Here is a new painting that will be a part of a series of small panel oil paintings called: “Me and My Dog”. I will continuously come back to this series over time as I work inbetween other works here and there. Hopefully it turns into a nice little reminder of the simple joys in life… like having a dog as a best friend, and you being his. This one is called: “Christmas Morning”

This is a painting that I’ve been looking to do for a very long time. I first drew a first draft of it back about three years ago. I started designing another scene that included a black and white dalmation, but felt limited by the colour choices of it’s fur coat… and decided on a new perspective. This began as a watercolour and can be found in that section of my galleries.

One of the biggest influences on this painting is Norman Rockwell. There is a pleasantness in his paintings, playfulness and slight comedy. As well, I look to him and Bill Watterson (the Cartoonist) to reference how to properly set up a scene with a lack of space/background imagery. Too many times I’ve lost an entire painting due to the background, so I’ve decided to eliminate it as much as possible and only reference the immediately important. This is going to be a series with a bit of Romanticism to it, by way of making it out of a dream world 1950’s style ‘happy’ attitude in a modern day setting. But all in all, what it really comes down to is whether or not people can simply enjoy the painting for what it is, a simply nice scene.

Oil on Panel