Art and Animals

Sarge the Boxer Puppy - Training at 8 months

2012-01-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

Sarge the Boxer Puppy at 7 months with his brother Hoss

Sorry for the absence, I was super busy with portrait commissions this Christmas and beyond. Etsy has proved to be a great showcase and I got a lot of commissions from them.

So how is Sarge? He's now 8 months old, almost 57 lbs. and is doing great. How did he do with potty training without a crate? Fabulous.

He has the run of the house and has done beautifully. I think it's important to have the run of the house because his natural instinct is to protect and guard. How can you protect and guard if you can't get to it??

Anyway, we have been really lucky with the chewing, we haven't lost anything. I corrected him with an "uh, uh" any time he mouthed anything inappropriate. He gets a raw beef bone every day, and I think that takes care of his need to chew, and keeps him nicely occupied. I also pushed a sturdy chair next to a window so he can watch the goings on outside, which keeps him from being bored while I'm working on my dog portraits. And a long walk every day it's not icy out is good for both of us!

The big news for Sarge was that our son and daughter in law became puppy parents to his half brother, Hoss! Hoss is a "black" boxer, which really means he is a very dark brown, where the brindle stripes actually cover all of the tan . They have the same father. Hoss is a few months younger than Sarge, and they bonded immediately. Here they are playing, love that manic face dogs have when you snap a photo of them playing! Hoss is a city dog, who has to be walked, and also was trained without a crate. It IS possible! Hoss's parents have outside jobs, and he spends significant time alone, but they built a custom gate to keep him in their kitchen, where he can look outdoors, and he's been a champ. He was the last of his litter to go and his breeder had him housetrained without a crate before he came to his new home. There's definitelly something to be said for getting an older pup!!!

So is Sarge perfect? Yes!! Ha, ha. Actually, we are working on jumping on people. It's soooooo hard, especially when people actually pat their chests and welcome him up! He's doing better on it, but by no means can I report that he has good manners regarding jumping!

Baby and Dog Group Custom Portrait from Photos

2011-12-28T05:54:00.000-08:00

Custom Portrait from Photos

First custom portrait of this holiday season was of two little guys, one a brand new baby, one a more mature canine! As usual, I have to apologise for my photo skills, I can't seem to get details and the transition to those cute pink cheeks is not that dramatic! But you get the idea.

My client gave this as a gift for the grandparents of both of them. Since the child and the dog live miles apart, I needed to work with separate photos. And for a background, we used the quilt that my client had made especially for the baby! I toned it down a bit, that gorgeous quilt could have been a portrait all its own. My favorite part? Doing the fuzzball head! I forgot how downy and fuzzy those little guy's hair can be!

Sarge the Boxer Puppy - Training and Development

2011-10-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sarge the Boxer Puppy at 5 months

Sarge the boxer puppy turned 5 months a few days ago and he is doing incredibly great! A few "devil dog" days, but he's been totally housetrained for over a month, hasn't destroyed the house yet and hasn't seen the inside of a crate.

He was perfect about staying in his backyard until a few minutes ago (ran to follow a dog being walked), has been perfect about waiting at corners for me to tell him to cross the street, and is a champ at car trips, motel rooms and as a houseguest.

And he's puzzlingly not that thrilled with walks. He goes, but shows no enthusiasm for it. He'd much rather play in his backyard.

He's chosen a favorite chair for naps, can leap in the air at least 4 feet, but expects a little boost into the car for rides. He's shown no interest in chasing squirrels, but likes to watch them, and loves leap in the air after the pigeons invade our bird feeder. Good boy!

His favorite place in the world is my neighbor Pat's willow tree. Our backyards are not fenced from each other, and he runs and runs and runs around her tree. She thinks he's crazy! His giant teeth are coming in and I've given him a fresh beef bone every day to enjoy and teeth on.

But it's been a full time job to get him to this point! My art has definitely been backburner, but that's okay. I don't have to be on a schedule, and it's one of the things I really like about working from home! Yesterday I was photographing some vintage to sell and he thought the whole exercise was about knocking the camera out of my hand. Uh, oh!

