Olive Of My Eye : Commissioned Dog Painting by kto ART

I have to say, painting pet portrait commissions are a lot of fun! It can be a little scary creating a 2D representation of a loved one, but the challenge makes the work more exciting. With Olive, I almost finished all the detail work and realized that I had painted a really pretty portrait of a black lab, but it wasn't Olive... So I had to clear my canvas and start from scratch.
Being an all black dog, I had the option of going the predictable route and painting literal black with white/grey highlights or adding some unusual colors. Obviously, I chose the latter option. Fortunately, Kristin (Olive's mama) loves color, so everyone is happy:) Olive likes to play at the beach near Kristin's house, so it was a natural choice to have her hanging out cove-side in her portrait. Good fun, Kristin! Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to capture Olive's personality in paint!

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