Art Wortd Coop

"Abbey" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins /artpaw.com

"Hunter" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins /artpaw.com

Yesterday I proofed Abbey & Hunter. Today Lola is in and we will be printing and shipping out all approved projects.

"China: ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins/ artpaw.com

This sweet kitty was proofed this last week. She is part of a 2 pet project that includes artwork of Mia the Shitzu. We are in the process of revising these works so we can finalize and print.

I had originally proofed Mia in a vertical format however this kitty was really looking best horizontal so it was a pretty easy fix to make them both horizontal.

"Hobbes" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This sweet lab's artwork will ship out tomorrow. I am loving this background and it is getting chosen a lot lately. I think maybe the cool blues and greens are more pleasing this time of year than my typical hot oranges and reds.  It prints up lovely so I am very happy when people choose it.

I have been working on a new commission terms sheet that gets e-mailed along with all new pet portrait orders. The first page is a brief explanation of the proofing process and then the 2nd page has a lot of small print legal stuff. I find that it can easily be adapted for commercial projects as well. Speaking of commercial projects, I am very excited that I may be designing artwork for a veterinary clinic's van this month. It is going to be huge and cool, makes me want to get a van of my own so I can get it wrapped in my own artwork. Of course I hardly ever leave my studio so I am not sure how effective it would be as advertising in my case.

"Derek" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This pretty little kitty is Derek and he was commissioned by one of my mosaic classmates. I love it when my mosaic world and my pet art world collide. I really love the background colors that Amy and her friend chose for this project. The orange coat really pops against the olive green ground.

"Mia" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This pretty pup reminds me of a Shitzu I had growing up named Leechi. I am currently working on a portrait that will hang with Mia of a stunning kitty named China.

"Pete" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Pete was such a happy looking boy in this photo. I just proofed this project today. I love huskies with their pretty and intense eyes.

"Ava & Bently" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

These lovely pups were a lot of fun to work on. I just adore that one straight up ear on Ava. This project was proofed last week and the client is still trying to decide on their favorite proof. It has been a strange summer here at Art Paw. Several clients have been a little slow to sign off on their projects and I can only guess that it may have something to do with the slower pace of summer. I am also working with many clients that are ordering for themselves and so the typical gift giving deadlines that can drive me bonkers have not been in place. Overall there is an odd lack of urgency around here and it makes me uneasy. I guess I should enjoy the slower pace and continue to have fun with each project as they come. I will get back to more frequent posting this week here on the blog.

"Tate" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Bijou" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This week I proofed Bijou & Tate. The summer heat is starting to zap my energy just a bit. Being inside working on pet portraits is about all that I want to do and yet I am also getting cabin fever. This weekend I am going to work on my mosaics and that should energize me.

What are you guys doing to beat the summer heat? I have a great video I will post soon of our dog Whitman playing in the water. He loves the water hose. When he was just a puppy I allowed him to get in the shower with me once and since then he has been totally fascinated with water. I like having a water dog. Big Tommy loved the water too.

"Pixie" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Snoopy & Charlie" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Boy this week is winding down so fast. These are a couple of recent projects proofed this last week. The Chihuahua needs some minor tweaking and the Doxies will get printed up tomorrow.

Wow, seven days into June and I have not updated the blog yet. I have been away from the blog this past week because I have been very focused on many many pet portraits. I will post the past week here. I had a blast working on all of these.

"Dresden" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Aspen ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Vito & Vienna ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Max ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

June Bug ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Rocky ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Sophie ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Daisy ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Ginger & Payton ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

I still have a few project updates on the board and 4 new commissions including a cool cat I am working on for a classmate. Thanks to everyone for your patience. I try to provide proofs at least 3 days out of the week. We print and ship approved projects out every Tuesday and Thursday. Below is a shot of Lola from last week. I am very lucky to have help with stretching & shipping.

"Josie" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Jasper" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

These two cutie pies shipped last week to North Carolina. They are one of 2 anniversary present commissions I have had in-house this last month.  I just adore Josie's blue eye and Jasper's sweet expression totally melted my heart.  I really enjoy working with men on special projects for their wives and girlfriends. Guys are great to work with because when they do need design changes they are very good and quick at communicating those needs without a lot of fuss. They are also usually very kind to my ego and always let me know what they do love about the artwork. Lets face it, if a guy is sweet enough to order a pet portrait for their lady they are usually going to be a pleasure to work with. Men may be tough as nails in their workplace, but they are usually very friendly and nice to me when we collaborate on their pet projects.  I do love my job.

The week ahead ....
 We are getting very busy here at Art Paw and I am spending the entire day answering e-mails and organizing new orders.  If you placed an order within the last few days you will be sent an e-mail very soon with an expected proofing date. Stay tuned for more pet portraits on the blog soon.

"Jack & Luna" ( see all proofs ) © rebecca collin / artpaw.com

"Cranmer" ( see all proofs ) © rebecca collin / artpaw.com

Today was all about kitty cats. Some months I will not  have one kitty portrait come through and right now I have 3 different feline projects in-house. Yay! Cranmer will be shipping to Hawaii and Jack & Luna are local Dallas kitties.