And he's nicely on his way to being social and trained just as my busy season for portrait approaches. I am looking forward it! The difference this year will be that I'll have to take more and longer breaks to make sure Sarge gets lots of playtime!

Memorial Portrait of Duncan, a standard poodle, victim of dog bloat

2011-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a memorial portrait I did recently of Duncan, a standard poodle, who taught me about bloat in dogs. I was able to capture Duncan frolicking on the beach, a perfectly healthy and happy fellow. I love doing vacation fun photos with dogs, just like this! This is in colored pencil on paper. I loved doing the waves! Duncan, himself, was taken from several photos. I needed to get his colors right, and the photo of him frolicking on the beach was bathed in very warm sunlight, making him as orange as a pumpkin in some spots. But I felt his family would prefer to see him more in his typical coloring!

I loved the wind in his wet fur, how he was laughing, and how his paws were caught midstep! I angled out his leg just a bit. The fourth is hidden by his right leg! But his tail is high and wagging, full of fun!

And his eyes I had to get from other photos, I also angled the beach a little less horizontally.

Duncan was a young dog that died from canine bloat. Large breeds are more likely than small guys to develop this quick killer that not much is known about. Gulping lots dry food with lots of water and then vigorous exercise seems to be the cause, but there's no definite do's and don'ts besides feeding more than once a day, limiting water at mealtime, and not exercising immediately before or after eating.

If you have a large dog, please read up on this. Our new pup, Sarge, is one of the breeds that is more likely to develop bloat, so I am thankful for the education.

And I'd like to thank Duncan's sweet humans for the honor of painting his memorial portrait in colored pencil. I know it will give them comfort. As much as I'm loving Sarge, I still miss my Otto, and having his portrait to look at makes me remember the happiness he brought us every day of his life.

Want to see more of my custom dog portraits? I have them in my Etsy shop and lots more on my custom portraits site. I'd love to work with you for a dog or pet or human portrait! And it's the most meaningful gift you can give! Thanks for stopping by! Robin

Sarge on his birthday - training without a crate

2011-08-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Sarge's 12th week puppy birthday, and he celebrated by pooping on his walk! Which is where I want him to go, I would rather pick up after him right then and there than have to go on a hunt in the back yard. He's peeing almost the moment he gets outside, now.

He also pooped in the dining room, and seemed totally oblivious to my "correction".

I've also changed his diet from the canned doggy food he got from his breeder to the home cooked meals he'll be getting for the rest of his life, supplemented by some kibble. Yesterday he had a nice chicken/rice and vegetable blend, and that firmed things up a bit! I don't think he'll need to go as often, and that should help ...um...solidify .... the notion that he goes when and where we want him to. I don't want him to get into the habit of "I can't wait", so the rice will help. I'll keep tabs on it though and adjust the rice to chicken and veggies ratio if need be.

We know he can hold it for 8 hours, since he sleeps through the night without having to go.

Anyway, I wanted to go to an auction to hunt for vintage to sell in my Vintage Shop on Etsy, so had to decide if I should leave him alone in the house or take him. I decided to go for the outdoor portion of the sale, which lasts between an hour and two. He did great with the crowd! So I got some really really neat vintage things and he got some kids playtime and met some other new dogs, too. He's a real champ in the car, too.

So we celebrated his birthday with a little vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm... Then, he ran around like a nut playing with his dad for an hour before bed, then..ZONK. We carried him to bed!

New Puppy, Sarge! Our adventure in Crate free puppy housetraining!

2011-08-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

Here's our new pup, Sarge, who we are training the old fashioned way, no crate. Nothing like a puppy to take my mind off losing my best friend, Otto, a few weeks ago. I NEEDED a dog, and we found a non-puppy mill breeder an hour or so away and selected Sarge for his inquisitive, friendly and laid back manner. Actually, his whole litter was the same except the runt, who looked so much like Otto as a pup. She was feisty as all get out, starting fights with everyone, and I just felt that a more laid back pup would fit with us better.

