Kristine Ellman was born and raised in Ohio. Kristine conveys in her paintings and photography a sincere and life-long love of animals, nature and art. She enjoys photographing dogs, horses, birds, flowers and various wildlife, which are the inspirations and subjects of her paintings. She has won numerous awards at juried art shows, and her work has been collected throughout the country, as well as internationally. One of her equine paintings entitled �Arabian Blues� was published in the December 2002 issue of Equus magazine. Additionally, three of her Clumber Spaniel images were selected for the Spring 2009 issue of Baltimore Dog Magazine, which featured an article about Clumber Spaniels. She accepts a limited amount of custom portrait and original painting commissions each year.
Primarily a self-taught artist, Kristine paints in a detailed and realistic manner using the pastel medium. She enjoys painting and marketing her artwork from the loft in her log home studio situated on 12 acres in the country. Kristine shares her country log home with her husband and their Clumber Spaniels.
From as far back as I can remember, I have always loved to draw and have always enjoyed creating things. As a child, my favourite toys were my art supplies and my first box of crayons with a built-in sharpener. When in school, I always looked forward to going to art class and it was the only class and subject that I excelled in. Besides a few high school art classes, I am completely self taught. After trying different mediums such as oils, acrylics, and graphite, I have found that my favourite medium is using pastels and painting in a photo-realism manner.
My favourite breed to portray is definitely Clumber Spaniels. It is the most difficult and challenging breed that I have ever painted, but will always be my favourite. Painting Clumbers in pastel is a challenge because they are mostly all white, have a heavy bone structure and many different freckles and markings that need to be painted & portrayed correctly. It is always a challenge to paint enough shadow and highlight in the white fur, without having the shadows and highlights look too light or too dark. It is also very time consuming to make sure the fur flows correctly over the heavy bone structure, while at the same time making sure there is plenty of detail in the fur. I also enjoy making sure that the wonderful Clumber expression and personality is portrayed in each painting.
My website shows some of the paintings that I have done: http://www.afpdesigns.com I also have a Cafepress store where I sell various items featuring some of my Clumber Spaniel photography, and a yearly �For the Love of Clumbers� calendar that has been collected by customers here in the United States as well as internationally for the past five years. My CafePress store website is: http://www.cafepress.com/afpdesigns
I have always loved to learn about art history and have enjoyed viewing and studying the works of many different artists. I have found that I am mostly drawn to the work of wildlife and animal artists who paint in the photo-realism manner. A few of my favourite artists whose work I really love and enjoy are Carl Brenders, Terry Isaac, Robert Bateman, Lesley Harrison, John Seerey-Lester, Persis Clayton Weirs, and the Hautman Brothers � Joe, Robert and Jim.
I would describe my style as photo-realism which incorporates a lot of colour and attention to detail. When painting any animal, I really try to capture their personality as well as an exact likeness.
I am available for commissions and I do accept a limited number per year. My pricing starts at $500 for a 9� x 12� single head portrait and goes up from there. My portraits are created using digital and/or film reference photos supplied by the client. Because I paint with such a high level of detail and accuracy, it is important that the client submit as many clear, well-focused and high resolution reference photos as possible. The reference photos need to show the subject up close, as well as their true eye, skin or fur colour. My portraits take anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months to complete, depending on the size and complexity of the painting. For more information on my commission and pricing information, please visit www.afpdesigns.com
Most of my original paintings are available as limited edition prints. To date, I have 39 limited edition prints available and more planned for 2011. To view the canine, equine, floral and wildlife limited edition prints that I currently have available, please visit www.afpdesigns.com
When working on commissions or an original painting, I usually try to paint for at least 6 hours per day, and 5 days per week. I would love to work more hours each day, but it is very stressful on my hands and wrists, and I have to stop frequently to do stretching exercises. I also like to put my work aside for a day or two and then come back to it so I can get a �fresh� look before starting to paint again.
I have experimented with various mediums, and I have found that using pastels is my favourite. It is the medium that I enjoy using the most and where I can get the level of detail that I like to put into each painting. I also love pastels because they are the most permanent of all mediums and will never crack or yellow over time. There is no drying time, smell or mess like with oils or acrylics, and I can pick up my pastels at any time and start working again.
My immediate plans with my art is to continue with a limited amount of painting commissions per year, and also to work on the original Clumber Spaniel, wildlife and floral paintings that I have planned for 2011. Since I am not currently showing any of our Clumbers in the conformation ring, I may also enter a few juried art shows in 2011.
I really don�t have any favourite dog books or magazines because I don�t really do a lot of reading. I also don�t watch a lot of television and prefer to spend all of my spare time either painting, doing photography, and grooming and playing with our Clumber Spaniels. I also do a lot of Swarovski crystal designs on clothing in my spare time, which I also market and sell from my home studio. Some of the Clumber Spaniel and other crystal designs that I have created can be viewed on my website at www.afpdesigns.com
I have to say that everything about Clumber Spaniels appeals to me and draws me to the breed. I saw my first picture of a Clumber Spaniel in the 1990 issue of Dog Fancy magazine. After that, I was determined to find out more about these beautiful white dogs. In 1992, after doing some research and reading about the breed, we welcomed into our home our first Clumber Spaniel �Erin Isle�s Comet Noel�. My husband and I have completely fallen in love with the breed and will never be without Clumbers in our home. I love everything about them, especially their soft and silky white fur, their unique and diversified personalities, wonderful heads and expressions, and those beautiful Clumber eyes! They are such a joy to live with and I can�t imagine life without them. Life with our Clumbers also provides me with endless ideas and inspiration for the many new pastel paintings that I plan to do.
kristine@afpdesigns.com
http://www.afpdesigns.com
lead painting: Tommy
centre: First Snow
base: Spencer