Three of a Kind Danger Dogs beginning to come in!

There are some tough choices ahead!

One of the first triptychs to be completed this trip is this white Westie, Maggie.  The choices include one from Santosh Shrestha, Sufraj Khadka and the bottom is by Shree Laimecchaine (clockwise from top left).

The original photo (in front of the wine) includes a railing where Maggie is gazing off into the Hudson River.   Shree includes the rail in his portrait and Sufraj hints at its presence wth his Nepal lettering suggesting the rail.   Both Shree and Sufraj replace the Hudson with greenery.   I wonder if they even knew that a river could be so wide.   Santosh (as always) ignores all backgrounds.   Alll 3 feature Maggie's cute pink ears prominently.   Notice the different ways they handled Maggie's backside -- Santosh ignores it, Sufraj give the rear a blurry back and Shree imagines a curled white tail.   The jawline emphasis is also handled very differently in all 3 pieces.

Sorry for the wonky photo.   My camera may be on its way out.

Maggie's sathee (means friend in the Nepali language) and companion Yuki, a Shiba Inu, was painted by the same trio of artists -- Sufraj, Santosh and Shree (clockwise from top left).   The owner of the pair had requested 'naive and colorful'.

Of the 3 artists, only Shree included the furniture giving a Nepali home makeover to his portrait.   Shree also included both forepaws even though only Yuki's left front paw is in the photo provided.   All 3 paid careful attention to Yuko's lovely black and tan markings though Shree's Yuki is black and white.   Both Shree and Santosh chose to give Yuki a halo of writing.

The whiskers should be compared as well.   Short, medium to long!   If dogs used Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara on their whiskers, Santosh's painting would be the result.

Above is Ernie the Schnoodle and his final 3 choices.   By Sufraj, Shree and Santosh (clockwise from top left).

Ernie looks like a happy dog, and all 3 artists have caught that.   To me, the portrait of Ernie by Sufraj looks like Ernie as a puppy.   Much like Yuki's whisker progression, the size of Ernie's tongue varies greatly in the 3 portraits.   Shree puts Ernie in the mountains, Sufraj places him in a green field and Santosh lets Ernie stand alone in a deep blue background.

I have an order for a portrait of Hanuman this trip.   You can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the shop and found Hanuman in such a compromising juxtaposition!   Or maybe he too needs an umbrella in the monsoon!   Hanuman is a Hindu God sometimes referred to as the Monkey God.   Hanuman is a provider of courage, hope, knowledge, intellect and devotion. He is pictured as a robust monkey holding a mace (gada) which is a sign of great bravery.  This version of Hanuman is painted by Sagar.   Sagar signs his signboards with a Japanese chop as he teaches young Japanese artists.

I dropped by Megh Raj's studio and found him hard at work painting a beauty shop portrait of the Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai.   A former Miss World, Aishwarya is a popular celebrity in Nepal and a huge movie star in South Asia.

As usual, Megh Raj is doing a great job with her image.

Megh Raj has a number of portraits that are waiting for the Nepali lettering.   Here is Marley, a charming mix of Corgi and Beagle looking content and thoughtful on a favorite blanket.

Above is Marley's good friend Reign, a blue-eyed Corgi.   I had never seen one before and I think you will agree that she is striking!    Again, Reign is awaiting her Nepalese translation.

 

More tomorrow, including the completed works of Megh Raj.

There is still time to order your Danger Dog (or Cat!), but time is running out.   Write to me at ampage1(at)gmail.com for more information and to order.   I do not accept money up front but will try my best to give you a memorable portrait of your pet from Nepal.

This is a fair trade art project and all artists are paid whether you buy or not.   Over 1500 pieces have been commissioned to date giving the artists a lot of much-needed work.

Danger Dogs are for pet lovers who collect art and would like to make a difference.

More information at NepalDog.com.

Stay tuned!