them all, they are like people, each with their strong points and
drawbacks. I love anything creative! Besides fine art, I make artisan
jewelry & stained glass (WackyPup on Etsy) recently got a kiln so I
can try my hand at some small sculptures, quilting, woodworking and even
a vinyl cutter. Obviously hard for me to narrow down my choices for
being creative :)
I don't use watercolor very often, but I love the way that the colors
intermingle with each other of their own accord. This is the only medium
that does this, and it's beautiful. Unfortunately, because of this,
things don't always go the way you planned. Watercolor is the least
forgiving medium.
English Bulldog in Watercolor - NFS - Privately Commissioned Portrait
Pastels are strong and bright and offer immediate gratification, but
they're more difficult to frame, and more fragile if you leave them
laying around :)
Tiger in Pastel - Ruby @ Roanoke, VA Zoo
Portrait in Pastel - NFS - Private Commission
Quick Plein Air Pastel Study - 5x7 or so - if you'd like to add it to your collection it's yours for $50
Occasionally, I use gouache, mostly when I travel. It is more durable
and less variable than watercolor, and easier to travel with than oils.
Some of my absolute favorite paintings are gouache.
Little China Doll
4" x 5.5"
Gouache on Illus Board
Sold
Orange Spice Tea
6" x 4" Gouache on Paper
Sold - Private Collection
I like acrylic, and I like the bright paintings that I create with
them, but I'm terribly allergic to them, so I don't use them very often.
Which is too bad because Chroma acrylics was going to sponsor my site,
but I can't use their wonderful paints without being very careful.
Texas Spring
4" x 6" Acrylic on Panel
$100
This painting is unframed. If you would like it framed in a nice gold
easel back frame, let me know and I will add it to your order for $25.
I guess my favorite medium is oil, mostly because it's totally
forgiving. If things aren't going your way, you can just keep going
until it submits LOL. Or even wipe it down completely and start over.
Most of my portraits and paintings these days are in oils. It's also
easy to frame. The drawback is that they're more expensive, and harder
to travel with.
Bird on the Table
4" x 6" ~ Original Oil on Panel ~$100
What aspects of nature are your favourite to draw?
Faces without a doubt. I love faces of people and animals. There is so
much in a face, memories, dreams, past experience, or hope for the
future.
In landscape, the most interesting thing to me is shadows, especially the way tree shadows fall onto buildings.
Do you incorporate different media together in your work?
I don't do many mixed media pieces. Sometimes I underpaint in acrylic
because it dries quickly, but usually, I like everything to run together
and soften up a bit.
Where's your favourite place to create your artwork?
Hmm, I love camping, but I don't do much painting when I'm there. If I
could make myself get out of the kayak and actually open up my art
supply bag, I think I'd love it. At this point, most of my paintings are
done in my beautiful (messy) studio that has just had two large
skylights installed. My studio has a small kiln, a bunch of clay, tons
of stained glass, and oh yes, canvases, oils, watercolors, acrylics,
pastels, panels, easels and my desk & files. Yup, it's a mess, and
FULL!
Oddly enough, green is not one of my favorite colors, but going over
paintings to see what to include in this post made me realize, I paint a
lot of green!
Now, I must get off this computer and get some real creative work done!
I'm working on Christmas quilts (plus a few portrait commissions)
Don't forget to LIVE CREATIVELY!
Liz
Please become a fan of my facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Liz-van-der-Werff/136309593758
