New Design Project

Well yesterday was my day off and I got 2 clients updated, one large print in the mail and half a dozen e-mails answered. So much for my Sunday - Monday weekend. I should not complain though since I have the best job and the best clients on earth. I am very excited that little Tabasco's 2nd portrait has been finalized and will ship soon. He is the chihuahua shown above.

Today I have been working on a new design project for Team Husar Photography. I am doing a little straight photoshop work for this wildlife photography company. The project is for holiday cards and that reminds me I need to start shooting my pups and planning out my own holiday card soon. If you have time check out Team Husar's site. This husband and wife team belong to Bear the Golden retriever I worked on this last year. They shoot a wide variety of critters.

Photo Hosting Sites

There are tons of terrific photo hosting sites on the web. I recently tried out photobucket.com and Flickr. I really liked both sites. Photobucket offers groovy tools for those of us that are blogging, or playing around with on-line posting communities. In a short 10 minute time span I was able to upload photos of Big Tommy playing with his ball and then turn that into a slideshow with easy copy & paste code for this blog. Of course I have Dreamweaver and Flash and so I probably could have done the same thing with good old fashion design software tools, but it would have taken me a lot longer.

Flickr is all about community and photo tags. Their search engine tag system allows people to search and find any photo subject you can imagine. Check out my own personal photos at Flickr. At Flickr you can also join photo groups with your common interest. I joined the Scottish Terrier group of course.

A couple of other popular photo host sites that I have not tried include:
Shutterfly
Snapfish

Taking good Pet Photos

Almost every portrait artist carving out a space on the web has a page dedicated to taking good pet photos because the better our clients are at capturing their pet the easier it will be for us to translate that into great art. Our own page at Art Paw has some tips that are specific for our needs, but it is over due for a revamp. I decided to scour the web and find out what others are saying about fetching the best shot, or shall we say snapping a fetching shot.

Celebrity photographer Chris Ameruoso says take lots of photos and be bold.

Check out the New York Institute of Photography's tips. They suggest you get inside your pet's brain.

Michael Russell has some good advice and I love his suggestion to exercise your dog before a photo shoot.

Adobe.com has a really great education page for kids on taking digital photos of pets and then playing with them in Photoshop elements to create a collage. I love this satement: " Taking pictures of a favorite pet is more than just an act of love and affection. It gives students the opportunity to study animal behavior, particularly their interaction with humans."

And on that note I am off to study my own canine's animal behavior. In my next post I will discuss photo hosting sites.

Design Showcase Pages

If you have not stumbled upon our new Design showcase pages yet be sure and check them out. We have added our artwork to a varity of settings to give you guys ideas on how Art Paw pet portraits might work well in every room of your house. I have long been a fan of interior design and have recently become addicted to the Home & Garden network. I'll try and post some pics soon of how we have worked dog art and Scottie collectibles into our own little cottage and studio.

Ajax Sketch

Ok one more of the middle child. This is Ajax and this sketch is from a photo taken at Fala Day. Fala Day is a fun event that celebrates Scotties and their people. This is another fast Wacom sketch.

More Wacom Sketches

This morning I did another quick sketch of one of my Scotts. This is Pixel. This artwork was created using a wacom drawing tablet and the paint brush tool only. There are no filters applied to this hand drawn piece. The top image is where I started with a simple black & white sketch. I then went in and painted in some color. Setting my paintbrush tool at a low opacity I was able to achieve sort of a watercolor or liquid marker effect with the applied color. While I did work by looking at a photograph there is no photo image layer on this piece and it is composed of just hand drawn lines. This loose sketch work is currently not the sort of design work I offer on my commercial site, however it does keep my portrait work fresh and it keeps my hand skills strong, which helps with my painterly style portrait work. I have a real love for line and I think that is what many people are responding to when they choose my painterly style artwork for their pets.




Tutorial Tips:
Well I tried to find a groovy wacom specific tip to share and I sort of struck out. The Wacom.com site does have a tips section, however I was disappointed that the tutorials were not quick-time movies ...ah well those that want to learn will read. Click here for Wacom's Tips Section.

