Portfolios

PORTFOLIOS are organized into several themed series, each with its own page. (click portfolio title to open.) Read about why I paint animals. 

Hound dogs, 2021, a double dog portrait, color and knife painting study, by Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis

COLOR KNIFE PAINTINGS A portfolio of looser and more colorful paintings born from Covid-19 isolation.

A painted double portrait in black and white featuring Ruby, an Australian Cattle Dog. Ruby faces straight ahead looking at us, as her human, seated cross legged beside her, reaches toward her.

FAMILY PORTRAITS Paintings honoring interspecies kinships and friendships.

Includes link to: Selfie Family Portraits

Harley 1, 2018, acrylic paint pens on paper, Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis. Portrait drawing of a scruffy bearded chihuahua with tuxedo markings.

DRAWINGS These quick drawings rarely take more than an hour to complete. Most are executed with felt tip acrylic paint pens.

Includes link to: Slow Draw Rounds

portrait of a horse in the dark with the warm glow of a green swirling planet like orb brightening its underjaw and reflecting in its eye

ROUNGS & REFLECTIONS primal celestial reflective

Includes links to: Medical Collar Series, Slow Draw Rounds, and Crow Series Block Prints

ORIGINAL DOG STUDIES The first paintings to come out of my studio after several years absence. 

Includes links to: Cats, Chihuahuas, and Archived Original Dog Studies with a link to Max

Gallery cover picture for "Tongues and Limbs 2" showing Mookie and Extended Paw, black and white pet portraits by Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis.

FACES N LIMBS This portfolio focuses on faces (sometimes with extended tongues) or arms and legs.

Includes links to: the first Limb Series, and Horses

WHY

I’m a bit introverted and perhaps that’s why I am drawn to animals, nature and art. I can experience them in silence with no awkwardness. They transport a person into the present, relieve stress, and deliver joy.

MODELS  

The first models for this body of work were my own four dogs and two cats. After the last of the six passed on, a seventh, Kitten Caboodle, mysteriously appeared… but that’s another story. Since then the model pool has expanded beyond my yard.

MEANING  

These portraits are tributes to the profound impact that pets play in our daily lives and are memorials to beloved family members that have passed.

Black and white is not my perspective on life; yet I find it loaded with potential as an artistic mode (and I don’t mean just as metaphor.) While exploring the seemingly dualistic nature of life, the nuance of grey inevitably insinuates itself into the picture. And now color…

VISUALS  

The simplified pallet of black and white asserts the elegance of the animal form. The intimate views isolate familiar (and sometimes quirky) shapes, while the spaces are energized by character and memory. But things are changing, and I don’t have words for that yet.

TODAY  

My Husband and I are taking a break from large scale pet rearing and so now I paint the pets of others. Perhaps yours