Here is the first of the paintings for the winners of the Bullmastiff Competition I ran earlier this year.

Urbandream Honky Tonk Women for Jaarmoel aka Dax owned by Carol Wilson. Isn’t she a cutie? :-)

I love the colour contrasts between the lilacs, blues and greens and the warm ochre tones in her coat. She also has the sweetest expression with her paw firmly on her toy. She’s clearly a girl who knows her own mind.

This is an 8×8 inch acrylic painting on board. A giclée print of the painting will be going to the American Bullmastiff Association Nationals for the art auction.

Thank you Dax for being a lovely model!

I have several bullmastiff paintings on the go at the moment. I do love painting them! Here’s a finished commission, Satchmo and Tatoosh. This is a painting full of colour as the two dogs sit looking out over the lake. the wonderful warm tones of their coats make a fabulous contrast with the blues and greens in the water.

Here’s how it was painted.

The under painting was done in burnt sienna with the dogs drawn in burnt umber. I picked out the main details of their faces and then started on the first coats of oil paint in the lake.

As the lake was drying I started on the dogs themselves.

Here’s a close up of the painting at this stage showing work starting on his face.

The finished painting. It took several layers in both the lake and the dogs to complete the painting, building up the layers of colour to create the richness of the final piece. The blue greens really make the warm reds and golds in their coats glow!

Satchmo and Tatoosh, 12×8 inch oil on board, SOLD.

And finally, a detail from the finished painting.

Isn’t he handsome? :-)

Another painting in the series of dogs on the beach, one of my favourite subjects! This is Rusty, a Labradoodle. He’s racing away across the sand and through the waves with his ball in his mouth. It makes me think of happy summer days, full of fun and laughter.

This was a great excuse for some luscious colour combinations. The wonderful turquoise sea looks wonderful against the reds and golds of his coat. The colours add to the feeling of a happy, sunny day.

Here are some close up details of the painting.

Green Ball
16×12 inches acrylic on canvas board
SOLD

This lovely brindle bullmastiff lad is a rescue dog. Lindy, who showed him that humans can be kind and loving and who found him his forever home, kindly let me paint him and I’ve really enjoyed it. This pose is just such fun. I love his happy expression.

Rocky Relaxing
12×10 inch oil on board

Here’s how I painted him…

This is a 12×10 inch oil painting on board. I started with an under painting using burnt sienna, which I hope will make a good foil for the blues to come later on.

I’ve developed the darks in the painting and started laying down colour in his muzzle and body.

Once I have Rocky himself nearly finished I start on the blue cushion and the background.

And here he is finished. He just needs to dry and get a coat of varnish.

And here’s a close up of the painting.

This painting will be going to The American Bullmastiff Association art auction later in the year to help raise money for the great work they do for bullmastiffs.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the Bullmastiff Photo Contest. It was a great success, thanks to all of you who entered your fabulous dogs!

There were 137 entries and over 10,000 votes! There were so many lovely photos, I wish I could paint all of them!

But the votes are in and the winners will come as no surprise because they were way out in front. In fact they were so close that I’ve decided to give two prizes! After all, it’s all for a good cause.

The two beautiful bullys who will be up for auction at the ABA art auction this autumn are CJ and Dax. I hope they’ll raise lots of money for bullmastiffs in need.

Now to start painting! :-)

I have a new Labradoodle print ‘The Chase’.

Two dogs playing chase on the beach, having fun. The prints is available in the Canine Gallery.

Here’s a small painting of a Yorkshire terrier on the beach. Although it a close up, I loved the way the soft colour of the beach are reflected in his coat, the blues and lilacs and the sandy golds.

This is an 8×8 inch oil painting on board. Want to buy him?

Creating art to help bullmastiffs in need

Is your dog a handsome pup? Good looking dogs or natural comedians, I’m looking for models to inspire some new Bullmastiff art.

As some of you know, I donate work each year to the American Bullmastiff Association art auction to help raise much needed funds for bullmastiffs. I want to do a new piece for this years auction and I thought it’d be fun to have a photo competition to find new models.

Prizes
A 10×8 portrait of your dog for yourself and the warm, fuzzy feeling of making a contribution to the important work of the ABA. I will create 2 pieces of art from the winning photo, one for the winner and one to be sold in the ABA art auction. All proceeds of the auction go to the ABA.

Photos
They can be any kind of photos, funny, sweet, or just plain good looking, as long as they are Bullmastiffs.

They must be YOUR photos of YOUR dog! This is important folks, you must be the owner of the copyright of the images you enter, so please don’t enter photos other people have taken.

What to do if you are on facebook

Go to The Painted Dog page on facebook and click the like button.
Look for the photo contest button on the left hand side and click it.
Enter your photos of your dog.
Vote for your favourites.
Share the link and ask your friends to vote too.
The most popular picture will win the prize but also, I hope, raise the most money for ABA at the auction. That’s the important bit!

What to do if you are NOT on facebook

Email me your photos at den@thepaintedcat.co.uk
include your name and location and of course your dogs name and title of the photo if any. I will add them to the album so people can vote on them.

The Rules

The Dogs

They must be photos of your dogs. They must be Bullmastiffs. It all raises money for ABA. You can submit as many photos as you like.

Copyright

You must be the photographer! This is important folks, you must be the owner of the copyright of the images you enter, so please don’t enter photos other people have taken. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Ownership/Use Rights

By entering the contest, you are giving me, Denise Laurent, permission to use your photos to create works of art.

Judging

Vote for your favourite photos. Tell your friends and get them to vote too. The most popular photo will win.

Inappropriate Content

This is all about the dogs. Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content will be removed.

Winners

The winners will be notified by email within one week of the winner announcement date, using the email address provided on the entry form. No financial compensation will be provided to winners.