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Portrait of the artist and owner of this site: Zita Panyi.

Welcome to my site,

My name is Zita Panyi. I worked as a dog behavior therapist for nearly a decade. And met with many traumatized dogs in the country I was born. I left it behind because I believe that a healthy lifestyle for animals and humans is only possible in harmony with nature. In an environment where the core values of society are humanity, responsibility, empathy, openness to development, a sense of joy in the diversity of the world and rationality. Where the responsibility of the individual and that of society are equally distinct. Only with this background can we leave a legacy of accumulated knowledge, of the good that lives within us. This is what I would like to do. By giving voice to the stories of animals and people. My own story too.

I believe that no matter how old we are and what happens to us in life, if we are able to feel and believe in our life force, then we can keep our creativity and our common sense. We need both to grow and to meet those with whom we can make our dreams come true.

So, I decided it was time for a change. I have moved to the magical Finland with my family and I am on my artistic journey – back to the roots – in a self-taught way. I love it. I hope my artwork will bring joy to many people and bring color to many homes.

Montage of three hand-drawn photorealistic images. The first image is a shiba inu image portrait drawn with colored pencils. The second one is an oilpastel painting of german shepherd. The third one is colored pencil drawing of a red-eyed tree frog. This third one is framed and hanged on the wall.
Tap to enlarge the picture and read its story or long-tap to see its technical details.
This artwork is an abstract watercolor painting. On the top of the picture we can see a red sun surrounded by a blue and black contour line. From the part under the sun to the bottom of the picture we can see mountains, some rivers, fields and green forest's strips. But in such a way that brown, blue, yellow, green and red stripes flow into each other. The whole thing undulates like the sea. The top third of the picture is left white. Sparkling white. There are three small birds painted in black, they are heading to the left. A fourth larger bird is heading to the right.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Talens watercolor
Image size: 26cm × 36cm
Time to create: 7h

Lack of purple

This is an oil pastel painting. In the middle of the picture we can see a lovely, black-and-brown German Shepherd with a serious face lying in a large clearing in the grass. He has come out of the woods and is resting. He is looking at the camera and holding his orange ball between his paws with a piece of rope hanging from it. He is enjoying the afternoon sun. In the background, the deciduous trees are magnificent in autumn. The large dog casts a shadow in front of him, darkening the grass in the foreground. The painting is done in a realistic style. A lot of attention was paid to small details, such as the fur of the animal, the blades of the grass, and the spikes of the ball.

Technical details

Surface: Sennelier Oil Pastel Pad. Acid free 340 gr 24x32 cm
Medium: Caran d'Ache 96 Neopastel extra-fine oil pastels
Image size: 24cm × 32cm

Rex

This is an oil pastel painting. On the left side we can see a part of the trunk of a birch tree. Some branches lean to the right. The sky is sunny and blue and the winter sun shines white. It shines through the tree branches. In the middle of the picture we can see a strip of distant forest with a church tower. In the foreground we can see a thick layer of snow. A reddish-brown grassy and bushy area appears among the snowdrifts.

Technical details

Surface: Talens oil colour paper, 300 g/m²
Medium: Caran d'Ache 96 Neopastel extra-fine oil pastels
Fixative layer: Talens Varnish for oil pastels
Image size: 29.7cm × 21cm

Winter field

This colored pencil picture is a portrait of a shiba inu. The background is blank. This dog breed comes from Japan. The head's fur is red, the face is white. The dog's face shows the determination and focus of hunting dogs.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Faber-Castell 120 Polychromos and Caran d'Ache 100 Luminance color pencils
Fixative layer: Winsor&Newton fixative spray
Image size: 18cm × 26cm

Shiba inu

In the middle of this colored pencil picture we can see a well-lit red eyed tree frog. Its color are very vibrant. The tiny frog is hanging on a blade of grass. The background is totally dark black.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Faber-Castell 120 Polychromos and Caran d'Ache 100 Luminance color pencils
Fixative layer: Winsor&Newton fixative spray
Image size: 36cm × 26cm

Red-eyed tree frog

In the middle of this colored pencil picture we can see an elephant shrew. The little shrew stands and observes its surroundings on top of a group of granite rocks. At the background we can see blue sky with some small white clouds.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Faber-Castell 120 Polychromos and Caran d'Ache 100 Luminance color pencils
Fixative layer: Winsor&Newton fixative spray
Image size: 19cm × 14.2cm

Elephant shrew

© All rights reserved. – zitapanyi.com – 2025

This artwork is an abstract watercolor painting. On the top of the picture we can see a red sun surrounded by a blue and black contour line. From the part under the sun to the bottom of the picture we can see mountains, some rivers, fields and green forest's strips. But in such a way that brown, blue, yellow, green and red stripes flow into each other. The whole thing undulates like the sea. The top third of the picture is left white. Sparkling white. There are three small birds painted in black, they are heading to the left. A fourth larger bird is heading to the right.
Swipe on the picture to see more!

Lack of purple

I was angry about this painting for a long time. Because I wanted to do a simple landscape. You know, mountains, a river in its bed, the sun, some birds. Then I started to paint with watercolors and I couldn't control it. I can't handle water. Hmm, water and me…

I've been afraid of water since I was a little kid. I never really learned how to swim. So I wanted pure colors, but everything turned dark. As if I wasn't painting with watercolors, but with gouache. And the only way I could control all that darkness was with an even darker black outline. The color was still running out of the frame.

It made me feel so intense that my therapist and I started talking about it. I realized it was the embodiment of my grief. For my unborn children. I was grieving for my father I was never allowed to know. And I was grieving for the childhood I never had, taken from me by an abusive mother and grandmother. This sentence is the first time I can write this, here in Finland. In English.

Dávid, my husband, said that it is easier for me to write in English because I have only received supportive words in that language. He is right. Now I am proud of this painting. I am glad I painted it. It is a liberating feeling. Because giving voice, saying the things that are painful or that we are afraid to say, gives us strength. By giving voice, we can regain the dignity that a sick and toxic person, relationship, or dictatorship tries to take from us.

The painting shows red and its complementary color, green. Blue and orange too. Yellow is also there, but the complementary color, purple, is missing. It was my mother's favorite color…