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

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:

Jack at the Beach by Michelle Wrighton

Owners of water loving, tennis ball obsessed Jack Russell Terrier dogs will appreciate the familiarity this scene! Digitally hand painted using pressure sensitive tablet and stylus in Corel Painter.

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 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

'Zippo' Pet Portrait Painting of a Betta (Siamese Fighter) by Michelle Wrighton

Zippo was my daughter’s much loved first Betta fish…who is sadly no longer with us, so this is a memorial pet portrait for my daughter. And below is very poor reference photo that I used to paint Zippo from (I can say that because its an old photo that I took with a tiny point and shoot camera!)

Poor reference photo!

Dachshund - Digital Smudge Painting

This is one of my first digital painting attempts, using oils in photoshop to add colour and the smudge tool to blend.

Digital Painting of a gorgeous chocolate Labrador at the beach.

Bosco - Chocolate Labrador Beach Painting Pet Portrait by Michelle Wrighton