Each pet portrait, like each pet, is different.

Colorful pet portraits began because I wanted to make playful color choices in all my paintings. I’d found myself faithfully recreating what was before me yet missing the life force of my subject.

The “illusion of reality,” the painting of “realism,” is a tough habit to drop!

I began by painting photos from magazines. I wasn’t painting “for” anyone. This was a learning experience, with no pressure or strings attached. It later became a class I taught to help others infuse more color into their paintings.

 What follows is the painting of “Mikey,” a much-loved, “older” schnauzer.

The process of painting YOUR pet begins with your decision to have a portrait painted.

Once a portrait is ordered, you send a photo or two of your pet to me, along with your preference for either a “traditional” portrait, or a “Hawaiian-style,” rainbow portrait.

Your photo is a template for the drawing, the “bones” of the painting. The photo of your pets’ face is enlarged so details are clearly seen.

The portrait always begins with the eyes, nose, and mouth. They must be realistic for you to feel the love in your pet’s eyes — no matter what colors are used for the rest of the painting.

When Mikey’s eyes were enlarged, two figures were clearly reflected in his gaze. It felt important to show them in the final painting as a true testament to Mikey’s love for his “people.”

Watercolor is a delicate medium. Layers upon layers go into creating just the right color. Each layer must dry before the next one can be painted on top.

Most applications of watercolor for pet portraits are added with the paper lying flat. This keeps the colors from running willy-nilly all over the page.

Once the eyes, nose, and mouth are painted, the rest of the face follows.

My rule of thumb is to only paint what I “know” to paint.

This means I pause and look at the painting until I “know” what to do next.

Pausing is as important as painting!

My thinking mind doesn’t decide what to paint, I wait until I feel the urge to paint.

As I paint one area, another area will call to be painted.

Sometimes, an area already painted will call me back for another layer of color.

In this way, I meander around the painting, adding color whenever called.

This isn’t a mysterious process, it’s the result of pausing, looking, then waiting for the impulse to paint.

Being pulled to do something is preferable to being pushed to do something.

This might seem like a subtle difference, but I assure you, it’s really important!

Painting continues as layers upon layers are added to the eyes, nose, and mouth. This ensures the entire painting “comes up together,” feeling congruent.

Thin layers ensure that the paint remains translucent, giving your pet’s portrait a luminous, lively feel.

The background is painted last. Complementary colors are often chosen to reside across from the opposing complement on the body. Two layers are often needed here as well.

The first time it happened, I was painting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

As I lifted a loaded paintbrush to the painting on the easel, my hand suddenly went back to touch the paper towel.  

What?

I hadn’t decided to touch the paper towel, my hand simply did it.

Since that day, my hand often spontaneously releases excess water & paint — apparently, the brush is too full!

This kind of experience is one reason to develop a painting practice.

Another reason is that when your mind is focused on painting, you’re distracted from the daily issues plaguing you.

This level of joyful focus opens you up to receive insight and inspiration for your painting and sometimes even for your life.

My friend, Rebecca calls this phenomenon “epiphany city” — that’s how often it can occur!

Taking a class is a great way to start painting.

Classes both inform and give you permission to set aside time for yourself each week.

 You deserve a “time of your own!”

If you enjoy painting, consider creating a painting practice for yourself.

By deliberately setting aside time to paint once, twice, or more each week, you signal to yourself, and to others, that you deserve a joy-filled life.

By making yourself a priority, you increase self-care, paint more often, and your paintings improve more quickly.

 For best results, schedule your practice ahead of time.
Look at your calendar to decide the best days and times to paint.
If this week is full, look at next week.  

Get started in 15 minutes!

You don’t need a dedicated spot to paint.

Watercolor is easy to set up & fast to clean up.

 Try a few different time slots to see which ones feel best, then commit to this window a few days or weeks in advance.

 Until your practice is a consistent part of life, keep it short, sweet, and regular. 

In the beginning, even if you have the time to paint longer, stick to 15 minutes.

If you increase your painting time too quickly, one day you’ll decide you can’t fit it in. You’ll skip a day and maybe the next. Pretty soon you’ve lost your rhythm and the slippery slope to not painting is paved.

I’ve been there.

The more often you paint, the more rewards you reap.

Sometimes, my hand drifts from the color I’d intended to use to another color on the palette. Imagine my surprise when, instead of blue, I see orange or red show up on my painting.

The first time this happened, I flinched.

Now I figure my painting can benefit from the surprise and I find a way to work with it.

One day, your hand will spontaneously touch the paper towel, or choose a color.

If a hand can receive guidance, and if it can be accepted so easily, maybe you can receive guidance in other areas of life as well.

Maybe the more you trust, the more you can receive.

When you’re focused on painting, you are in a mindful moment.

That’s when inspiration flies in like a breeze, so quickly and lightly that you don’t always realize it’s happened.

In those moments of flow, your batteries are recharged, and your heart & mind are inspired to new levels.

By distracting the thinking part of your brain, you become the observer of all that’s before you and within you. 

In this way, you’re meditating with eyes wide open, allowing the flow of synchronistic happenings to form a new hologram for you to follow.

