Finished commission

Here's the final version. After much considering - and input from others - (thanks again, all!!) - I decided to first finish the areas that I felt needed more work, i.e., deepening and adding more blue purplish tones to the shadows around the dogs and in the foreground. I also softened that left post, added some warm tones to it and misted the greenery in the background so that it receded a bit more. Then I re-evaluated once again.

Portrait of Sassy and Katie, 36 x 48, acrylic on canvas. Private commission.

Among my friends, I'm known as a painter of "empty" spaces and lonesome landscapes. It's true that I like a certain austerity of composition for the most part. Formal compositions according to the book just, well, bore me. I like a certain tension - and I like to lead the eye by various means that won't be too obvious. By deepening the shadows and carrying those deeper colors down and off the left foreground, I feel there is interest without having resorted to a status quo solution. At least that's how I see it!

The client loved it - and let's face it - that's really important.

I've been enlarging some photos as I post them - but the proportions don't always come out perfectly, resulting in slight blurring. I'm going to leave this one alone, so to see more detail, just click to enlarge.

The original posting (before changes) is shown below: