Why Do We Love Bulldogs So much?

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

Why oh why do we all adore Bulldogs so much? Clients tell me they drool, snore, fart and have to be grown like delicate hot house orchids with high vet bills and a host of breed specific health issues .... but still, who can resist their smushed faces and personalities that are as varied as the day is long.  I will have a bulldog puppy some day, I don't know when, but I know that I will be owned by this breed eventually. They are one of the few non-terrier breeds that I really do covet.

Franklin looks like a young pup to me in this photo. He is such a handsome guy. This photo was a real joy to play with. The glow eye was minor and easy to fix. The coat detail and lighting on this shot was perfect. I always enjoy working with informal shots of pups with bones or toys.

Valentino The Mastiff

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

This handsome boy was proofed yesterday and we already have an approval so he is shipping out today. When approvals come in quickly the final artwork usually ships fast too.

About The Art:
In the original photograph this boy's ears were not overly perky. The client had sent several pics and so I  was able to snag some ears from a different photo and warp them on to this shot. I really adored Valentino's  pose in this shot as it really shows off how noble he is ... the ear fix was rather simple since I have done this type of alteration many times. The other tweak that I think really helped this image was adding a white highlight to the eyeball to the left, in the original photo that eye was really hiding. I hope to do more Mastiffs in the future, they are really stunning animals, and Mr. Valentino has stolen my heart.

Painting Eyes For Hank

Today I worked on enhancing and painting in some sparkle on Hank's eyes. This adorable pup is no longer with his humans and so I am working with grainy cell phone images that we have access to. I always crab when I have to work with lower quality images, but the reality is that I sort of like the challenge and especially when it is an important memorial project. Over the years I have gotten pretty good at working with what I have and painting in missing detail when needed.   Below is a sneak peek of Hank in progress, I have lots more work to do before I will be able to proof my client. Hank reminds me so much of my best friend's pup Bella. She lost her Bella last year.

( above) Hank's eyes after some work on the wacom tablet

( above) Hank's original eye detail

(above) Original photo

"Hank" In progress Sketch
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Mosaic Monday/ Italy

Well I had a restful weekend and this morning I finally sat down to empty out my camera cards. I have tons of great shots from Italy. It will take me weeks to edit and sort through them all. Today I will post just a small handful.

In Italy we saw .........
Many Old Mosaics

 and we saw....
New Mosaics

We saw pretty brides

We saw laundry in Venice......

We saw all types of dogs and graffiti

We saw bikes in Ravenna

 

We saw cool old doors

On our last night we roamed the property that our hotel was on near the airport and we picked up pottery shards that were mixed in with the gravel so we could come home with some "found tessera" to create a mosaic with.

Italy/ Doors, Dogs and Graffitti

I am home from my travels and have tons of pictures to sort through of Dogs, Doors and Graffitti. I traveled with a very experienced group of gals that have been abroad tons of times. I have no sense of direction in general so I clung pretty closely to my pals and I greatly appreciate all of their expertise. I am greatly inspired by the ancient mosaics I saw and by my fearless friends in general. Six of us took a class at Orsoni in Venice and 4 of us went on to Ravenna for the Mosaic festival there. I learned so much about travel and about Italy and mosaics.  I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to study mosaics abroad.  I am back at my desk today and ready to get caught up and get back to pet portraiture.

Below are just a few of my snapshots from Italy. I will be creating a set over at smugmug and also Flickr just as soon as I have time to edit and fine tune my photos. Thanks so much to Becky, Judy, Joyce, Leian and Tricia for showing me the ropes of world travel, and thanks to Dan, Kris and Lola for holding down the fort here at Art Paw.

No two doors are identical in Venice or Ravenna

There was lots of Graffitti in both Venice and Ravenna. Most was simple boring tagging, but some like this wall had a bit more color. One of my pals suggested I figure out what they say before posting, I do not have time to figure out the translation so my apologies if the words are offensive. I will have a large set over at flickr next week of graffitti and also interesting signage.

 There were tons of happy well cared for pups in Venice and I will have a much longer blog post about them next week.

 By the time we got to Ravenna I was getting tired of doors and Graffitti so I started shooting people and also bikes. The shot below shows a modern bike however I also have some cool shots of colorful vintage metal bikes with baskets. Most of the bikes in Ravenna were older and everyone used them to get around this small tourist town. When I go back with Dan I think we will rent some bikes and be able to cover more ground quickly that way.

