Around November 2017, I was asked if I would be interested in being commissioned to do a painting of Sally, a Schnauzer who belongs to my friend Rob, and Vinnie (his husband). It was to be a gift for Vinnie’s birthday the following month and Rob wanted it in pop art style. So while my mind screamed ‘Don’t be ridiculous Kelly, you don’t have time’, I replied to Rob ‘Yes, I’d love to paint Sally’, because really, how often does one get asked to paint a pop art Schnauzer? 😉
Vector image I sent to Rob as a mock up.
Rob sent me lots of photos for reference, specifically of the length of beard he likes Sally to have (LOL) and asked me to try and capture her beautiful long eyelashes. Apart from that, Rob left me to it so I printed out one of the photos I liked a lot, at a low opacity so I could kind of trace some of her features and exaggerate others. Then I redrew my sketched lines in Illustrator. It was all go from there – Rob loved the mock up, even down to the turquoise I chose as the background as it was (coincidentally) a colour that was special to he and Vinnie – so far, so good.
Never one to go the easy route, and wanting it to look authentic and still handmade, I had decided I wanted to spray paint this image with stencils, so I got together the stuff that I needed (cardboard, spray paint, MDF, scalpel) and got to work …
Sally redrawn at 600mm x 600mm and outlines cut out.
Outlines sprayed in a light colour for placement.
Separate colours cut and sprayed in layers.
Final piece (Highlights on eyes done with a white paint pen by hand).
She’s not perfect. But she is OOAK and made with love. And Rob and Vinnie love her which is the most important thing. Thanks for thinking of me for this piece, Rob! X.
‘Sally’ in her new home with the original Sally on the couch.
Pic by @robiliciousnz