Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

“Rainbows and Sunshine”, what else could I call this fun filled colourful pastel painting of a black Newfoundland puppy? I really enjoyed painting this one, I really wanted to loosen up, and convey the personality without much detail, so I actually used a very bad reference photo that I had taken at a dog show. (At the time I was disappointed that the photo was so bad, but the resulting painting is worth it I think:)

Painting realistic pet portraits means that I don’t usually get to splash around with lots of colour, so that was the main aim with this one – plus to capture the late afternoon sunlight and the glorious colours in his fur without using black!

“Rainbows & Sunshine”

Newfoundland Puppy Painting

Artist Pastels on acid free pastel paper.

Image Size: 11″ x 13″ approx

2008

$200.00 (includes shipping)

10% of your investment in this artwork will be donated to K9 Rescue

"Rainbows & Sunshine" Newfoundland puppy pastel painting by Michelle Wrighton

Where has this year gone? I can’t believe that it is nearly Christmas already and I am definitely not going to look at the last date that I updated this blog, so instead I will just share my latest piece, a pure pastel pet portrait painting on velour paper of a gorgeous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

This is the first time that I have used the German made Hahnemuhle velour pastel paper and I will definitely be using it again, it creates an incredible softness to the artwork that is particularly suited to animal portraiture.

This Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pet portrait features on dog breed merchandise such as stationery, prints, greeting cards, tote bags and more.

Michelle

We lost our little girl Jack Russell Terrier over two years ago to a brain tumor. She was nearly 11 years old and such a gutsy, happy little dog – a true Jack Russell Terrier in every way. Even though I am a pet portrait artist, it took a long time for me to be able to do her portrait.

Created with soft pastels on black Art Spectrum sanded paper, this is one of those pieces that just seemed to paint itself and I am really pleased with the result. I can now really understand why many of my clients who have commissioned commemorative portraits of pets they have lost as it feels almost like having them back again, that probably sounds really strange, maybe its being able to see that familiar loving face every day. Of course a painting can never replace a dearly missed pet, but it certainly does help to heal the pain a little.

Jack Russell Terrier in Pastel

‘Harley’ in pastel: 9″x12″

At the moment I am working on a commemorative portrait of Cleo, a Bull Terrier cross. I had the choice to do it in graphite or colour and decided on graphite, I’m not quite sure why as apart from one ear she is a white dog, and rendering white fur on white paper with graphite is a bit of a challenge! I will post a picutre of Cleo’s portrait when it is finished.

I needed a break from my graphite commission and decided to have a go at this ginger cat in pastels using the Art Spectrum Colourfix sanded paper I just got. I am quite pleased with the results and can see myself doing alot more pastel work on this particular paper! If anyone else uses this paper for animal portraits, I’d love to here your experiences with it.

‘Ginger Megs’ 9″ x 12″ on Light Blue Colourfix.

Michelle