Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

Italian Greyhounds would have to be one of the most elegant and delicate looking breed of dogs and they have the most beautiful eyes! Italian Greyhounds, or “Iggy’s” as they are affectionately called, are the smallest of the sighthound family and despite their Toy breed classification and companion dog status, many still retain the instinct to chase small animals and birds!

The breed has a long and noble history spanning thousands of years.  Mummified remains of dogs similar to Italian Greyhounds have been excavated from the tombs of the Pharaoh’s in the Valley of Kings and it is believed that the breed originated in Egypt around 3000BC.  These small hounds were taken to the  Mediterranean by the Romans around 600 BC, and because of their popularity in Italy during the middle ages, they became known as Italian Greyhounds and were frequent companions to European Royalty and Aristocracy including Mary Queen of Scots, Charles 1, Catherine the great and Queen Victoria.  This elegant breed has been portrayed in art throughout the centuries from paintings to carvings and ceramic statues.

I strive to capture the essence of the individual animal in my artwork and so much of this is conveyed through the eyes, which are what compelled me to paint this gorgeous Italian Greyhound from a photo reference by fellow artist C. Sheeter.  I hope I have captured that unique spark in ‘Magnifico’.

Magnifico - Italian Greyhound Portrait Painting by Michelle Wrighton

Art prints and gifts featuring my Italian Greyhound Painting ‘Magnifico’ are available for sale in the following places;

Art By Michelle Etsy shop – signed and custom prints options for sale

Redbubble Art Shop Gift cards, matted, laminated, canvas and framed art prints for sale

Zazzle Art Shop Posters, ornaments, t-shirts, bags, posters, coffee mugs, canvas prints magnets, shoes, photo cards for sale

Thanks for visiting my blog  and sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

SHOP CUSTOMIZED ART PRINTS, T-SHIRTS & GIFTS: Zazzle

SHOP CARDS, MATTED, LAMINATED AND FRAMED ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRINTS: Redbubble

Busy, Busy Busy!  It seems like there is never enough hours in the day to get everything done – and that is my excuse for not updating my blog more regularly and I’m sticking to it!   One of the big things that is taking alot of time -many, many, many months – is a BIG PROJECT that is slowly nearing completion (click the link and follow me on Twitter for the announcement on that one).

I’ve also got a few new paintings to add to the blog, and a couple more that I am still working on, one of a dog painting, the other a horse and rider that is not flowing the way I would like it too, maybe a few days break from that one over easter will allow me too look at it again with fresh eyes.

Several people have asked how I complete my digital paintings with my graphics tablet and stylus, so I’ve also been working on a small series of articles explaining the different types of digital art and the process that I use to create my digital portrait paintings – some people seem to think that digital paintings are ‘one-click’ photoshop effects, but that explanation couldn’t be further from the truth!

In the meantime (because I have to run and feed the horses their breakfast!) this is a pet portrait painting I have recently completed of my gorgeous Border Collie dog, Taj (yes a painting for me!).  This is one of those paintings that just flowed without interuption, I suspect because I know the subject so well:)  Taj is a rather extroverted character, he’s never met a stranger and is such a show-off, he loves posing for the camera and really is the perfect photograhic and art model!  It may run in the family, because one of his uncles is the Border Collie in the Better Homes & Gardens television commercial.

Border Collie Dog Breed art by Michelle Wrighton

Prints of Taj’s portrait painting will be available for purchase from Redbubble and Zazzle shortly.

Thanks for visiting my blog  and sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

SHOP CUSTOMIZED ART PRINTS, T-SHIRTS & GIFTS: Zazzle

SHOP CARDS, MATTED, LAMINATED AND FRAMED ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRINTS: Redbubble

Bright, bold and colourful, this impressionist digital oil painting is based on a photograph I took of Canola fields in full bloom north of Kojonup (a small country town in the south west of Western Australia).

Canola out of Kojonup by Michelle Wrighton

Art prints and gifts featuring my ‘Canola out of Kojonup’  painting are available for sale in the following places;

Art By Michelle Etsy shop – signed and custom prints options for sale

Redbubble Art Shop Gift cards, matted, laminated, canvas and framed art prints for sale

Zazzle Art Shop Posters, ornaments, t-shirts, bags, posters, coffee mugs, canvas prints magnets, shoes, photo cards for sale

I can also be found on:  TWITTER FACEBOOK – My Art       FACEBOOK – My Photography     SOUTH WEST PHOTOGRAPHY – my photography website

Thanks for sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

“Stars and Stripes” is my new western influenced cowboy and horse painting.

"Stars and Stripes" original painting by Michelle Wrighton

Art prints and gifts featuring this painting are available for sale in the following places;

Art By Michelle Etsy shop – signed and custom prints options for sale

Redbubble Art Print Shop Gift cards, matted, laminated, canvas and framed art prints for sale

Zazzle Art Shop Posters, ornaments, t-shirts, bags, posters, coffee mugs, canvas prints magnets, shoes, photo cards for sale

I can also be found on:

TWITTER

FACEBOOK – My Artwork

FACEBOOK – My Photography

SOUTH WEST PHOTOGRAPHY – my photography website

Thanks for visiting my blog  and sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

x Michelle

Skipping Stones - Having Fun on the Blackwood

Greeting cards, laminated, matted, canvas and framed prints of “Skipping Stones” can be purchased from my Redbubble shop:

Fire and Ice - Siamese Cat painting by Michelle Wrighton

Art prints and gifts featuring ‘Fire and Ice’ can be purchased from the following places:

Art By Michelle Etsy shop – signed and custom prints options for sale

Redbubble Art Shop Gift cards, matted, laminated, canvas and framed art prints for sale

Zazzle Art Shop Posters, ornaments, t-shirts, bags, posters, coffee mugs, canvas prints magnets, shoes, photo cards for sale

Bosco at the Beach - Labrador dog Painting by Michelle Wrighton

Cards, laminated, matted and framed prints of “Bosco at the Beach” can be purchased from my Redbubble shop:

William - Pet Cat Portrait painting by Michelle Wrighton

Cards, laminated, matted and framed prints of “William” can be purchased from my Redbubble shop:

There is nothing quite like the power and majesty of a Thoroughbred Race Horse, and this digital painting is the first in a series of Racing Paintings that I have planned (for both Standardbreds and Thoroughbred race horses).  Thanks to photographer Cathy Sheeter for the wonderful reference photo.

Ready to Run Race Horse painting by Michelle Wrighton

100% crop of Ready to Run detail

Greeting Cards, laminated, matted, canvas and framed prints of “Ready to Run” can be purchased from Redbubble

"The Sentry" Meerkat Portrait painting by Michelle Wrighton

I created this digital painting fom a photograph that I took of one of the Meerkats at the zoo, but I thought he needed to be put back into the wild, so painted a more natural background environment for him to live in:)  This is another one of the first digital smudge paintings that I did, but I had to leave it for a while as I had removed the background and couldn’t work out to put a layer in behind him.  LOL in the end I just painted the background around him and then blended the edges of his fur in with the background.  I know most digital artists get the most of the program they use by createing layers for each element that they paint, but I find it much easier just to paint from the background forwards, just like I do when painting with real paints on real canvas!

“The Sentry” is available to buy as greeting cards, matted, laminated, mounted, canvas and framed prints: Purchase “The Sentry”