So Sarge left his nice Amish barn that he shared with his pack and several horses and came home with us. His breeder is a pro, she'd been breeding dobies for years, and since she and her husband retired from farming, she decided to add another breed to her repetoir.

So she aquired two new pets of her own, Sarge's mom and dad, and they produced 10 pups their first try! We got Sarge nicely socialized, since her large extended family included grandkids of all ages who played with them, and cats and horses and men, like I said, she knows how to breed and raise good pups and it shows.

Sarge did smell like a barnyard, though, so he got a good bath his second day with us. Looks like we could have waited, he loves this mudpuddle!

Everything was new to Sarge, a real culture clash. Car rides, t.v., radio, cell phones! He loves a walk, but not the leash.

My aim is to have him do his business on his twice daily walk. First step, of course is to do it outside the house! We do not own or plan to own a crate for him. I know it's the current trend in dog training. But dogs have been trained to behave in the house long before there were crates, and Sarge will be one of them, just like every dog I've had in my life.

I'll be honest with you. I don't like crates. If you do, that's your business but I think they are contrary to a dog's nature and when I hear of dogs who love their crates, it makes me cringe. I hope Sarge's adventure in being socialized cage free will inspire others to learn how to do it. There's very little info on raising a "free range" puppy on the internet, I notice. Now, we do have a large kitchen and that's where Sarge will be kept when we have to leave him until he is trustworthy. So it's like a giant cage, but he gets to play, look out the window, move all around and guard his little domain.

Of course, it takes a ton of time and attention. I can't imagine doing it without taking at least a week of "maternity leave". I admit I'm very very lucky that I work from home, being a pet portrait artist, but we were able to accomplish the same with our other beloved dogs, Gussie and Otto, when I worked full time. We paper trained them first, but since Sarge was almost 12 weeks old, I figured we could move right to outside, being that he had the maturity physically and mentally to grasp what we wanted him to do.

I thought we'd be rolling up the rugs for a week or so, but he caught on really fast. Just take him outside every hour, and praise the heck out of him when he finally does his job. I say "let's go outside to potty" and when I put him on the grass, I say "Go ahead, go potty". Whatever combo of words you want to use will work, just use the same ones. When he goes, "Good boy, go potty!!!" Then we run back inside and get a treat.

The other "trick" is to not let him have the run of the house yet. I keep him in eyeball distance, even taking him to the bathroom with my while I shower. Letting him get into the habit of finding a hiding place is not a good idea!

So basically, this week, we are just getting him used to always doing it outside and not letting him in til he does and keeping him with us to keep an eye on. He's learning:

1. I go outside.

2. I can come back in when I'm done. But not before. And she can wait a looooong time!

3. She really thinks I'm swell when I go!

He's had a few accidents the first days and we just said "Uh, uh!" and picked him up and put him outside. Boxers especially respond to positive, not negative, reinforcement, I learned. So I'm doing the "Praise twice, correct once" method I used with my human and dog kids. Always correct, but praise the heck out of good behavior!

Keeping him with us is important for other training, too. He's learned Mom gets REAL MAD when he tries to bite a cord, that shoes are not for biting, but toys ARE! That you can sit with Mom when she's working, but you can't paw at the computer, or try to eat the paper she's drawing on! And that in this house, dogs are allowed on the couch, but not on the tables. And that jumping up is bad manners! Yes, he is exhausting me!!!! But a good week of one on one is important, so I'll be skipping my auctions and estate sales this week where I buy for my vintage online shop at Etsy.

Thanks for stopping by my art and animal blog! I'll share artwork here, too, but you can see, I'm all about Sarge right now!!

Otto - The Good Boy

2011-07-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Otto has been my studio buddy and my doggy inspiration for my art. He died yesterday. You all know how hard that is, I pick up the keys and .... no Otto with hopeful exitement that we're going for an adventure...

But it's hard to talk about him without smiling! Otto truly was an bottomless pit of love. He loved everyone he met, but had a special love for young men, being that they reminded him of his human "brothers". He didn't know that some people didn't like pitbulls...until they met him!

