Animal Wednesday: St. Peter & the poodle

Two more commissions to share with you this week.

As you know, any time I get a request to do a raven I'm in heaven!

Anne over at El Milagro Studio asked me to paint a raven with Southern Oak leaves and acorns. She asked that he be holding an acorn stem in his mouth with two acorns from the same stem. She had seen a similar painting of mine I had done years ago, but it was the Oak leaves I was accustomed to. Ah, time for research!

Thank goodness for Google images!

When she received it she called me right away and told me it was almost exactly as she had pictured it in her head! That's a huge compliment :)

And it was extra nice to put a voice with her face.

Thank you Anne, he looks beautiful in his new home!

And I love his name;)

And this is Max. The only references I had for his portrait were very old, faded photos and the grieving owner's recollection. "Make sure his eyes are black. They didn't have any color." I knew what he meant even though I added dark, walnut brown.

"And he was pure white, not off white or any other color."

I disagreed and knew I was going to only use pure white for the highlights but I didn't tell him that. He's a crusty guy and he is firm in his convictions. He's actually our car mechanic across the street!

Well, I called him over to the studio last night and asked him to have a look before I call it finished. He stood there and wiped a tear from his eye.

"I can change anything you want" , I said.

"No, that's my Max. That's my boy."

He'll be delivered later today.

I love commissions even though I may curse a little while doing them. It's only because they carry a certain kind of pressure because of preconceived expectations.

But honestly, I'm honored to do them. So, bring them on!!

Happy Animal Wednesday, my friends ♥