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This is the incredible story, both heartbreaking and heartwarming, that Alicia told me about the reference photo we’re using for Titan’s portrait. It’s the reason we switched direction with how to capture the essence of him.  1 This is Titan’s portrait in progress. There’s a reason for the decision to use this particular image. Titan passed away unexpectedly last year while I was starting on a memorial portrait of Wishes for Alicia. Alicia and husband Joe considered adding Ti

Working on a portrait of Titan for Alicia McCarthy. You may remember when I worked on the beautiful memorial portrait of Wishes for Alicia last year. While we were still in the beginning design stages, Titan passed away unexpectedly. For a while Alicia asked me to switch direction and we began looking for photos to include Titan in the same portrait. But Alicia and Joe made the decision that Titan deserved his own portrait. His personality is completely different than the sof

I'm starting a new portrait, of Titan for Alicia McCarthy. This portrait has a very touching story to it. I’ll share that with you soon.  Titan’s portrait will be more than just a head study, as you will see. I’m working on “Sky Grey” Canson paper. A beautiful paper that has little flecks and fibers in it. I like using that for a portrait on a plain-color background, it lends interest to an otherwise plain, flat background color.  ❤️  Portrait of “Titan”, 16 x 20 inches. Comm

It's always a fun surprise when I see my own art pop up unexpectedly. I received a notecard from my long time Doberman friend Gabi. It was this pen-and-ink portrait notecard of her boy Rexi that I drew back in the late 1990's or early 2000's.  I’m a Doberman artist, recognized across the U.S. and Canada for my Doberman art since 1991. I work mostly in full color, but throughout the 1990’s I created many Doberman pen-and-inks that were reproduced on apparel, notecards, station

You may remember my triple portrait of the talented “Scout” that I finished in October... I suggested to Annette having me create a custom Christmas card from Scout’s portrait, and she agreed. Using Photoshop I added Holiday elements to each of the 3 depictions of Scout in the portrait. I sent Annette several variations to choose from, pointing out that the design was rather busy. But it was so festive and fun neither of us could resist! Annette wrote: “I am so pleased with m

If you've been following my portrait of Annie.… after the portrait was finished the clients asked me to create a custom Christmas card from Annie's portrait by combining it with the portrait of Briscoe (Border Collie) that I did for them last year. I combined them and customized it in Photoshop by changing Annie's "princess collar" to holiday colors, and added the Santa hat on Briscoe. It made a fun Holiday card! I thought you’d enjoy seeing it. 🎨 Both portraits were created

One of the great things about doing portraits is getting to know the wonderful dogs my clients love. Annie is one of those. I have done 10 portraits for these clients, Carolyn, Gloria, and Tammy. Each of the three women shared more with me about Annie, in individual emails, then they have with any of the other dogs that have graced their lives. Below the portrait is what they told me about Annie. From Carolyn: “Annie is a small Weston terrier mix of some sort. She was origina

Looking for an affordable gift for all the dog lovers on your Holiday shopping list? Overflowing with cute and charming puppies.... Doberman Puppies Coloring Book for children or adults who love to color! 24 Coloring pages of delightful Doberman puppies, from original artwork by Kevin Roeckl. 🎁  Creative line-drawings and their captions teach children about puppies and what their puppy needs to be happy, healthy, and well-behaved. 🎁  Adults will enjoy coloring these sweet a

Making a fade-out at the bottom of a head-study portrait can be tricky. Sometimes I use Photoshop on the client’s reference photo (or on my layout if I’m combining more than one photo) so I can see where to make the fade out. How far down the neck or body to start the fade so it makes a pleasing overall composition with the subject’s face as the most important feature. Sometimes I fade out the bottom very carefully, as though the realistic detail is becoming fainter and faint

In the original photo Annie was wearing a bandana, which the clients asked me to remove. I asked if they wanted a particular collar on her, or no collar. Carolyn requested that she be wearing "a princess collar because she is a princess”. I photographed my Sara’s “party collar” and sent the clients two rough Photoshop layouts, with suggestions of either pink or turquoise, which I felt were good colors to compliment Annie's coloring. In the artwork I straightened out the bow r

