In early 2001 Art Paw was one of the first on-line pet portrait studios to start offering on-line web proofing to their clients. We started our business in 1998 and for our first three years in business we proofed all of our clients via e-mail only. Just for grins today I did a quick search on my hardrive for html (web) pages with the word "proof" in them and found 1,609 page results. Zowie, dividing that number by 5 (years) I discovered that we are averaging around 321 portraits a year. The actual number could be a tad bit higher as we often return to e-mail proofing during the busy holidays.
One of these days I want to make myself a huge mural using small square thumbnails of all of the animals we have created portraits for. I think that a huge print of that size with that many animals would look lovely above my desk. I can just imagine sitting back with my assistant and trying to name all the different dogs and cats that would be represented in a giant mural like this. The conversation would be "no that is not Bella, that dog over there is Bella ... ok maybe that is Bella the terrier and that is Bella the poodle". I really do remember 98% of the animals names that we have created art for, and the only ones that are a little fuzzy in my brain are the very quick rush jobs.
It might be even better to make the mural out of ceramic tiles. That would be an expensive project, over 1600 ceramic tiles! Now if I can just find the time to create this tapestry of pets.
Web proofing is one of the perks when working with digital artists. We have the ability to show our clients a couple of different versions of their art before we print it. We can even make minor color changes to the work and reproof on request. Click here to view a few of our most recent client proofs. Some traditional portrait artists are even getting in on the proofing game and allowing their clients to see their art as it progresses. Check out Kathy Weller's blog to find a few of her pieces in progress.
