Dachshund and mum oil painting on canvas

14" x 10" oil on canvas

This was such a lovely painting to work on. How lucky we are, those of us who own dogs. In them we find the virtues it can sometimes be so hard to find in our fellow man - loyalty, love and forgiveness. I could add more - empathy, bravery to start with. I wonder just how many attributes dogs do possess? If anyone can think of more, please do comment and I'll be happy to add them here. Using the word 'happy' made me think of another aspect of a dog's personality - optimism. I shall be very interested to see what else anyone can suggest. 

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this painting as much as I enjoyed painting it.

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

'Peace' (lion and lamb oil painting)

14" x 10" oil on canvas

I just adore the expression on the face of this lion - what a majestic animal he is. I had actually intended posting this painting tomorrow but have just discovered it's World Lion Day today and so decided to share it this evening instead. 

In a world as troubled as ours, it is soothing to sometimes disappear into a happier, more gentle place and I hope this peaceful painting will help take you there. 

It is, as shown above, a 14" x 10" oil on canvas and is entitled Peace. It is available for sale and if you'd like more details, please email me at the address below.

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Weimaraner oil painting - Chase

Oil on cradled panel

Happily in this world there are some people who go out of their way to help others in need. Sometimes those who receive this assistance are human and sometimes animal. This painting came about as the result of an auction organised to help a weimaraner rescue and was donated, not by me, but by a lady called Jan Ort, who has given generously both financially and in terms of time, to a variety of charities. The owner of Chase, the weimaraner in the painting, made the winning bid and gave the finished painting to her husband for his birthday. Chase had gone to their family at 6 months of age and was dearly loved, sleeping with his head on his owner's shoulder. He sadly died at the age of 13 and is greatly missed. 

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Weimaraner oil painting - Kassi

10" x 8" oil painting on cradled board

I never seem to have time to update my blog recently and now have quite a few portraits to post here. I am also working on a lion and lamb painting and will be posting work in progress photos, so this blog will probably be a bit of a mix and match for a while! I hope though you'll be able to enjoy it and if you have any questions, please do ask.

Anne

info@azpaintings.com 

Presentation of the painting of Crufts Best In Show 2016 the Westie Ch Burneze Georgie Girl

Crufts - March 9th 2017

Following on from my previous post here is another photograph from Crufts where I presented the Kennel Club Arts Foundation with a portrait of Crufts Best In Show 2016, the West Highland White Terrier, Champion Burneze Geordie Girl (Devon). 

In the photo are Tom Mather, the Chairman of the Kennel Club Arts Foundation, Marie Burns with the lovely Devon, my painting and me.

Anne

Info@azpaintings.com

Oil painting of a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog

Che - Rhodesian Ridgeback oil on canvas (8" x 10")

Well I've been very dilatory about posting here, but promise to do better! :)

To start with here is a boy who I think you'll all agree with me, is a most gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback. He is painted in oils - handsome Che. I hope you all like him! 

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Weimaraner oil portrait

Weimaraner, Yenko - oil on canvas - 9" x 9"

When the friends of Yenko's owner saw her distress at her death, they decided to club together for a painting to celebrate Yenko's life. It is always a privilege to try and bring a beloved dog back to 'life' for an owner and a great responsibility which I don't take lightly. Sadly I cannot truly bring them back to life, but I do my best to instil into a painting an essence of what the owner used to see in their eyes. 

RIP Yenko

Anne

info@azpaintings.com

Dalmatian portrait - Enzo (oil painting)

Dalmatian - Enzo. Oil on 7" x 7" MDF board

This evening's posting is of a recently painted portrait - I still have some pre-Christmas paintings to post and am endeavouring to get myself organised sufficiently to be able to put them here on my blog. Never give up! 

At this time of year there never seem enough hours in the day. There are always dogs to be walked but now the garden is crying out to be attended to with so much to do and of course paintings to work on. I had planned some spring cleaning but that has had to be put on hold - not something I am sorry about! 

Anne

Watchful - Cheetah oil painting

Watchful - 6" x 6" oil on hardboard/mdf

This painting is straight off the easel. I sent it to those people who have signed up to be included in my preview list and it was purchased by someone on that list.

If you would like to be added to my preview list and see paintings direct as they come off the easel, please let me know.

info@azpaintings.com

Anne Zoutsos

Tiger Light

Tiger Light - 6" x 6" oil on hardboard/mdf

I must admit I do enjoy painting big cats. Oh well, the truth is I enjoy painting and I love painting all animals! This young tiger is just off the easel and sold on preview.

If you would like to receive previews of my paintings before they are made generally available online, just drop me a line at info@azpaintings.com and I'll put you on my list.

Anne

Dalmatian #2 (finished) Tutorial - Lesson 4

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 4

So here is the painting now finished. I've also featured the head of this girl to show it in detail. Since the last blog post, all the spots have been completed and more work has been done on the shading of the body. This is the stage when small areas of detail are added - such as the toe nails. In this painting, the paint has been thinned on two occasions only - firstly for the underpainting sketch and then for the whiskers. Finally the background has been painted, my signature added and that's it!

I hope you've enjoyed the little journey through the development of one of my paintings.

If you have any comments, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 3

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 3

As can be seen, things have moved on quite a lot since I last showed you the progress of this painting. The head and ears have almost been completed although there will be some more detail added. The entire body has been worked on with the shading being refined and all the spots have had thick paint applied but only fairly roughly. The spots above the collar and a few below have had detail added so the next stage of the painting will be to add detail to all of the spots on the body and legs. It will then be back to her head and together with the detail mentioned above, whiskers will also be painted in. Once all of this has been done, I will paint the background and then sign it. It will then be ready for her owner to check that she is happy with the painting.