This is all part of your Inner Wisdom. It’s always here with you, ready to fill you with enthusiasm.

Be playful and light. Wisdom is patient and all-loving. Time is elastic and when you’re ready, your wisdom is here for you. 

While it might seem like a big jump to go from receiving painting inspiration to life inspiration, it’s not.  

Watercolor is a great, patient teacher.

What is needed in a painting can be reflected as what is needed in your daily life.

Does your painting need more dark colors to give it more depth? Or a bright color to add spice?

Does it need to rest before your next painting session?

How about you?

Do you need time for reflection, a rest from all that you’re doing, or maybe a change of pace or of perspective, a little more spice?

Painting is the reason I moved to Hawaii. Painting with Watercolor taught me how to trust the painting process.

I keep learning to trust life.

If watercolor can teach me, it can teach you too!

For years, I was afraid to paint with watercolors!

I’d heard they were unforgiving, that you can’t make mistakes,
and that you have to know what you want to achieve before you begin.

I don’t operate that way, I’m more of a “go with the flow” kind of person.

I learn by doing, too eager to paint to take time to plan.
Which, if you know my origin story, isn’t a surprise.

I moved to Hawaii on June 2, 2000, to begin life as an artist. I’d housesit for a friend for five months and figure everything else out
when I arrived. I sold my house, put everything in storage awaiting my return, and bought a one-way ticket to Honolulu. 

Once inside the tiny garage apartment I cared for, I realized its size necessitated my ditching
my beloved oil paints and learning to paint with watercolor.

It was either that or risk death by fumes.

Fortunately, I met a wonderful teacher who didn’t mind that my paintings didn’t look like anyone else’s.
One night, I laid eight of my paintings on the floor of that tiny apartment and gazed down at them from the bed.

“Well,” I thought, “at least they all look like mine.”

I had no idea the importance of having a signature style, nor did I know how much mine would continue to evolve.

I wasn’t interested in the things we painted during class, but I soaked up the technical information like a sponge.

After class, I painted the flora in the yard I tended in return for my temporary home.

From the start, the colors in Hawaii called to me.

Originally from Wisconsin, I was used to neutral, earth tones.

Hawaii is a land of beautiful, outrageously bright color in the sky, the sea, and across the land.

The feeling of those colors is what I emulate with my paintings.

Traditional watercolors use the softest of voices, beautifully.

That doesn’t mean you have to paint that way if you prefer to speak/paint with brighter colors.

Yes, I can save the white of my paper if I have to, and I can paint soft, sweet, lullaby pastel colors when they’re needed.

Maybe I simply have a louder painting voice than most.

The key, no matter what tone of voice you use when you paint,
is to know how to use your colors to achieve the results you want.

I studied color theory for two semesters at the University of WI, Madison in the late 1970s.

I waited to take these classes until after graduation because the instructor was intense, and I needed time to focus.

I am enthralled with the ways color works.

There’s a big difference between reading about the ways colors work and interact with one another, and experiencing it.

While some people might learn by reading, I learn best by doing — pictures help too.

Remember what I said at the beginning, about watercolor being unforgiving?

That is so NOT TRUE!

I smile as I tell students that those misconceptions are lies started by nefarious watercolor artists who want to keep watercolors all to themselves!

Don’t be bamboozled!

Find out for yourself, take a class, have fun, and give YOUR voice to watercolor!

Whenever we begin something new, there’s a learning curve. Sometimes it’s steep, sometimes it’s just a bump in the road.

Learning to paint is no different — except some of us have horror stories of harried teachers being brutal regarding our youthful creations.

So, we try harder. We focus, we clench.
We hold the brush as if our life depended on it.

Back when we were little, our parents encouraged us to color inside the lines.

It took time, but we successfully filled in lots of coloring books.

What if you’re taking a class, you’re learning to paint, and you have to draw the images to be painted?

YIKES!

It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to wish you could go back to coloring inside the lines.

Resist this urge! 

Beginning watercolor students often start by painting next to the outside lines of their shapes.

They paint the outside of things before filling the inside.

This gives them a sense of security that the painted shapes will be clear, crisp, & recognizable.

Their shapes will be “just right” (cue Goldilocks & the Three Bears).

Did you know that watercolor paint begins to be absorbed into the paper as soon as the brush makes contact?

It’s true.

While you’re busy painting the outside edges, the inside has begun to dry.

By the time you paint the inside, it doesn’t match the outside.

Instead, start to paint inside your shape.

When you begin to paint from inside the shape to the outside edges, the inside stays fluid and matches the outside.

By keeping your brush in contact with the paper for as long as possible, you achieve a smooth application of paint.

Smooth paint helps us feel the gentle, serene flow of the painting.

Sometimes, when you start to paint the inside and work your way to the outside, the edges get a little sloppy.

That’s okay.

The more often you paint from the inside out, the faster you’ll understand that the inside doesn’t need finessing.

Paint your inside with the confident speed of anticipation & joy.

By quickly painting the inside, you’ll have more time to give to the outside.

The outside edges respond well when we slow down to give them the attention they deserve.

We’re not so very different from our paintings.

When we care for our inside, our outside — the bits that interact with the world — can relax.

Our Inside provides a solid foundation for our outside.