dog blog

JAKE

2008-02-17T19:15:00.002-08:00

Tonight I gave my Mom this new 20" x 16" painting of my family's newly-adopted puppy, Jake, rolling on their living room rug. He's a real character. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Sachi and Manju portrait

2007-12-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

Harmonix boss and longtime buyer Alex Rigopulos hired me to paint his wife Sachi and their pug Manju as a Christmas present, "with their love melting the snow around them". Thanks, Alex!

Boston Terrier and French Bulldog Holiday Card Box Sets

2007-12-04T08:19:00.001-08:00

are now available from Ghastly Greetings here

Send your family and friends some bug-eyed holiday cheer this year!

recent portraits

2007-11-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Sheila's little buddy Coach has one eye, and he pulls himself around in a little cart when his back legs get tired. 16" x 20" on canvas, start to finish took 4 hours.

Flossie here is another 16" x 20" acrylic on canvas. She lives with Tom of Standard Design and Sarah in Northampton, MA, and is one good dog.

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-30T17:35:00.001-07:00

Endicott!

2007-10-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dan and Susan Petitpas hired me to paint a 16" x 20" acrylic portrait of their 45-lb. Boston Terrier, Endicott, running around the Boston Common with my own Mr. Giles and Frankenstein. Thanks again for the fun commission!

El Vez Memorial Portrait

2007-10-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

I painted a gigantic canvas for my girlfriend's birthday of her late Great Dane/ Lab mix, El Vez, sprawled on her red comforter. The acrylic is thick impasto style and the colors match our bedroom. Because it will not be released as a print, I didn't get it professionally scanned.

Peggy Sue!

2007-08-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

I just finished a painting of Peggy Sue, a beautiful English Bulldog adopted by my friends Dottie Lux and Val Killmore. My 2 Boston Terriers are totally in love with Peggy. Actually, it's impossible to not be in love with Peggy. She's a character.
Here's a peek at the underpainting, too:

Christmas in July

2007-07-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

New Boston Terrier print in the gallery!

12 New Greeting Card Designs!

2007-06-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Ghastly Greetings has just branched out with a new line of my dog art-themed cards. Just click the "Shop by Artist" button
here

New 36" x 48" Commission

2007-05-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Carrie Guasto Philbin hired me to do a big painting of her dogs, Gunther and Abby. Here's the sketch with Photoshop color, and a photo of the finished painting. The colors are a bit off in the photo, especially the glare on the right. Thanks again, Carrie!

Davidson

2007-02-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

I just finished this memorial portrait of Davidson for FBRN donor Shana McCoy. Thanks again, Shana!

Muse

2007-02-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Check out his great photo that print customer Julie Perel sent in of her Pug posing with her framed prints! Thanks again, Julie

Frenchie "Seasons" series completed

2007-01-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

I just finished the "Spring" painting for the French Bulldog "Seasons" series. Like the Boston Terrier series I did for Boston Buddies, the backgrounds line up to create the illusion of one big panoramic picture. The first 10 signed and numbered prints will go to the first 10 people who donate $100 or more to French Bulldog Rescue Network once the print goes up on their site in March; same deal with the "Summer" print in June. I'm very happy the first 10 "Autumn" and "Winter" prints went so fast, raising $2,000 for FBRN. Thank you to Carla Davis for buying the original paintings ("Winter" and "Spring" show Carla's dogs, Jazzy and Candy), Lesley Sailor and Trish Berresford at FBRN for coordinating the fundraiser, and to all the generous donors.

Sleepy Frankenstein

2007-01-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

I did this little sketch of Frank from memory while sitting in a long faculty meeting at MassArt and was really happy with how it came out. Usually I stylize his features, drawing in pencil first, then inking in my lines. But this is like the most realistic I've ever drawn him, and it was just dying pen on paper, no guidelines, and he wasn't even there so I was really proud of myself. I sound like a pompous ass, haha! At the time, I was wishing I was back home under the covers with my little snoring machines. Though the chocolate chip/ banana bread they had at the meeting was really good so it was worth it.