Anne

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 2

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 2

A considerable amount of work has been done since the last stage of this painting. All of the shading has been roughed in together with the spots on the head and ears and more work has been done on the eyes. Please note though that not one area of the dog is finished yet. I should also admit that I don't always paint in an ordered and sensible fashion and quite often get attracted by a particular area of the painting or take a rest from a difficult part! I am sure this is not the accepted way to paint, but since I am self-taught, I can please myself! 

If you'd like to ask any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian #2 Tutorial - Lesson 1

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 1

I think the photo of this stage of the painting is fairly self-explanatory. As can be seen, once again I have painted the eyes first so that I can develop a relationship with the dog. After that I have blocked in shaded areas and the spots with thin paint. In this painting I have also added a foot which was not visible in the reference photo but without which I felt the painting looked wrong. 

At this point, I like to step away from the painting and look at it to make sure that it is developing along the right lines. Even when only in the beginning stages I aim to make the paintings visually interesting.

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 4

 Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 4

So, here is the final painting. I hope it's going to be clear enough to see easily as I've found it incredibly hard to get a reasonable photo of it. 

I think a lot of this lesson really is self-explanatory. As can be seen, the black background has been painted in and the black edges of the ears have been slightly lightened so that they can be seen against the background - albeit not very well in this photo! Sometimes it can be very effective to paint 'lost and found' edges where parts of a painting are indistinguishable against the background but I didn't feel this would be right with this painting. More detail was added to the muzzle area and whiskers were painted in. The bed was painted but less than in the actual photo and toes were added which weren't in the photo! The final part of all was the blending in of the reflection with brush strokes both horizontal and vertical. Although the reflection is an important part of the painting it must not take centre stage - this position must be left to the VIP of the painting. 

Good girl Macy!

I hope you've enjoyed this journey into painting - another one to follow very shortly.

If you have any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 3

 Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 3

At this stage the painting of the Dalmatian itself is almost finished. More detail has been added to the spots and the shading. The reflection has been added although this will need blurring into the background when that has been completed. 

It's always a good idea to look at your painting from slightly different angles and stand back to see it from a little further away. It's so easy when you're concentrating hard on the details of a painting to lose sight of the whole picture and for exaggerations to creep in. When you look at your painting, do you feel you could stroke the dog, feel its body under your hands? If you do, then you know you're getting it right. 

Any questions - just drop me a line at info@azpaintings.com

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial - lesson 2

Step by step oil painting instructions - lesson 2

As can be seen, the painting has developed considerably since the last lesson. The spots have all had oil paint applied without the addition of any thinner or medium. At the moment the edges are only roughly painted although the shapes are more or less accurate. The areas in shadow have had considerably more paint applied and again, like the spots, the paint has had nothing mixed with it. A large amount of detail has been added creating much more form. I've also added much more detail to the eye rims but haven't touched the eyes themselves as I got the expression I wanted when I first painted them and don't want this changed until I'm ready to work in the final detail - quite a time consuming part as getting the eye detail right is crucial. 

When you get to this stage, take time to look at the painting to make sure that your image is really starting to gain shape so that you feel you can reach out and touch the dog. If you don't feel that yourself,  you'll be lucky if anybody else does! If you're not sure, try looking at it through a mirror as when you're not used to painting, it can be useful to have a different perspective. For now, I feel very fond of this little girl and look forward to the next stage of work.

Again, if anyone has any questions, please email me at info@azpaintings.com or leave a comment here.

Anne

Dalmatian oil painting tutorial

Step by step oil painting instructions

I've been asked so many times to give painting tuition in my way of painting that I have decided to do my best and show the progress of a painting and describe the steps along the way. If anyone has any questions, please either email them to me at info@azpaintings.com or leave a comment here. 

The painting I will be showing you is on a 16" x 12" box canvas and is going to be a 'reflection' painting. 

As usual I like to paint the eyes first, even though only roughly, but this aspect of the painting is extremely important to me. Once I have the eyes painted I can relax and start to build up the rest of the body. I like to get the shading of the body painted next as it starts then to form the flat image into something with form and life. I start by blocking in a thin layer of paint in the areas of shadow and also all the spots. I don't worry at this stage about making sure the spots are all the same depth of colour but I do try and get the different tones of shading more or less correct although not at their final depth. At this stage I only use Ivory Black and Titanium White. This is a very important step in the painting and if it lacks interest now, the final painting is also likely to be boring. If the painting was of a different coloured animal I would use a complementary but still neutral colour for the shadow. 

I hope you've enjoyed this first lesson in painting my way and will join me for the next stage which will follow soon.

Anne

Golden Retriever Oil Painting (and another apology!)

14" x 10" oil on linen canvas - Golden Retriever Elliot

Once again I must apologise for the dearth of blog posts - I can only say that I am simply so busy painting that everything else has been taking a back seat. I can can tell you though that things are planned to be somewhat more organised in the New Year and I am thinking of publishing a newsletter - perhaps bi-monthly. 

However, for now here is a recent commission of a gorgeous golden retriever which I hope you enjoy. 

Don't forget I am only an email address away if you want to ask me anything or chat - although expect fairly brief responses pre-Christmas!! 

Anne

PS I am fully booked for this Christmas - sorry to those who've been disappointed 

Rhodesian Ridgeback oil painting

Rhodesian Ridgeback - Jackson. 16" x 20" oil on canvas

Another recent commission which I can now share as it was commissioned as a birthday present and given today. I've been informed that everyone was crying when the parcel was opened which I must admit made me feel quite emotional too!

If you would like to commission a painting or have a question please email me at info@azpaintings.com