I"m still here

Yes I am still here guys. I know I fell off of the blog for a week. What can I say, I have been really busy with orders. We printed 6 portraits this week, and I proofed Bella, Roxy, Charley, Trixie, Brooks and 4 hounds. We are working on updates for Tabasco, Charley and Trixie. Yesterday I took a break after I had been running errands and worked on a quick sketch to amuse myself. I have to do that every once in awhile. I am posting that doggy here. This is my own Big Tommy. I have been feeling bad that I have not been keeping my sketch journal lately. I decided to do a fast sketch with the wacom and it was quite fun. After I did the initial black & white line drawing I went in and played with color.

Yes ... Another Pug!

This cute pug is Daisy and she has lucky charms in her food bowl.This project is for Kathy Weller. She is a very talented pet portrait artist that is currently working on a portrait for me of my own Pixel. We are swapping our talents. I can't wait to see my finished piece. You can see her ground work sketches of Pixel by clicking here.

Sofa Art

When I was a young artist in my 20's working towards my degree I was in a wonderful world surrounded by really talented artists and amazing instructors. It was a serious world though where we were all striving to be something special and we hungered to create something oh so profound and new. At that time and place the popular attitude was that great art does not match the sofa, and probably should not even be hung anywhere near the sofa. To quote Bob Dylan "I'm younger than that now".

As a commercial artist and as someone that has woven art throughout my home and heart I realize that the snotty elitists that make up rules about what "good" art is just don't get it. Good art is something that makes you feel, and if a print of your pooch that matches your sofa makes you feel good then that is good art. And hey, if you decide to purchase a pink suede sofa to match your dog art, well that is just good design, which some might debate is even more uncommon than good art.

So what is with this interior Pink Pug image you may ask? Well I don't often get to see my finished work in their actual environments since we ship all over the globe. A couple of months ago I started playing around with some stock interior design shots, placing my art in different rooms. The result of that is 4 new pages on the site of design ideas and decorating with dog art tips ( and cat art). So check out Art Paw's new Design Showcase to get ideas for your next portrait, after all one portrait is just not enough since you have so many walls in your home. Keep in mind that our designer rooms are design comps and not necessarily client homes.

Tips From Photoshop Pros

It is tutorial Saturday and this is the day of the week that I have set aside to share my favorite on-line photoshop tips & tricks. I don't know what happened to me last Saturday. I was probably working, hmmm or maybe I was playing with the dogs. Yea I was swimming in the lake with the dogs, yea I think I was skinny dipping at the lake with my dogs, no wait we were all four mountain climbing ... ok I was working at my desk all day.

Burn & Dodge
I just found a really nifty tutorial on dodging and burning (without using the dodge & burn tools) from Russell Brown. Those of you that have never seen a Brown tutorial are in for a treat. This guy has a really goofy and animated way of speaking that keeps ya awake.
Quick Time Tutorial: Click Here

If you are an artist or designer that wants to learn a specific software application or a variety of different programs then you need to check out Lynda.com. She offers tons of free training movies on a wide variety of graphic design applications. For more serious students she also offers a subscription service with even more knowledge just waiting for your hungry mind.

Ok that is all I have today on tutorials and resources. Feel free to leave a comment and share your favorite tips and design resources.

Don't be Cruel

Or shall we say "Dobie" Cruel. Just heard this story on the radio. Doberman mauls Elvis Presley's Teddy Bear! I love the King, but this story is just too funny.
Check it Out:
Hound dog mauls Elvis's teddy bear

New Haiku

Dan has returned to his Haiku blog and is writing again. Pixel now has her first poem.

A Slow Walk to Love

What hath heaven wrought?
Not Pixel, Not my Pixel
Walking, toes are bit

Check out his poetry blog when you have time:
Haiku Dog

Washington Post Express

Thanks to all the folks at the Washington Post Express for featuring Art Paw back in July. And a special thanks to Jennifer for e-mailing us a pdf of the article today. Yay Jennifer! We are thrilled that they chose to use Sirloin the Pug's portrait in this terrific feature on custom artwork. They refer to "punch hued canvas from Art Paw". I love that ... it makes me think of the phrase "punch drunk", along with bright party colors. Hmmm ... punch hued, yes I love it. It has been a long hard week so this is indeed the pat on the back that I needed today.

