joss & Main Inspirational Painted Picture

I'd like to share with you a picture I saw on joss & Main that I gave me inspiration for a special Christmas gift.  I was browsing on their website and came across this picture of a Shih Tzu dog.  It looked almost exactly like my Mom's dog.  Since it was only a few days until Christmas, I didn't have time to purchase it so I decided I'd try to paint one just like it.

Is your Mom like mine, someone who is hard to find the perfect gift for Christmas ?  I never know what to buy her. I am not an artist or a professional painter, but I thought I would give it a try.  It would be perfect gift if it came out decent.

I had a picture of our son with her dog and used it as a guide along with the joss & Main picture.
My space where I create was loaded with stuff so I had to get creative and use what I had on hand that didn't involve cutting with the saw or lots of tools.

I used a piece of scrap plywood, drew 3 lines and cut halfway through the wood along the lines with my
Craftsman Multi-tool.  It will give the wood the look of 4 planks pieced together.

You don't want to cut too deep as it will weaken the board.

Lightly sand the plywood and round off the corners and egdes. Next, paint the background and then the picture.

 

I didn't take pictures as I was painting.  I didn't want to lose the feeling  painting momentum.

I don't own any professional paint brushes. I used the throw away ones.

 The larger brushes were used to paint the background color, the white and black fur.
I used the smaller brushes for detail of the eyes, nose and mouth. I used my cricut to cut out the words I painted on at the very end.

I surprised myself and my family with the results. I wrapped it up and gave it to my Mom for Christmas.
It brought tears to her eyes.
Thanks! joss & Main for the inspirational picture I saw on your site.