"Buddy" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Buddy" © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Heidi and Fritz" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This project of Heidi & Fritz will ship out tomorrow. These cute Weims are the 2nd pet portrait project for this client. Pet people are the best. A large majority of my clients come back for more portraits because well, we all have so many pets and you can't leave anyone out.  Which reminds me, I have a couple of wire haired fox terrier portraits that need to happen very soon.  I have not yet done any artwork of our new puppy.


About the Art:
The proof shown here is one of the wilder options that I showed my client. I added in some violet on the coats just to have a little fun with it. I usually show both a few wild bold choices and some that are just a little less bold. They went with proof number 20, which has some bold coloring in the background but a little less color on the pups.  I really enjoyed playing with these two. The original photo was excellent to start with.

"Gidget" ( see all proof ) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Yay, got an e-mail from Gidget's people and they loved their portrait and complimented us on our follow through. Is she adorable or what? I love pets with grey muzzles. Senior pets are just the best. This was a great original photo to work with. Look at how nice the lighting is.

This week I have proofed a handful of doggy clients including Izzie the French Bulldog. Tomorrow we will announce the winner from last month's Pet Poetry contest.

"Izzie" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins

My client asked how we choose the photo to work from when a client sends in multiple images. It is a combination of things with file resolution and detail being very high on the list. In this case I just fell in love with those little white teeth showing. This shot was also well lit and contained a lot of detail.

"Haley Quinn" © Rebecca Collins / artpaw.com

 Haley Quinn's Project:
This is Miss Haley. She was an amazing fighter and cancer survivor. Sadly she did leave her people for the rainbow bridge while I was working on her project.  I am very honored to have been given the opportunity to create some artwork for this sweet and pretty girl.  Before I started on this project I mocked up a quick layout of the first photograph sent over, erasing the background. The client decided she wanted me to work with a full body photo since her girl's 3-legs are an important part of her story and who she is. She sent the photo above over and I started again, you can see the first proofing round by clicking here. I think I did a pretty good job on the artwork part of the project, but things went awry on ship day.

I Make Mistakes:
I am feeling very bad today because we ( I ) dropped the ball with an address change on this print and it has gone to the client's California home and not the Arizona residence. I called fedex a few times the day it shipped to get it rerouted and it still went to the wrong location. They are trying to get a driver out there today to pick it back up and send it to the correct address.  I hate it when I mess up and I do my best to make things right as quickly as possible. I did promise my client that if anything goes wrong while the package  is in limbo we will reprint and reship quickly free of charge.  Clients often finalize or change their shipping addresses by e-mail when they approve and I do usually double check for changes before I hand off the paper work to Lola. I just totally dropped the ball and then fedex dropped the ball with me.  Hopefully they will  reroute today as originally requested.  My client is being very understanding and very patient, but I still feel terrible. Such an important project and I fumbled at the end.

What To do Going Forward:
I think this is a sign that I need to slow down, and quit trying to turn things around so fast with so many clients.  Either that or I need a better system for proof approvals. Maybe I should look into web forms and create one where my client types in their approval number and then types in their address a final time. That web-form gets printed out and handed off to Lola before she stretches and ships.  Something like that might work.  I know a lot of artists have like 3 or 4 month turn-arounds on commissions, but I think that would totally kill my business. I am just going to have to get better at the office management side of things. It needs to become a top priority and I need to look at it as a creative challenge. 

"Mickey & Minnie" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

These two are just adorable. I really enjoyed this project. This portrait is going in a young girl's room and my original proofing set was too tame.  I was more than happy  to turn up the volume on the colors.

"Watson" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

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"Watson" ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

So many clients and their pets just melt my heart. Earlier this month a client e-mailed me and asked if I could do a one eyed dog. She said that "Although Watson was the best dog in the universe, he wasn’t the most attractive (as far as dog standards go.) He only had one eye and it was blinded by a large cataract".  I think Watson was a stunning boy and I don't care too much about "dog standards".  What matters to me is a pup's story and life, I have a hunch that this guy had a pretty good life filled with love. His story is seen in his proud stance and in his face ... what a strong little character. Check out the original photo below and I think you will agree with me that this guy was lucky to live in a family with sweetness and love all around him. Wow.

Watson, I know you are missed sweet boy and I hope that your portrait will bring comfort to your humans.

"Gerdie" ( see proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

So what do you do when none of the images your client sends you has eyeballs showing on their pup? Well, I ask if they want to see a hint of an eye. Some breeds like Old English Sheep Dogs just never have their eyes showing and so there is no point in faking it. Eyes are very important and yet so is capturing the normal look of the pet. In this case the client said a little eyeball might be great if I could make it work. Sadly there is no "eyeball button" on my magic keyboard and so I had to just paint one in using the Wacom tablet. With a breed with long brows the important thing is to keep some of that original "hair-in-the-eye look",  it gives it an authenticity. See close up below.

Sometimes clients just have a really tough time taking great pics to send to us. Camo & Hunter are darling King Charles Cavaliers and as you can see the original pics sent in were a bit dark. The good news is that they are local and so their Mom asked us to send a photographer over  to get some really good workable shots.  I called my pal Kris Hundt and for a small fee she was able to spend some quality time with Camo & Hunter to get some terrific well lit shots.

original photos submitted (above)

© Kris Hundt Bright well lit shots that worked out well

Camo & Hunter ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Camo & Hunter ( see all proofs) © rebecca collins / artpaw.com