Leo The Labradoodle

"Leo"

Last week I tried hard to get a lot of folks proofed before I left on vacation. Leo is one of those many pet portrait projects awaiting approval. I am still on vacation today although I am back home now and checking in on a few e-mails & projects.

About The Art: This piece has a fun adaptation of a background I have been using a lot lately. By cropping this ground off-center in an asymmetrical fashion it takes on a whole new personality, which works well for this full-bodied portrait.

Next week: I want to talk about art and design a little bit next week. Having a basic understanding of the elements and principles of design is crucial in creating unique artwork that stands apart from the many print-on-demand digital service providers out there. Next week I will post some trivia, resources and fun facts about design basics.

Egret with snake

I am visiting my good friend Sheila in Florida right now. Last night we were out in a wetland area and we saw this white egret trying to kill and eat a snake. We were very close to this huge bird and yet it did not seem too concerned about us watching him.

Today we are going to butterfly world. I will be back at my desk on Weds. Dan is holding down the fort for me while I am away.

New Pet Portraits... big dogs!

"Olive" the Great Dane
(see more Olive proofs)

"Molson" The American Bulldog
(see more Molson proofs)

Yesterday we proofed Molson & Olive. I really enjoyed working on both of these adorable over sized pups. Molson is one of a handful of memorial projects we have worked on this last month. I hope I have captured the spirit of this big apple headed boy. His original photos were just great. The detail was so crisp, I can just imagine what his huge lovable head must have felt like in your hands.
Olive is sweet and I love her huge stand-up ears.

Vintage Dog Ads

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a born marketer. I love advertising and the history of advertising. Today I am posting a few ads from days gone by. Click on the images if you want to follow through to the original Flickr photo-streams.

(above) Scottie dog selling Kotex

(above) Stylized hound selling perfume

(above) Brown pups selling electric blanket ...
"call off your dogs Oswald"

(above) Cute pup selling stoves and ranges

Dog Commercial

It is a rainy slow to rise morning. The dogs just want to snuggle. Fooling around on YouTube I found this great foreign commercial with dog. Dogs have been used for decades to sell everything from tires to phones. Tomorrow I will post some vintage ads with dogs. Today I offer up this modern and heartwarming lost dog story.

Scottish Terrier Mosaic Donation

Scottish Terrier Mosaic donation
Originally uploaded by artpaw

This Saturday we went to an outdoor Scottie event called Fala day. It is an annual event that we always go to. It is put on by North Texas Scottie Rescue. This glass mosaic was a piece I created for their auction. I also sold one mosaic piece and a handful of prints & night lights. The piece below is called "Endless Determination" and it is the first Mosaic piece I have sold. It was a little painful to see it go, but I am happy it went to a very good home of a fellow artist and Scottie lover.

Cool Pet Names / Stumpy-Joe!

Today I am working on Stumpy-Joe and a few other projects. When this adorable bulldog project came in I just laughed out loud. What a name!

I started thinking about a handful of the cool pet names we have seen over the years.

I'll list just a few here:

Bogey
Jean Clawed
Zaxby
Xena
Izzy
Tonka & Tini
Sirloin Theodore of Pugsylvania
Artimus
Kharisma
Ding-A-Ling
Kung Fu Fu

My own personal history of pets and names:
Juno ( white kitty of my teen years )
Demos & Phoebos ( 2 black kitties from college ...lived a long time)
Atticus ( First Scottie, husband named this special pup)
Nessie ( 2nd Scott ... I named this sweet girl)
Ajax ( 3rd Scott ... named with husband)
Big Tommy ( 4rth Scott name slightly adjusted from adoption ...we added the "Big")
Pixel ( 5th Scott ... I named her, but it did not take ...we call her Picky or Pickle)

A Girl and Her Dog

My pal Sheila sent me a link today to a really stunning photo set over at Flickr. The 28 photos show a pretty young woman asleep with her pup. The photographer captured the softness of morning light, and the delicate intimacy that many of us share with our canine companions. Click through to the photo set to see more ... each slide is better than the last. Since I have a family oriented blog and business I should warn that there is some very minor artistic nudity in one or two of the slides, nothing that should offend.

This sweet pitbull is Putney Sue.
Thanks to Ezra Caldwell for letting us share this photograph.

Bernese Mountain Dog Art

"Bella" ( see proofs )

"Rusty & Wrigley" ( see proofs )

Today I worked on a couple of Bernese Mountain Dogs, a Golden Retriever, and I updated a pair of cute Doberman Pinschers for the 3rd and final time. That is 5 pups but only 3 clients so I am a little behind this afternoon. I guess I could worry about it and work late or start early and fresh in the morning. I think I will work a little late tonight so I can print 3 projects that gave us quick & easy sign-offs this week.

On my Digital Easel

"Shug" ( see more proofs )

"Lyla" ( see more proofs)

Today we proofed a couple of new clients and updated a couple of folks as well. I also sent out one working sketch, and we started on a new Bulldog named "Stumpy-Joe". My goal each and every day is to try to work on at least 5 portrait projects. Yay! We succeeded at that today. Allison was here all afternoon and she was a huge help.

Walter & Maia (update)

"Sadie" (update)

Vintage Dogs and Cars

Vintage Dog Photos:
Wow, the week just evaporated again! Well I was going to post new dog art today but I just don't have anything new ready to show. Today I am sharing a few very cool flickr finds. These traveling canines are not part of my family tree. They do make me want to throw the pups in the car and go somewhere. I really love vintage dog photography. Check out Dog Art Today for a cool shot of Frida Kahlo and her pups.

Pet Portrait Production Notes:
We did ship 5 portraits today, and worked on 3 others. There are about 6 people waiting on proofs and I promise you guys that next week you will see some progress and some on-line proofing. We are working hard ... stay tuned.

Chihuahua Art Video

Here is a quick little slide show video of some of our Chihuahua artwork.



We are busy working on proofs today. I will be posting more pet artwork on Friday.

Some like it hot ...

"Walter & Maia" (Bold)

Man I love color. If I had to choose between never hearing another song and seeing the world in black and white I would choose to never hear music again. I just love playing with color and Photoshop allows me to go as bold as I want to go while still keeping a more conservative offering on the back burner for folks that may not like their hues quite so hot. Today I am finalizing Walter & Maia and working on a few other pet portrait projects.

"Walter & Maia" (Tame)

Video at Flickr

Cool news ... flickr allows video uploads now. Your videos have to be 90 seconds or less.
It is a lazy Sunday, and I do not feel like writing so I will post my recent photo montage of Tommy and Ball. It is called "Ball is All". It is just a quickie experiment, based off of an old photo-bucket slide show.

Working on those writing skills?

I wish I was a better writer. Or maybe I "long to be a better writer", or maybe as I recline here on my comfy sofa "my mind turns to the timeless art of writing". Yea whatever, it is something I should work on.

A few years ago I read a great book by Anne Lamott called Bird by Bird. She states that "The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth". The book contains great lessons in life as well as writing. I admit that I picked it up because the cover art is way too cool. You can check it out below at Amazon.



My other resource to share today is more commercial in nature and that is Copyblogger.com.
If your writing aspirations are more about punchy headlines and killer sales copy then this is the blog for you. The blog offers "copy writing tips for online marketing success". It is much more than a top 5 list format ... this blog is meaty and rich. Check it out and add it to your google reader.