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