A Long Day

Today was very productive and long. Almost midnight and I just finished a proof page for sweet Grizzly. I also created another portrait for Ozzie today and revised 4 portraits that needed tweaking. I buckled down this morning determined to get caught up. The real secret to my success today was leaving a message on the phone that told the world that I would be away from the phone until Friday. Yes I am taking a phone break. It is really great to shut out the world for 48 hours.

Back To School Posters

Wow, August so soon! It is back to school time and we are grouping some groovy dorm room posters together for you to collect. Check out our wild life section in our gift shop for some original art that you just can't find at the Mall. Sure you can get some of your favorite doggy breeds, however we also have birds, primates, insects, big cats and more.

With respect

It is with much respect and a sad heart that I am starting on 3 memorials this week. One of our old clients that we were fortunate to capture while she was still around has passed away unexpectedly. Heidi is a terrific Saint Bernard and her humans are active rescue volunteers and terrific dedicated animal lovers. I know they will miss their special girl. I will also be working on Grizzly, a big bear of a Chow and Keyne a very handsome Rotti. My heart goes out to their families. It is never easy to loose our fur-kids and sometimes non-pet humans just do not understand how deep this sort of grief can be. When you get right down to it love is love, and grief is grief regardless of the species. We all have to process it in our own way. I am just very honored that I am often asked to help create a piece of art that may help keep the happy memories alive.

Free Holiday Cards and Christmas Ornaments

Art Paw is giving away free holiday cards and Christmas ornaments to all existing clients this week. You can choose from a set of 6 note cards or a fun ceramic tree ornament ( with your pet's artwork). One gift per household. I decided what is a Christmas in July promo without presents to my loyal and long time clients. All you have to do to receive your gift is give Rebecca (me) a call toll free this week at 888-225-4278. I will need the name of the person that ordered your custom art and your pet's name. Your holiday goodies will be designed from your old artwork and we will mail your gift to you within 4- 6 weeks. Please give me a call and collect your Christmas present. I want to hear from all of you guys and find out how many new pets you have and what is going on with your 4 legged pack. Merry Christmas!

Painterly Golden Retrievers

All of the Golden Retriever artwork below was created using my painterly style which incorporates hand drawn lines and paint smudges that are applied via an electronic stylus. This style of working and smudging pixels around lends itself quite well to long haired pups like Goldens.
Auggie and Brutus were a fun and dynamic duo that I played with earlier this spring.


Bailsworth (below)is a very handsome pup that Dan worked on last year. Dan doesn't get to play very often however when he does step in and work on one of our portrait projects the results are always terrific.


Bear was a joy to play with because his humans are professional wildlife photographers and his original photo was very nice.


Beau and Belle really pop against this blue ground.

Shadow Highlight Tool

Ok today I am going to share my all time favorite new tool in Photoshop CS2, well it is new to me anyway. I stumbled across this late last year and I now use this tool on almost every photo that comes across my desk. It is especially handy when dealing with black dogs. My clients have a very tough time photographing their black coated pups without ending up with a solid black dot. As the owner of 3 black Scotties I know all too well how tough it is to create the perfect lighting situation for dark dogs. With a little photoshop knowledge you can find the best in your every day digital snapshots and squeeze out a little magic in the pixels you end up with.

The shadow highlight tool is very similar to adjusting levels, however it gives you much finer control. I am posting two shots of my boy Ajax. We shot this at the lake in the middle of a bright sunny afternoon. I saw some of that orange safety netting all balled up on the ground and thought it would be a fun backdrop for our boy. The resulting photo was ok, but the facial details on my boy were hiding. By using the shadow highlight filter in Photoshop I was able to find his sweet eyes.
Ajax As Shot:

Ajax with Shadow Highlight Filter:

Click Here to see a quick time tutorial on this fabulous tool. Just click on the pumpkin screenshot when you get to the tutorial page to launch the lesson.

Hooves & Feathers

Earlier this summer before we got so snowed under in custom orders the girls spent some time playing around with wild life images. Now we have some fine feathered friends in the gift shop and some other fun critters. I even spent a little time playing around with insects. I wanted to do a lot more creepy crawlers, maybe soon I will get caught up with my commissions and return to my bug art. Years ago when I designed greeting cards for a living I had a line of insect cards. They did not do all that well at the retail level, but the few people that did like them really loved them.

