Digital Dog Art

"Kona"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Part of being a commercial artist means that sometimes you have to work with photographs that are, to say the least a little bit challenging. I crab about low resolution images and images that lack detail, and yet I always say that you learn 20 times more about Photoshop by working with lower quality images. Lower quality images mean that you really do have to literally paint in the missing details using the wacom tablet.

Kona is a stunning lab that loves the outdoors and yet the only photo my client could snag on the sly at Christmas time was a very low resolution (123K) web quality image. The photo told a great story about a day at the beach and yet Kona's eyes were absent along with any coat detail at all.
See Original pics below:

Full Original Image

enlarged detail of just the face

If I relied on filters alone to enhance this image I would end up with a different all over texture on the photograph however there would still be no eyeballs and no detail at all.... see below:

I played around with this project for a very long time, painting in eyes, brush strokes on the coat, and trying different backgrounds.

Detail of my favorite proof
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Another part of being a commercial portrait artist means letting go of your own personal preferences. My clients do not always choose the proof that is my 100% favorite. I am totally ok with that because I realize that they are responding to the proofs based on a wide variety of factors; their existing decor, memories of that beloved pet, and personal color preferences. If you scroll to the top of this post you will see my favorite proof and below is the chosen proof. I like the chosen proof a lot too, and it totally speaks to the "day at the beach story", which is a very important memory to honor. In the end that is what my work is really all about.

"Kona at the Beach"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com