pet portrait

New Sticker Launch – Border Collie Chasing His Tail

pet portrait, stickers, watercolor, watercolour / / / , , , ,

Now that the Canada Post strike has settled down a bit and I’m able to re-open my shop, it’s time for a new sticker launch!

I wanted to paint something playful and cute, and what could be cuter than a puppy holding his own tail??

This little border collie is based on my senior boy, Maulkin. He doesn’t spin very well anymore, but he still has a playful spirit and sassy attitude.

You can get your own silly border collie sticker here at my shop!

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Rainbow Sulcata Tortoise Portrait

ink painting, pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , , ,

After painting so many fluffy animals recently, I had the urge to paint a tortoise. This is a sulcata tortoise, one of the most charismatic tortoises you can meet imo.

I had a ton of fun painting the scales on this cutie. Sulcata’s have quite thick spur-like scales down their legs that create beautiful, dramatic shadows. I’m still working on balancing the more subtle scales on the face, but painting each leg scale individually felt right for this guy.

One of my biggest frustrations with painting on wood is how poorly it scans. The yellows and oranges have so much more depth in person that gets lost in the wood when scanned or photographed. But even so, I’m pretty happy with this piece! I’d love to paint more tortoises in the future. Do you have a favourite tortoise or turtle species?

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Rainbow Watercolour Black German Shepherd Puppy Portrait

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour / / / , ,

Here’s another little experimental piece in my struggle to understand black fur! Painting this little GSD puppy felt like pulling teeth. I even had to start over, which is something I rarely do. But I think the face turned out really cute, and I learned a lot. All-in-all, totally worth the struggle.

Now I definitely need a break from these little studies. Be prepared for something new next time!

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New Rainbow Goat Vinyl Sticker

pet portrait, stickers, watercolor, watercolour / / / , , , ,

Rainbow Goat Vinyl Sticker!

I’ve had a page of goat doodles kicking around in my sketching app for months now, and I finally decided to make something with one of them! I love drawing goats, because they’re so blocky and bouncy. There’s something super charming about how they’re just little bricks on pogostick legs. (Their flippy, little tails and huge, floppy ears don’t hurt, either!)

You can grab these goat friends here: 

https://squidtartsart.etsy.com/ca/listing/4331256883/rainbow-goat-vinyl-sticker

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Black Cat Experimental Watercolour Painting

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour / / / , , ,

Here’s a little black kitty portrait for practice.

One of my self improvement goals for this year is to figure out fully black animals. I feel like I’ve actually gotten worse at conveying their darkness as I’ve developed my painting style over the years. This is where we stand now. I have a few ideas for how to improve, and I’m excited to see where I end up.

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Baby Leopard Gecko Watercolour Painting

pet portrait, watercolor, watercolour, wildlife art / / / , , , ,

It’s hard to believe it’s been a couple years since my last leopard gecko painting! These guys are so charismatic and cute. They have such an unusual texture, too, which is a real challenge to paint. Summer seems like the perfect time to be painting reptiles, and I hope to paint at least a couple more before fall hits. 🦎

Learn to paint like this through my Skillshare classes: https://www.skillshare.com/en/user/squidtarts

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