I’m pleased to reveal my three latest commissions, a trio of dogs named Riley, Jessie and Hatcher.
I delivered these last week to a client in Calgary. Suzanne has hired me before to paint a memorial of a black Lab named Santé.
Each commission has a story, and almost all of them become enjoyable memories, both because of the clients I get to work with and the faces I get to paint.
Santé was memorable because Suzanne knew what she wanted, an action pose based on photos she had taken. The details she wanted me to include were fun to paint, and I learned a lot from that piece.
For this latest commission, Suzanne wanted me to paint three separate portraits of Labrador Retrievers she’s had over the years. She is clearly loyal to the breed.
If pet paintings were my only source of income, I could probably get more than a couple dozen done each year. For reasons I’ve laid out before, however, I only take on two or three.
When I create one of my own paintings, it’s usually because I’ve either gone looking for photos of a specific animal, or I’ve found a shot in my archive that inspires an idea. A look, an expression, or even just the lighting can trigger something.
But the choices are all mine, and there’s usually no deadline. When I finish one of my critter paintings, people either like it or they don’t. They buy prints or license the image, and that’s how I know if it connects with people. If it doesn’t, I just try again.
I don’t owe anybody anything.
Commissions, however, are a different animal. Pun intended.
Every job has challenges, but memorial pieces are especially tough, and Suzanne’s recent commission was more difficult than I expected.
Many of the photos I had to choose from were scans of snapshots from years ago, with the lighting and colour challenges you might expect. These are dogs she’s had throughout her life, and I can honestly say I would have turned down at least one of these paintings if it had been a new client wanting me to paint just that dog.
But Suzanne has been great to work with in the past, and I couldn’t very well say yes to one or two of the three dogs and not the other. There was also no rush.
There were several delays on this one. At first, it was my challenge finding the time to fit it in. But Suzanne was also moving into a newly built home, and when it came time to start, she let the next client on my list jump the queue because she just didn’t have the focus for this while dealing with the move.
I can certainly understand that.
So I painted another commission and came back to Suzanne when I was ready to start.
And still, it took a long time.
Because here’s what I hadn’t really considered. While it seemed like one commission for three dogs, it was still three separate paintings. In practice, that meant three commissions’ worth of painting, decision-making and attention to get them all right.
Suzanne was specific. She gave me some great background on each dog and told me personality traits that definitely helped me create better paintings.
She told me Riley was famous for her side-eye, and that’s how she wanted me to paint her. Since she had the photos to back it up, I was happy to accommodate.
That detail proved especially helpful when it came to painting two dogs who were very close in colour.
When I sent work-in-progress shots, Suzanne helped me correct some features that didn’t quite gel with the dogs I was painting.
If I recall correctly, I originally had Hatcher with a more open-mouth expression, but Suzanne wanted something subtler. She also asked me to change the three vertical portraits to square compositions so they could be displayed together in the spot she had chosen.
As shipping and delivery are included with my commissions, I was happy to drive into Calgary last week and present the finished 12×12 metal prints, ready to hang on the wall. I had offered larger sizes, but that was the size she wanted.
Suzanne has a wonderful art collection. She owns a few other larger paintings I’ve done, but she has also commissioned work from other artists, including a few whose work I know and like.
When I delivered these latest commissions last week, I got a tour of her new home, which meant I also got to see some new art. Talk about a bonus.
In recent years, Suzanne has spent time making little wooden carvings herself. I remember seeing some of her early attempts, which already showed talent, but it was a treat to see a lot of her latest work.
Of course, I was doubly amused because they’re mostly little animals with character of their own.
When I delivered the Santé commission in 2021, I got to meet her new black Lab, River, as a puppy. Last week, I got to meet the energetic adult she’s become and hear about some of her unique personality traits.
I’m fortunate that many people have hired me to paint their pets over the years, and I don’t take that lightly.
Because it’s a custom painting and a significant investment of my time, I know this sort of thing is not an affordable purchase for most people. But for those who enjoy my work and want to see their pet painted in my style, I’m grateful for the opportunity and do my best to exceed their expectations.
At present, I have three clients waiting patiently for their turn. The next two are also previous commission clients, and the third is a family who has been collecting my work at Expo for many years.
I’m looking forward to each of those pieces.
Though I have already agreed to paint two dogs for one of those clients, I shared with Suzanne that after this commission, I’m no longer taking on more than one animal for the same client at the same time.
With these three Labs, I had to work on them at the same time so that when finished, they would look like they belonged together. Had I painted one completely and then moved on to the next, I doubt they would have.
And because one dog already takes a significant amount of time to paint, including all of the back and forth that comes with a commission, taking on several for the same client means everybody else waits much longer.
So going forward, one animal at a time.
As you read this, I will have just emailed the next client to see when they’d like to start.
Cheers,
Patrick
So he knew what he wanted when he asked me to paint 10-year-old Delta.
I’ve already got my next few 
The cover features one of my favourite new paintings, The Grizzlies. Inside you’ll find a mix of new pieces and some perennial bestsellers. I’ll let you know when they’re available.