Dateline Kennel

Another day, another portrait. Busy working on art this week so watch the homepage for updates. No time for blogging. Here is a quick link to a fun site:
http://www.lileks.com/institute/dogs/future.html

Portraits and more Portraits

Lot's of new orders came in last week, and we have quite a few things ready to be stretched and shipped out. Anyone with any questions about their order status should give us a call toll free: 888-225-4278. In an effort to maintain better communication with all custom clients we will start sending out weekly project reports on Fridays.

We are setting up a new production schedule and we will be printing twice a week, and stretching only on Fridays. I am trying to find my groove so to speak so things will run smoothly when it really gets crazy here in the fall.

I just printed Bosco today and he looks great!

Puggie Night Lights

If you are a Chinese pug owner there is no need to bark in the dark any longer. We just created a fun new page of Pug night lights that will light up your life. There are 8 fun styles and they are created in-house.

I know, I know, the rest of you guys are wondering how you can get a little light for your Laso, some glow for your Grey hound or a bright bulb for your Bichon. With well over 200 dog breeds to try and cover it may take us awhile to get to your breed. Order a custom portrait before August of 06 and I'll toss in a free night light with your own artwork if you use promo code #0706lite.

Art Tutorials

You know the web is so abundant with art tutorials these days. Many of these learning exercises have quick time movies, flash demos and audio. Until I can find the time to sit down and start writing my own tutorials I think I will start sharing my web-finds here on Saturdays. So if you are an artist yourself, please visit us again next Saturday and feel free to comment and leave us any cool links to your favorite on-line learning tutorials.

Here are a few recent finds:
Drawspace.com ( have to sign up for free account)

Pop Art Tutorials:
Melissaclifton.com

Warhol Tutorial

Warhol Tutorial #2

And click here for some fun flash on basic art principles.

Hot Dog Days

We gave the Scotts a haircut this week, and they seemed really happy about it. Yesterday it reached 102 here in Dallas, and we are supposed to see the same today. I love opening up the Art Paw home page this month during our Christmas in July sale and seeing that blue snowflake graphic. It cools me off and reminds me that fall will be here before we know it.

Scottie fans should check out 3-dog howl's Scottie Days of Summer artwork below, it will cool you off!

You might also wade into Cafe Press to take a peek at my friend Sheila's lovely photography that is available on notecards ...summer is a great time to send some cards & letters.

Cool Shades

I just finished working on a great little guy named Bosco. This fellow could be our poster-boy for the coolest of summer dogs. He is sporting a Hawaiian shirt and sun glasses. Click here to see his proof. I am very happy with Mr. Bosco.

Over the years a few clients have sent us photos of their pups in shades. As a digital artist my fun challenge with these pics is often finding some hint of eyeballs beneath the plastic lenses and then burning (darkening) the pupils so that the dog's sparkle and character comes through. Spectacled pups always make me smile.

More Cool Shaded Dogs:

The "Staff" is growing!

Lots of fun stuff happening around here these days. To begin with we have some new faces this summer. We just hired a very talented photographer named Diane, and her bio and photos will be added to the site soon. One of my best friends has agreed to take over shipping and canvas stretching and she also gave my production room a face lift (see pics in last post). Her name is also Rebecca and she is a very talented artist and jewelry designer. We have been getting to see a lot more of young Teryn, a talented teenager that works with us on Saturdays. The summer has been busy and I am trying to staff up for the crazy Christmas rush that will start in just a few short months. Allison is taking over more and more web related duties and I think she just may be my right arm this holiday season.

And Then They Leave:
We had to say goodbye to Matt earlier this year. He decided to move back home to New Mexico. I gave him a glowing referral however and he landed a great design job with some sort of herbal products company. Art Paw is really just a tiny little studio and home based business so when we loose people it is like loosing family. I am always happy though when "my talented kids" ( ha, everyone under 44 is a kid) move on to pursue their own dreams. My little purple haired Lola has stopped returning home during her college breaks and we miss her too. I have come to realize that Art Paw will always have a constant flow of canines and young artists.

