Painting of the Month- June

I’ll be honest…I didn’t want to write this post. When I realized this morning that I hadn’t done the Painting of the Month post I just thought, great, more work on my plate. One more thing I have to do. I’m tired. My back hurts. I’ve spent the morning picking up food garbage that people have littered over my fence. We have to check every morning now and throughout the day so our dogs don’t eat something hazardous.

Then I had to help management get outside to go potty, lifting him when he fell over and then cleaning him up and helping him back inside. As both of his back legs start to deteriorate, he is starting to get more anxious and cry. He only stops crying if I set him up right next to me so he’s touching me. That is where he is now as I write….on his bed in my office curled up and snoring.

So painting of the month wasn’t exactly a priority. Just a chore.

Till I saw this painting on my wall:

Most all the boxer paintings I do are of management. Why not right? I have beautiful little boxer models running around the house all day. It makes sense that I would paint them. This one is my boy. I’ve painted a few different versions of this one, but of all of them, I’d say this is my favorite so far.

Buckner just gives the most soulful looks. His eyes just pierce deep inside you. I always try to capture that when I paint him.  Never felt I quite got there till this painting. The loads of swirling color here finally give his eyes that overwhelming depth.

The deep blues in the body give off the sense of calm he carries (unlike his crazy sister, who is more like your typical wild boxer, all over the place…), while the reds have the warmth of his smoosh face pout.

My husband tells me frequently I should just paint ‘normal’ boxers. That I would sell a lot more paintings if I just painted the dogs the way they actually look. Judging by how much generic boxer crap sells in shops on Etsy all the time, he’s probably right.  But I just don’t see the point. Boxers are not like any other dog breed out there. If you’ve had the privilege of a boxer in your life, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Massive amounts of color are the only way I can come close to capturing that one of a kind personality… and energy… and humor and….boxerness.

You can see more shots of this months painting in the shop. It is available for $65