OLD COWDOG FRED

I have a friend named Dave, he has an alter ego......Old Cowdog Fred. Dave enjoys writing and sharing his thoughts in the written word.....he does this under the name of Old Cowdog Fred.
I asked him how he came up with that name, this is what he told me .....
He had many dogs in his life and a few were named Fred, he also raised cattle at one time so...Old Cowdog Fred seemed appropriate.
Dave sent me some old pictures of him and his dogs, most were hunting dogs. So, here is my version of Old Cowdog Fred....
I imagine if Dave were a dog he would love being a hunting dog.
One that would be a constant companion, laying by the fire, riding in the truck, running in the shallows of Lake Laura and even sneaking on the golf course in the late evening when everybody had gone home.
Thank you Dave, for your kindness and generosity to me and the dogs I strive to give a better life.
Thank you Old Cowdog Fred.

This drawing was taken from the image of an English Setter.....the drawing was done with a sepia pencil to give it and "old" feel.
It was a little like working with charcoal.

One Mastiff Pup

Bailey was the first to be born of my first litter of mastiff pups. She was 1.3 pounds and beautiful at birth. She is now, at eight weeks old, 16.5 pounds and even more beautiful. Plus she has a wonderful personality.....so sweet and smart. She will be leaving the pack tomorrow. She will be living with her new family which includes two male mastiffs and a dachshund! What could be better?
I selected this side view of Bailey to draw,( using color pencils) to show off her color variations. She is gorgeous from the front view, but is mostly black, this view shows a little more of her brindle pattern.
I am starting to feel a little "misty"...... I hate to admit, it is going to be harder than I thought to say good-bye, but I know Jim and Bailey's new mom Heather will keep me up to date on "my girl".

Jacob and Julia

This picture was taken from their engagement picture.
They make a very beautiful couple......well, beautiful and handsome. I really think my work looks better in person, but I wanted to share my two favorite people with everyone.....so here they are.....Jake and Julie Stephenson

Katie Rececca sixteen years old

how do you like the world so far......

This is a drawing of the image of my niece Katie Rebecca....
My first (kinda) of a person....I like drawing animals better because they love it no matter what.

BOO and OTIS cont'ed

Boo and Otis are Pugs and best buddies.
Boo had a "Pek" friend that sadly past away.....
So his family went searching for another friend for him.
They found Otis through West GA Pet Rescue on Petfinder.com.
This is a graphite(pencil) drawing I did from a photo that Jimmy e-mailed to me.
It is a poor scan, the drawing is an 11x14 and my scan only is for 9x11. I plan to make the original a gift to the Bowdon Animal Clinic.
Boo and Otis are so handsome......Thanks Jimmy for sharing this photo with me.

Happy Birthday to Diana

Diana's Birthday is this week-end.

I did this color pencil drawing for her.

It is her dog Angie. Angelina is a Aussie mix.

This is my first color pencil drawing and I learned alot from it......

so Diana will be getting an improved version. Angie is a fun dog to draw.

Happy Birthday Diana......

Polly Anna

Polly Anna is my friend Kelly's dog.

I had to scan the picture in two pieces and match it together here........

Kelly loves here dogs.........They can call 911....it is just two cute.

Christmas Presents

Three new works I did for Christmas presents.
Two of them I scanned after they were framed so the quality is not good.
Skittles is my niece Katie's Christmas puppy, a little Yorkie.
Then there is Isabelle, my sister Tina's teacup Chihuahua, she is a doll.
Then is "Nestled" a fawn I painted for Tina's lake house/future cabin.

Commisioned Watercolor

Today I took my first commissioned watercolor to the young lady that commissioned me to paint it. The dog has passed away and the painting is for her mother, who the cocker spaniel belonged to.

I did not scan it.....I painted a blue back ground with a touch of yellow and crimson. The dog was on a "cloud" left mostly white with a touch of blue/gray and crimson. I thought it turned out well and so did the young lady!!!!! What a relief......Now I just hope mom likes it.

Three new ones

I have been drawing some, but not like I want to.

I have not painted at all lately. I have done what I am constantly telling myself and others I am not going to do........TAKE IN MORE DOGIES AND PUPS. Basically when I do this all my "free time" is gone.

By the time I sit in down in the evening I do not want to get started on a new project.