Art Paw Studio News

Last week Dan was off work and he started to get his new painting studio set up. He also gave me windows in my doors on my production building. We have two of those wooden storage type sheds that you can purchase from Home Depot. Both are wired with electricity and air conditioning. They are air tight and they are perfect artist studios. When I first started my business 8 years ago I would run out and pay retail on card board boxes every time I needed to ship a portrait. During my 3rd year in business when the orders were increasing and steady it became obvious that I had to start buying boxes wholesale. It was at that time that I knew a had to have more space and quick. The storage shed was the perfect solution for shipping. We have since extended it's functions to include canvas stretching. This summer my best friend has organized my space for me with new shelving, wire baskets, and a place for every tool.
I painted the trim green and added a few flower pots to dress it up. Some time this month I plan to design my own vinyl window shades for the new door windows. What was originally an ugly brown box in the backyard is turning out to be a very efficient and good looking work space.
Dan Working on my door windows

Interior Shots

New Chihuahua Art

I am currently working on a cute little Chihuahua named Tabasco. This tiny pup is from Sweden and I am finalizing his artwork today with a few tweaks and minor adjustments. Later this week I have a few more painterly works to start on. If you are checking the site for your proof ... stay tuned. I hope to be caught up with all orders by the end of this week, ( crossing fingers ).

Chihuahuas are such cool little dogs. When I was in high school I dated this boy that had a pet Chihuahua that belonged to his Mom. The little guy was sort of nippy and snappy (the dog not the boy). I had never known any other Chihuahuas so I got a bad impression of the breed as a young girl. Later on in the late-eighties while I was managing a doggy biscuit bakery I was fortunate to meet some really cool and very well adjusted Chihuahuas, a few that I totally fell in love with. I learned that they are really very big dogs in tiny packages. I also learned at that time that you can not judge a breed by one dog's behavior. Yea, Chihuahaus are very cool, and probably often misunderstood.

I'm sure Tabasco is probably an angel when he needs to be and a feisty chili pepper when the occasion calls for it. I'm really liking this new piece, and it was fun incorporating the human "paw" in this work. As the owner pointed out the hand does give a real sense of scale for this little pup.

Art Blogs

I enjoy reading other artist blogs much more than writing in my own, and it seems that more and more artists are blogging these days. I just found out that one of my all time favorites has started a blog. For some non-doggy rambles check out Jeff Soto. His blog is brand new, but he is an established artist with a huge following. We have a few of his silkscreens on our walls at home. Another fantastic general art blog that is on the subject of drawing is called Drawn.

For animal related art stuff check out these fun pet art blogs:
Terry Pond ( The wiener dog artist)
Leanne Wildermuth
Big Cat Heads
Carrie Hawks
Kathy Weller
Michelle's blog

It is a lot of fun to peek into the lives of other artists and see what they are working on. Some artist blogs can be very personal and some can be sort of general, but I find them all interesting. Ok,so now that I have avoided any real writing myself today, it is back to work for me.

Boston Terriers

This month I am focusing on Boston Terriers and we have updated that section of our site to offer some new limited edition Boston Terrier prints, boston nightlights and more. I am scouting around the web to find other cool artists to include in our Boston Terrier links page that is still under construction. Today I bumped into a really cool young artist from New York that has some amazing fresh work. Her name is Alexis Trice ... check her out. Her work is very quirky and very hip.

Happy 4rth of July!

Happy 4rth of July. The Scottie above is our boy Atticus. That art image is from a few years ago and it always makes me smile. The hat was photo-shopped in however if we had an uncle Sam hat like that Atticus would have been happy to wear it ...he loved clothes.

I just did a quick search at CafePress for more Patriotic Dogs and found some Scotties by one of my favorite artists (Maggie Ross)...check out the cool gifts with the Scotts below on them.



She also has a great Airedale:

Cafe Press returned over 46,000 results for "Patriotic Dog". Zowie, that is a lot of red white and blue canines.

Have a fun and safe fourth of July. Don't forget to bring inside any skiddish dogs and young puppies that may be frightened by the noise of local fireworks displays.