Recent Royal Animal Commissions.

By Steven Kenny

My Royal Animal Series continues to keep me busy in between the paintings I do strictly for myself. Most are commissions of beloved pets while others depict a wide variety of wild birds and animals. Here are some of the most recent examples completed in the last few months.

During my time as a docent at the Dali Museum I’ve gotten to know many of the staff members and other wonderful people who volunteer there. Anyone who spends a lot of time at the museum must surely be a fan of Dali’s surreal creations. It’s no surprise that those same people would be receptive to my work as well. Over the course of my eight years at the museum I’ve sold a number of paintings and received several commissions. Buttercup (above) was one of those commissions that was a joy to paint. Her face and expression just made me smile whenever I sat down at the easel to work on her. Unfortunately, she passed away six years ago so her humans wanted to immortalize her. This was the second commission I received from this generous couple.

This Royal Goldfinch was the second of two commissioned by the same client. She had ordered one for herself and was thrilled. Her daughter took one look and wanted one, too!

This Royal Kangaroo was done for a very loyal collector who now owns 75 — yes, seventy-five! — of my Royal Animal paintings (if my count is correct). I’ll finish one and shortly afterwards he’ll suggest a new one. Each is always a complete surprise and so far there seems to be no end in sight.

The same collector reached out to ask if I could quickly do a Royal Gecko for his daughter’s upcoming birthday. Of course, I said yes! It was actually her pet so he was able to secretly send me a photo to work from.

Who knows what will come along next!?