My Dog Victor (The Tired Sheltie)

10" x 8" Oil on panel
Private Collection
Houston, Texas

Today's painting is a portrait of my dog Victor. He has a lot of personality, but like most dogs he likes to sleep a lot. In this painting, he is tired and not really bothered by the attention.

My family has always had Shelties for pets. Of course, that means we think they are one of the best breeds. Not too big, friendly, and smart. Victor came to our family as a potential show dog, but he has a placid personality and unfortunate baby teeth that let his tongue hang out (a serious fault for a Shetland Sheepdog.) For the first few years of his life his buddy and Alpha dog was Bela. Bela is whole 'nother story, but for Victor he was the boss and that helped spell the end of the show career. Victor is the grandson of Jamie, who holds the record for show wins for a Sheltie and won the working group at Westminster. Oh well, I don't think Jamie could look this sleepy.

As for the names, you can type "Bela and Victor" into Google and you will get quite a few hits that explain from where our Dogs' names came. I have even heard of other people who named their dogs Bela and Victor.

Grapes

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

Grapes...of wrath? I took on the grapes again tonight. I wanted to study their look and get the feel of the grapes in Monet's Apples and Grapes. I think they would like some apples to keep them company, but there were none around. They do have some nice glow in person.

Grapes and Cheese

7" x 5" Oil on panel.

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It may look like I paint only on Friday nights, but that is not my intention. I really need to work on my procrastination; I think I have it just about perfected. (sigh)

It felt good to get this little painting done, but those grapes are rather troublesome when painting alla prima. I think some glazing and dry brushing would have been nice, but that would take some drying time not available in one sitting. This is something to study and work on in the future.

Fat Tire Friday

5" x 7" Oil on panel

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Friday night is a great night for beer. Here is a yummy fat tire ale for you. It has a really nice glow in a classic pint glass. The cap is in that recognizable New Belgium color scheme. This was a fun still life to get me going again. My constant cough is still pretty annoying, but the beer may help that. Cheers!

Sake Vase with Dried Flowers

10" x 8" Oil on canvas on panel.

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These dried flowers have been in another vase for years in our house. Tonight some of them used our Sake pitcher for a vase. I think this painting came out nice and moody. I hope the photo does it justice.

I will be posting again early next week.