Riley

Annie

Zoey ad Grover, Pet Portrait, Pitt

This little cutie is Rock Enzo. This painting is of him after just being born. Wow! And yes, he had that much hair! This painting is intended to be a gift to his mother for her birthday. Coupled with the fact that this is the day of Rock’s birth, I think this is complete heaven! See his actual photo… Read the rest of this entry »

Tula. Read the rest of this entry »

Sophie, Beagle. Read the rest of this entry »

Sebastian.  Read the rest of this entry »

Peanut.  Read the rest of this entry »

In this portrait, I have updated the baby’s hairline, touched-up the eyes, and deepened the blues in the baby blanket. I also warmed up the skin a touch with a little rose. These babies are very charming.
Read the rest of this entry »

This pet portrait was commissioned by a client of his dog, Junior. See the work in progress Read the rest of this entry »

So, how does a photo go from a photo to a full fledged painting?   Read the rest of this entry »

www.zapatastudios.etsy.com

This beautiful pet portrait is of Sophie, a super sweet Yorkie living in Louisiana.  Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

Pet portraits: Jeremiah and Dakota, Two Rough Collies side by side with the ruby background.

Jeremiah and Dakota, original photograph.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I just finished adding the finishing touches to Buck’s portrait. I love looking at this painting in the sunlight. All of the colors really radiate beautifully together in the natural lighting. I cannot wait until this painting goes to its owners. I think they will be very pleased when they see it in person. I added a soft red hue to the left to add a sense of depth and warmth. Love it!!

Here is Buck really coming together nicely. I plan to soften his fur a touch more, add more highlights, and deepen the shadows. A touch of color here and there and then there’s pasta. Buck’s mom says he loves pasta. So to personalize the painting even more, I am going to include a pasta pattern in his bandanna. More to come as I am in the studio right now finishing this piece.

With the beautiful sunlight filtering into my studio today, painting seems to happen with so much ease. With Buck’s portrait here, I have given the painting an under painting of a warm yellow ocher with a touch of crimson. I usually paint directly onto a white canvas; however, I recently became inspired by another portrait painter here in Pittsburgh, Peggi Habets, to give this technique a try again.

Since Buck is full of beautifully dark brown fur, I am challenging myself to bring in a range of many interesting hues from the color field to give this painting a sophisticated and rich palette. I am excited to see the results.

I love this painting. Just completed Sonny’s portrait this week. The deep orange and red background really give this painting a lot of zest. What a handsome kitten, sure to warm the hearts of his owners for Christmas.

“Thank you again for the painting, Joe absolutely loves it! I can’t even describe how perfect it is. I tried to get a quick shot of Sonny with it, which I attached. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and thank you again! ”

Betsy, Pittsburgh.

Beautiful Sonny, my goodness is he is cutie. I am in love with the totally endearing look on his face. Just a kitten, you can see how little he is compared to his toy mouse. This is a work in progess that I am just can not stop painting. I made this composition a close up of the original picture to really capture the intimate quality of the moment. Love the pink little nose and the reflection of Sonny’s eyes. He’s a keeper!! Another update soon…

Sonny’s original photograph.

Bailey’s final pet portrait.

Bailey’s preview clearly shows the next step to be painted, her body area. The background will have a overcast of hunter green allowing the under painting of lime yellow to shine through around Bailey’s face.

I used a combination of these two photos to create a composite image for the final composition above.

Pet Portraits: Jingles and Charlie, what a handsome pair!

Portrait work in progress.

Original photo

Original photo

Read the rest of this entry »

Bridgette’s final portrait

Read the rest of this entry »

This lovely horse is a painting for my friends, Mara and John Roberts at Sterling Printing. This past summer I had a wonderful visit to their barn where we had a blast photographing the horses. I am completely inspired to do a series of horse paintings.

Here is some information about this horse from Mara. “His name is Champion. He is a purebred Arabian with parentage originating from the Polish stud (stud meaning a breeding farm). I think he is six or seven years old . He is a Bay Gelding and born on the farm. We have his parents as well. Having a very sweet nature and easy to work with, he likes humans. He will be one of our future Therapeutic Riding mounts. And as you can attest, he is not camera shy!” Thanks Mara!!! Check out more of the beauties below.

Sigh, I miss the summer already.

Looking good! I added the antenna, the final layers of burnt sienna to the dark area in the wings, filled in the blue/gray “wing drops” at the bottom, and gave a final layer to the background to this commissioned butterfly painting.

Here is a bit of background information on this “butterfly”. It is actually inspired by the Zodiac Moth, the only member of this genus of eleven day-flying species to occur in Australia. The wings are black with coppery green tones and purplish pink iridescent bands. I actually skipped the layers of green and alternated with layers of sienna to create a warmer look. The Zodiac is native to Papua New Guinea and northeastern Australia, but she is will be migrating to Michigan this year!

I know it is the beginning of November and I am painting a butterfly; that is fine with me. I know the butterflies are on their merry way to Mexico or some other warm place. They have the ability to live carefree and take off for the season. Unless they are a little confused with the fact that it was eighty degrees in Pittsburgh in October, maybe some decided to stay. I doubt it though. Anyway, here in Zapata Studios, I have been working on this painting for a wonderful woman in the Detroit area. Apparently, her wedding theme was butterflies. She saw my butterfly series on the web and picked up the phone to give me a call to ask if she could have one done for her house. Would I to deny such a flattering request? Never! Plus, as the days turn gray, its totally energizing to look at such a colorful piece.

Creating a positive energy through visual means was the intention of my original butterfly series. Each piece was painted with the intention to uplift, inspire, and to bring positive energy to the atmosphere of the room in which it would be displayed. So far they work wonderfully. I do have to admit, they are not all butterflies. Some are moths. I’ll get more into that later. I have work to do!

Read the rest of this entry »

It turns out that Bisbee’s family really likes the colorful painterly background. That is great. I have also added more body to Bisbee’s coat and deeper, darker tones in the shadows of the fur. I also added the white highlights to Bisbee’s chin area. What do you think? See the original image and the work in progress. Read the rest of this entry »

See the process of this painting. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a finished portrait of Gracie from San Fransisco.  She is a two year old
Border Collie / Dalmatian mix. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Cane, Pet Portrait, Pittsburgh.  Read the rest of this entry »

This pet portrait was commissioned by a family in North Carolina. Daxon is such a beautiful dog, see his original photo… Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »