Selfie / Rebecca Collins

"Selfie"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Posting a Selfie today. I loved the flash and reflections on this pic.  I posterized the image and added in a few smudges and splatters. I am trying to blog each day this month and in the process it is causing me to think about what sort of focus and purpose I want for the blog in 2014.  I started my blog in 2005 and in the past nine years I have written tips for other artists, posted pics on client walls, and of course recent pet portrait projects.  I have 14 Flash Back Friday posts and I think I will keep doing those on occasion, because it is just fun to look back at times.

My Blogging Goals for 2014:

• Let my clients and potential clients see a glimpse into my world. Art Paw is a small artist run business and when I was just starting out I did everything I could to look like a medium-large business because I thought at the time that was what I wanted. I also wanted to present my company as professionally as possible so that I could garner trust during a very early stage of the Internet. In 1999 not many folks were comfortable yet ordering things on-line. Now after 16 years in business I am starting to realize that running a small company and being an independent artist is exactly what I want. I have a following of loyal repeat clients and each year the business grows in a manageable fashion. 

• Educate Other Artists. I am starting to teach Photoshop off-line and I want to start doing more video tutorials to share my process with my students. Eventually I plan to set up a separate website and blog just for on-line courses, but that will take awhile to create. For now I will keep using the Art Dog Blog to share tips, resources and inspiration.

• Differentiate myself from the competition.  The artwork I do at Art Paw is digital and yet it is a lot different than what most digital service providers offer. I have a fine art background and very strong design skills. Too often the "photo to canvas" companies hire kids fresh out of college and teach them to throw a few filters around, while never really taking the time to teach them the basics of design. Working as a digital artist I am able to provide my clients with a lot more proofing options than traditional media artists and without the drying time of oil paints therefor I am able to work much quicker than traditional painters. There are many other ways that my work is different and I hope to use the blog this year to explore and illustrate those differences.