First is a famous horse I drew for fun, I have a friend that is fascinated by him, let's see if he knows who he is????

Next is a draft horse colt, this was on a calendar and I just loved it, so I drew it, the fur was fun. I would love to have a draft horse one day.

Then there is a Yorkie named Murphy.....He is my friend Ann's dog. He is a real beauty and I plan to do him in watercolor to show off his colors of honey and gray.

I have been commissioned to do a watercolor for a Christmas gift...

my first... so I need to get busy on it......A LITTLE scary I must say....

Maegan in the morning

This is a new watercolor I have been working on the past couple of days.
"Maegan in the morning" is my Mastiff, Maegan.
She is such a pretty girl. She seems to change in appearance from day to day at times and from week to week at other times.
Just last week Chris asked if Maegan was getting fat, I said, "no, she is just maturing". This week she is looking very lean.......
I have not experienced this type of growth in a dog before.
My Great Dane, Harley continued to grow and mature until about 18 to 20 months of age, but it was not as noticeable as Maegan's changes.
This picture was taken about a month ago. Maegan always has sad eyes.
Doing a drawing or painting of anything "straight on" is difficult, but I felt the picture really captured her personality........
bright, loving and SMART!

Morrigan In Color

If you scan all the way to the end of my blog you will see
Morrigan THE Mastiff which I did for my friend Jim.
I took that drawing and enlarged it,
outlined it on watercolor paper and here it is, Morrigan in Color.

Autumn Curves

This is a watercolor I finished this morning.
It is of a very old Japanese Maple.
The photo I used came from a magazine, so no this is
not my yard.
I think all my work looks better in person.
So, soon I will be sending out information of the Fall Festival in Bremen where I will be having my work on display.
I am going to be busy, busy, busy.

Update on Waterlilly

I posted this watercolor of a waterlilly a while

back. Since then I have worked on it a little.

My instructor showed my how to give it more depth.

What do you think???

Bubba in Color

This is Bubba is watercolor.
I have been working on getting my courage up to do this.
So I took the drawing that I did, held it up to a window and traced the outline of Bubba to my watercolor paper. Then I painted it.
I am pleased with the way it turned out. The waves in the page is due to the back ground not being completely dry when I scanned it.

BUBBA

My Bubba is a seven year old Dachshund.
He is my baby and he is so spoiled.
I did this pencil drawing of him and it is my favorite!
He is such a handsome guy, even with his mulitple scars.
Bubba has a bad habit of sticking his nose where it does not belong.
He knows he is top dog here (to me) but all my other dogs do not seem to understand that.
Poor Bubba!

My Big Teddy "BEAR"

I am reserving this spot in hopes that my friend Jim Andrews will be sending me a picture of his best friend, now gone, Bear.
Bear was a Rottweiler that Jim got out of the "pound".
I met Bear when Jim called me for "pet sitting". I was a little uneasy when I first met Bear, after all he was a BIG SCARY ROTTWEILER!
But, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with this big teddy "Bear".
He always made me feel safe when I would go to feed the dogs. Bear knew he would get extra attention from me and loved "back rubs"!!
I know Jim really misses his friend. I hope he will find the strength to send me a picture soon. I would love to be able to share Bear with eyevryone!

Water Lilly

I did this watercolor last night while watching Law and Order : Criminal Intent......I am a Law and Order junky, the original being my favorite.......
I wanted to save it in the original form, before my instructor gets a hold of it. I think I am improving and enjoying it more...
I want to start doing my dogs in w/c but I am chicken!!!!!!

Jake's Baby Blue Harley

We got Harley for our son Jake when he was 16.
She is a Harlequin/Merle Great Dane.
When Jake went off to Harding, Harley had to stay behind.
She is a sweetheart, 130 pounds with ice blue eyes.
She is now 7 years old which is "getting old" for a Dane.
She has arthritis in her knees and does not get around as well now, but she is happy! We love her!
She was really fun to draw, so I will be doing other drawings of her as time goes by.......

Life is Golden

For many families the Golden Retriever is the dog for them.
Golden's have a good temperament, they are smart and beautiful.
They are also, dogs so they also love to chew, dig and they shed, so even though the Golden Retriever is a great dog they still need the time and attention that all dogs require to help make them the best they
can be!