Cecilia

"Cecilia" (see all proofs)

© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This is Cecilia! We love her coat texture and the hair that runs down her nose. She's quite a beauty.

Brody/ New Pet Portrait

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

This is Brody and his humans love color so I went crazy with his proofing samples. His original photo was a little dark, but still had lots of great detail for me to work with.

Lola is In Charge

Hey guys, I am taking a break to study mosaics in Italy for 2 weeks, yea I know I am very  lucky, can not even believe it is real. Lola will be holding down the fort here at Art Paw so if you have any questions about placing a holiday pet portrait order just give her a call. Dan will also be around, but Lola is in charge during the day so if you have any questions about pending projects just give her a call. I think I will have her update the blog with archived proofs and other fun stuff. She will also be shipping out all approved projects and gift shop orders.  When I return I will be diving into holiday orders! It is that time of year again.

Lola

Who could ask for a better assistant?
Yep I have to find her something cool in Italy.

Tres Milagros Opens on Friday

Wow, I can not believe that our show opens tomorrow. If you are local come on out to Oak Cliff at 6:30 pm and see 40 works in mosaic by me - Rebecca Collins, Apryl Begay and Katrina Doran.

Show Details:
Opening Reception Date- September 23rd 2011.
6:30-8:30 pm
Location – Oak Cliff Cultural Center
223 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Dallas TX 75208
Show dates: 9/23 – 11/18

Learn more about the show on our group blog: http://tresmilagros.wordpress.com/

Great Pics = Great Pet Portraits!

I have said it before and I will say it again ... the best portraits start from really great photos. Moses was a joy to play with because his original photograph really captured his personality and at 4.7MB the resolution was huge on this image, allowing for a lot of detail. Check out a couple of his proofing samples below and then scroll down to see his original snapshot.

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

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

In the image above Moses is smiling and looking right at the camera. Check out the detail below and you will see that you can almost count every hair in his head ... that is the kind of detail that comes from shooting at a high quality setting with a real camera and then having the ability to e-mail the original image to us without allowing your e-mail program to auto-crunch the size down.

Glory The Greyhound

Remember the poetry contest last April? Well the winner redeemed her gift cert and her Greyhound girl Glory shipped this week. She chose the bold wild version. I always show folks a tame, medium bold and very bold option unless they specify a color choice. I am always surprised and thrilled when people choose the boldest option!

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

Mosaic Monday / Milagro Sacred Heart WIP

Milagro Sacred Heart WIP, a photo by artpaw [rebecca collins] on Flickr.

This piece has been glassed in now and I will be grouting it later today. My show works are due this next weekend, so I will be very busy all week finalizing some mosaic projects. I am breaking each work day down into 4 or 5 hours at Art Paw and 4 or 5 hours on mosaics. I am sure I will finish everything on time.

Mosaic Monday/ Check out My Article!

Hey guys! Pick up the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine and check out my article on Mixed Media Mosaics. You can pick up a copy on-line and also Barnes & Noble carries it. I am very excited to have been included in this terrific publication. I have always been an art magazine addict and to actually have been asked to write an article in one of my favorites  is really a bit of a thrill.

In this article I basically have written a step by step tutorial on how to create a mosaic using my collage technique. I found it a terrific challenge to write the article because a lot of what we do as artists is very intuitive and so to break it all down into steps was sort of like writing down how to tie your shoes. Barbara Delaney is a great editor  and she polished up a few rough spots and let me know where more information was needed for clarity. All of the people at Cloth Paper Scissors were great to work with and very nice and professional.  Please support them by visiting their site and consider a subscription.

Two projects were shown in the tutorial "Professor Bot" shown above and Robot #4 shown below.

If you look for a copy be sure and grab the current issue with the cool Steam Punk Dolls on the cover by Paula Nerhus.

Weather Feels Like a Drug!

Good morning from Texas! It is 72 degrees out there today and the break in the heat is just intoxicating. After a long walk at the lake with the dogs I grabbed a blanket and headed out to the back yard to lounge around and do nothing with the pups. Grabbed my camera for  a few shots.

Ajax

 

 

Ajax in Black & White

Whitman

Whitman Shake