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving or Indigenous People's Day. I took the week off from my artt studio to fill the many orders that came in for my 2025 Doberman Holiday/Christmas cards . Now back to work on Annie's portrait. Annie’s cute face is finished. Next her turquoise “princess collar”.  🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Felt Grey” Canson Mi-Teintes paper. 18 x 23 inches. "Annie" in progress Commissioned by Carolyn Martini, Gloria Kehoe, and Tammy Cunningham. This is the 1

A black-and-tan adult Doberman and a red Dobe puppy exchanging a gift is a great way to let friends and family know you’re thinking of them this Holiday season. Doberman owners and enthusiasts, you can let your light shine with true Holiday spirit! The warm and loving inscription inside the card lets your loved ones know you care.  Verse inside card: ABOUT THE ART “Starting in the early 1990’s I designed a Doberman Holiday card each year for my own use, and released it for sa

Quite an interesting mix of colors in Annie's nose. Light yellow ocher, dark yellow ocher, cool mauve, warm mauve, grayish pink, orange, rust, chestnut, warm greys, cool greys, chocolate brown, sepia brown. And of course black.  Most of the pencils on the left are the ones I’m using for Annie’s coat. They live on a piece of clean white paper that I move around where I need it (and an eraser that keeps them from rolling). I add another sheet of paper (and eraser) with a differ

Annie’s eyes are finished. I never get tired of doing eyes, because the colors and reflections in them are so interesting.  What do you see in this eye? This is the right eye in the client’s reference photo — extracted from the rest of the photo so you can focus on just seeing what is there. Focus on the colors, the shapes, and the values (value = lightness/darkness). All those unusual shapes on the eye are the reflections of what was in the environment around the dog. Often

Yesterday I shared Annie’s left ear finished and pointed out that a white coat is easy to do on grey paper. Some light-colored pencil strokes for the hairs.…and the shadows between the hairs make themselves.  I continue using the paper color... Carolyn responded to this in-progress picture: “Look at my pretty princess!!! She’s looking pretty!!!” 2 Check out how much grey paper is showing around Annie's eye. I never get tired of doing eyes. Because the colors and reflections i

I'm starting on a portrait of "Annie" for Carolyn, Gloria, and Tammy. This is the 10th portrait I have done for them over the past 28 years. The pencil colors for her white and cream-colored coat, and the pink inside her ears: Once again I'm letting my paper color do the work. A white coat is so easy to do on grey paper. Some light-colored pencil strokes for the hairs.…and the shadows between the hairs make themselves. 🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Felt Grey” Canson Mi-Teintes pa

Portrait of Scout continued from PART ONE   Scout portrait in progress 9   I’m not going to add the colored pencil grass details around the Frisbee figure until I finish the barn-hunt figure. The backgrounds of those two scenes - straw and grass - will have to fade/blend together at the edges. Since the portrayals of Scout are the most important thing, I want to finish the barn hunt figure first. Then create both the straw and grass backgrounds around the two action figures.

July 29 I'm starting a triple portrait of Border collie “Scout”. The following pictures show how I go about designing a complex portrait with multiple depictions of the individual….from the 60 photos of Scout that Annette sent to me.  Scout is a registered Therapy Dog, and also does barn hunt and is a dedicated Frisbee-fetcher.  1 This is my outline drawing on a sheet of “Flannel Grey” Canson paper. It took 11 days of working with Annette on a layout design, to get to the poi

Scout's triple portrait is finished. Below is what Annette wrote about her partnership with this amazingly accomplished Border Collie. Prismacolor pencil and acrylic wash on “Flannel Grey” Canson Mi-Teintes paper 20 x 26 inches. Annette wrote: “Scout has been an incredible addition to my life. I met him as a 5 year old, recently retired from a busy working life as a goose hazer protecting workers from angry geese. I have had 3 previous Border Collies but Scout has expanded my

When I was adding the colored pencil to connect these two scenes, fading the straw of the barn-hunt scene into the grass of the Frisbee scene, it was necessary to see the entire composition as a whole. So when I finished adding the straw in a way that felt like it looked good, to check whether it needed anything more I taped the artwork up on the wall of my studio, and stood back to see what the artwork would look like as the client would view it in their home.  I saw then th