Works in Progress

2007-01-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some sketches of recent commissions I'm working on. I added Photoshop grays and colors to my pencil sketches to help the clients get a good idea of what the finished acrylic paintings will look like.

Davidson on the grass:

Ava standing and jumping forward:

Tessa with Absinthe at a Parisian cafe:

Mike and Lola

2006-12-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

My landlord commissioned a portrait of his son, Mike, and his German Shepherd, Lola, at the beach as a Christmas gift for his wife. Thanks again, Dave!

James

2006-12-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Boston artist/ musician/ superstar Dan McCarthy commissioned a portrait of his Boston Terrier, James, as a Christmas gift for his girlfriend. Check out http://www.danmccarthy.org for some amazing work. Thanks again, Dan!

Kona and Jasper

2006-12-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

Photographer Jason Zucco commissioned this 24" x 36" acrylic on canvas portrait of his 2 Greater Swiss Mountain dogs Kona and Jasper as a surprise gift for his wife. Thanks, Jason!

Cello 2

2006-12-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

"PaRappa the Rapper" creator Masaya Matsuura commissioned another portrait of his Chin, Cello. Thanks, Masaya and Akiko!

New French Bulldog Christmas Art Print

2006-11-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

16" x 12" signed print on matte heavyweight paper just added to my eBay holiday sale:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvonkrampus73QQhtZ-1

Boston Terrier Seasonal Series

2006-11-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

In early 2006 I thought of doing a fundraiser series of prints for the Boston Terrier rescue group, Boston Buddies. Each 11" x 14" painting would show a BT chasing something, and the backgrounds would line up to create the illusion of one panoramic scene, though the foliage in each picture would change according to the specific season. Each donor who pledged $100 or more to Boston Buddies would receive one of the first 10 signed and numbered 11" x 14" art prints in the mail from me. The series has been a big success, and Boston Buddies also released limited edition tanktops, t-shirts, and sweatshirts bearing the images. Thank you to Christa Faust for helping to organize this, to Karen Engman for generously purchasing all four original paintings, and to all who donated to help these needy dogs.

"Autumn" shows my little Frankenstein (his birthday is October 21st), and "Winter" shows my Mr. Giles (his birthday is January 31st). The 10 "Winter" signed and numbered prints will be released this month; open edition prints of the other seasons are now available at $20 each plus shipping until December 31st 2006.

"Bridges of Haverhill" Art Show

2006-11-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

sMALL wORKS gALLERY owners Marc and Cathy Mannheimer invited me to submit a piece to their April show, "Bridges of Haverhill". Originally it was a color painting but I ended up hating my color scheme after a few days so I cut out the only piece I liked, tossed the rest, and redid the picture with brush and ink in an hour.

sMALL wORKS gALLERY is located in my hometown:

57 Wingate Street, Haverhill, MA 01832

Introducing Mr. Giles!!!

2006-11-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

We adopted a 6-year-old Boston Terrier Katrina-refugee named Niles in March! He and Frank hit it off as soon as Niles got off the truck from Alabama, which is great news. I wanted to rename him Dracula or Nosferatu or Wurdulak or Strigoi or Vlad Tepes....I mean his new brother's name is Frankenstein, but he answers to Niles. Carrie renamed him Giles (after the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character and he answers to that, too). He is hilarious and does little dances, complete with donkey kicks, when he's excited! He was pretty thin, had a bum knee, and some food allergies, but now he's filled out, walks and runs without a limp, and one very expensive allergy test later, we know what foods to avoid giving him. When it's time to head home on our walks, Frank grabs Giles' leash in his teeth and drags him up the sidewalk so they can resume brawling inside. He's very very cool, and very very strange. Carrie and I think he hears kazoo music in his head all the time, and also think he's the dog version of "Brick" from the movie, "Anchorman".

Frankenstein vs. Santa Claus

2006-11-06T17:07:00.000-08:00

The second after this photo was taken, my 30 lb. wall-eyed boy tried to pull Santa's beard off. As happy as Frank looks here, I think that would've made a better picture.