Your questions answered:
All you have to do:
Send as many clear photographs as you can.
I know this is not always possible, especially with pets that sadly died or old photographs, but send me the best of what you have, I may still be able to use them. I will study your snapshots through a magnifier to get the details.
Every art work is traditionally hand painted by myself: a composite from one or more reference photos or even videos and a detailed discription by dogs owner . The more I know about him the easier to paint.
Ask yourself what you want to have painted. Is it the mere elegance of your dogs movements, is it his face that is most important? I always welcome any ideas and suggestions you may have! Keep in touch!
Do not hesitate to give me a throughout impression of what you want to be expressed. All traits, even odd habits or bizarre favorite poses are of interest. Remember that I can only draw what I see or know.
To capture the essence and character of each dog I usually spend hours to paint the eyes in detail. Subtile changes can make the difference so, please, do not forget to send me good quality close ups where I can see true colors . No problem if eyes are red flashs but at least give me a good discription of the tone.
Keep in mind that, being Ethologist since 1974, I have a professional background: I am proud of my skills to merge what I was told of a dogs character into brush strokes and create one of these highly emotional paintings. I am skilled to see and evaluate tiny signals of muscle tension in a dogs face. My knowledge of and love for dogs is the secret of my dog paintings.
My artwork is realistic and detailed. I paint in the traditional style of painting, sitting in front of an empty canvas in the beginning. Each new painting is a new challenge.
While I have worked in other mediums, oil painting is my favorite, and most of my current work is in oils or mixed techniques. Oil paints are a very traditional medium for portraits, They have been around for hundreds of years. Once it is dry, the paint is very permanent - and of a warmth and depth unequalled by any other medium.
Still, feel free to ask me for producing a stencil or logo after having painted your dog. Like my personal papillon logo that has been used in numerous ways: for dying clothes, self made soap or even sweets from chocolate and Marzipan (click at one of the last thumbnails of the gallery, the logo is on my vest).
Artists BIO:
Bio in double sense:
I am biologist (PhD overseas, Diplom-Biologist in my country). I specialised on Ethology in 1974, with publication of several scientific studies on mammalian behaviour. Even during 15 years of professional work for Nature Conservation (Frankfurt Zoological Society, Professor Grzimek) I could not stop beeing basically ethologist, observing and evaluating animal behaviour has been my passion since I can remember.
I will never stop thinking life would be very dull without our fourfooted friends and I share this with many others. This is why I began to paint, for friends and family at first: usually birthday gifts, very special remembrances for them - their favorite dog that had passed away, a wonderfull, serene sunset at their home, a misty view downhills in our preferred holiday area, landscapes they fell in love with, flowers. Then came the friends of the friends ...
So I reluctantly began to paint after photographs, animals that I did not know personally. To my surprise even the first try was a big success. So I continued and up to date I receive all commissioned work from recommendations of previous customers.