I had thought about doing a subscriber pre-order, but to be blunt, I don’t trust that Canada Post won’t strike again for the holidays. If that happened, I’d be stuck with prepaid orders I couldn’t ship and a pile of unhappy customers. Rather than risk it, I bit the bullet, paid for the order myself, and will sell them in person and online as long as stock lasts.
You’ve all heard plenty about the three-cat commission I’ve been working on in recent months, so I’m pleased to finally reveal the finished painting of Fable, Mortdecai, and Jack.
While Mortdecai has some white in him, they’re all still black cats. Both black and white animals, wild or domestic, bring their own difficulties, mostly because they’re not really either. Black fur is defined by the light it reflects, and white fur has similar challenges. It’s the shading that gives the features depth and form.
Tobi, my client, has a thing for ravens. A lot of the art in her home features them, and I can’t say I blame her. Shonna and I admired some striking raven pieces on her walls when we visited. Shonna likes ravens, too, and longtime followers might recall the aluminum print photo I gave her for her 50th birthday. You can see and 
Tobi has been following my work for quite some time. Along with other art in her collection, she owns many of my 11×14 poster prints and a few metal pieces. For this delivery, she had also ordered a custom 16×16 square-cropped metal print of my Winter Raven painting, along with the cat commission.
Commissions require a lot of back-and-forth. My clients need to be part of the process, otherwise I may not be able to deliver what they want. I’m fortunate that those who have hired me to paint their pets have almost all been engaged and enthusiastic. They dig up photos, share stories, and talk about personalities and quirks. All of it helps me do my best work.
Because I knew three cats in one painting would take more time than any other commission I’ve done, I shared work-in-progress shots with Tobi and with all of you. I don’t usually do that, but since she’s been following my work for so long, I knew she could tell the difference between sketches, roughs, and a finished piece.
Once the metal print arrived, this shot taken with a lot of light, I arranged to deliver it to Tobi’s home in Calgary. Shonna came along for the ride, and we enjoyed the reveal in person. We also wanted to meet the cats, of course, but in true feline fashion, one ran away, one watched us from up the stairs, and the third never showed. Our old cat Muse was like that, too. Great with us, no time for anyone else.
When people talk about art for a living, they usually mean the highlights—the big launches, the finished pieces, the stuff that looks good on a timeline. But this—the half-finished paintings, the licensing negotiations, the time made for ideas—this is the work.
This particular cartoon also featured a grizzly bear—so the best of both worlds. I signed both prints and shipped them yesterday.
I’m always surprised when I sort through reference photos, because often something I thought I had, doesn’t look as good when I get home. And then a random throwaway photo might spark a painting.
This little calf was painted from reference I took at the cabin a few years ago. I’ve since retired it because frankly it wasn’t popular, even though I enjoyed the work and like the painting. That happens a lot, where my favourites may not be your favourites.
But one evening on this visit, I noticed the neighbour’s cows hanging around his gate near the road, and shortly after this first pic, they clustered together and it struck me comical. So I took a bunch of photos, and though I’d work from several of the ones I shot, I think there’s a painting here. Already thinking about how long it would take, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.
I’ll have to let it simmer a bit, but whenever I hear that voice whisper, “hey, look here,” I try to pay attention.
And while I still spent too much time in my own head, thinking about work and worrying about things I can’t control, the setting and company helped me turn down the volume for a few days.
I’ve been working on a commission of three cats, and it’s coming along well. The client has provided some valuable feedback on the images I’ve shared so far. I’ve also recorded a bunch of the process, written the video narrative, and I’m still working on that video and the painting itself.
I based this little fawn on reference I shot at 
But even that’s not as comforting as it used to be. The wildfire threat has been weighing heavy. After Jasper’s nightmare last year, it feels like everyone in our part of Alberta is bracing for our turn. Banff and Canmore have done prescribed burns for years, but now they’re also logging to create larger fire breaks. Nobody’s complaining.
I’ve been working on a big 
Meanwhile, I haven’t finished a new wildlife piece in a while, and that’s eating at me.
When I’m doing commissions and editorial work, that usually means less time for whimsical wildlife. But if I want to have anything to share with you all, I need to loosen the reins a bit.
Recording the painting process as I go, I’ll add some narration once I wrestle this new video software into submission. I’m hoping to share it in a week or two.
My client kindly gave me permission to share these images and the upcoming video. And since many of you have told me you like seeing how the sausage is made, I’ll be sharing more of that this year.
People often ask what it means. If I’m that solitary dot in the middle, my best chance of connecting with others is through my artwork, represented by the bear claws. But just as important is the reverse, where nature, wildlife and the world around me deliver the inspiration to create more art. 
I have been frustrated the past few years that it seems I can never get as much done as I would like to, still failing to find traction. I have too many ideas, too much ambition, and little time to do it all. As fiction writers need to aggressively edit and ‘kill their darlings’ to make for a better story, I must abandon some things to make progress on the ones that mean the most to me.
I haven’t painted anything in a month and needed to get back into the groove. These were supposed to be rougher sketches, but it’s difficult to stop once I get going. These are neither sketches nor finished paintings, but somewhere in the middle.