My Art Project

I have always felt, in the back of my head, that I wanted to be an artist. Specifically, a painter. I admire all art but painting to me seems so magical. I have never really had the time to pursue this craziness until now.  I have thought about taking art classes but that just never felt right.  I think art should come from inside the artist.  Thoughts, experiences, ideas should be original and just flow naturally from within.  With that said, I wanted to share with you what I have decided to do.  My first project is to attempt to paint one of my favorite pictures of my dog Scooter.  As you know, I left him behind when I retired and moved to Ecuador.  

My first step was to sketch an outline on canvas.  I printed the picture and then traced it using carbon paper.  Here is the result:

After studying the original picture, and contemplating the next step, I sat down today and started the actual painting.  Here is how that turned out:

When you compare it to the original photograph I must say it's not so bad actually:

I am looking forward to adding additional colors and fine tuning the outline of his face.  I'm not sure that I can capture his personality but I will certainly try.  I will post more photos as I continue the painting process.  Not sure how long it will take.  I'll only paint when I am in the mood and feel that I can give it the proper attention it deserves.  If this project works out, like I hope it does, my goal is to produce original paintings.  Not sure in what style though.  I'm thinking abstract.  Stay tuned!