And so enthusiastic! No matter how monotous the chore, if we were doing it, Otto joined in with great gusto. When we were picking up wood for a campfire, he realized what we were doing, and it was something he could do! He ran into the woods and dragged out branches and put them on the pile. Even getting ready to pack my vintage to ship, he happily shredded newpapers waiting for me to pack and weigh...because a trip to the post office was in the works.

He even loved a trip to the vet. Dogs, cats, humans...all fun and interesting to Otto. Car trips were his favorite, next to the water. Nothing like a swim. But no matter what it was, he wanted to be a part of it, and his excellent manners meant he could!

He had a summer of walkabouts, when he ran away several times. Once, he ended up at our pizza shop, he'd been there before! Another time he almost visited his human "brother" at work, just overshot it by two blocks. Visited a church flea market, sniffing at the tables for something good before someone returned him.

His only hatred was of german shepherds, because he was bit by one when he was a puppy. And...FIREWORKS AND THUNDER. Boy, did he hate them!

He was protective (raced to stand between his dad and a mean dog), helpful, enthusiastic and cheery. He brought us joy every minute because he was sooo joyful!

There is no way for me to explain just how wonderful Otto was...we will and do miss him, but are so thankful we were the lucky humans who got to share his life with him. Love you, Otto!!!!

Smart, sweet, funny and full of personality. That's Otto...the Good Boy.

Our Otto - Saying Goodbye

2011-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Otto turned 12 and a half on July 14. We picked Valentine's Day as his birthday, knowing it was about when, but not knowing exactly. Early this year, he began having seizures, a sign that he very likely had a cancerous brain tumor. No cure, and any treatment was guaranteed to make his last months miserable.

He's had a great time since then, and has been healthy and active until a few weeks ago.

The past week, tests have confirmed that it's traveled to his lungs, and every day he is declining. My next post will be a tribute to this very special dog, but in the meantime, I'm just staying by his side and making his remaining days as good as they can be for him. My next portrait will be done without his head on my lap, and that really makes me sad. I feel like he's been my partner through my whole art career. He's definitely been my inspiration. Robin

Something wonderful is coming with my Pet Portraits! Shhhh

2011-05-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

If you're in Philadelphia or the surrounding area, you'll want to keep tuned because next week something wonderful is happening for me and my dog portrait work that you will definitely be interested in!

I can't spill the beans now, but I can say it will be fun, fun, fun AND you can share in it!

More next week!

Thanks for stopping!!

If Dog Crates work, why are so many dogs abandoned?

2011-05-05T04:41:00.000-07:00

I've read and heard all about the wonders of crating and how much dogs love them. Supposedly the cure all for training, and touted as THE way to keep a dog safe when you're out.

I don't buy it, at least not for as long as it takes to housetrain a dog. I just read about a dog who actually peed outside his cage when his owner locked him up so she could go out for a run. What a heartbreaker! Otto dances with joy EVERY DAY when we get ready for our long walk. I can't imagine telling him he has to go get in a cage while I go out for fresh air and exercise. Researching for this post, I see stories of dogs caged for 9 hours or more while the owners are working, then caged at night, averaging 5 hours of uncaged freedom a day. 5 HOURS! These are dogs, not gerbils!

That goes against their very nature. Dogs are protectors, even little fluffy fluffs, whose barks are our first alarms. How can they protect when they are caged. How boring is it to sit in a cage for 19 hours a day? They are intelligent animals, they can't even look out the window or bat a ball around the floor.

I don't know who came up with the notion that cages were good for dogs, but it probably was a sales rep for dog crates. From the dawn of civilization, when dogs were valued for protecting and for keeping living areas clean, dogs have been taught their civilized manners without cages.

When I was a kid, if you had an untrustworthy or young, untrained dog, you confined him to the kitchen or the basement when you went out. Housetraining was interactive, not a passive training provided by metal bars. At bedtime, they slept in their bed...next to you. They got a lot of exercise because kids were sent outside to play and adults walked them. And if they were tired or scared...they walked over to their bed in a quiet place and lay down. THAT was their "den" that cages are advertised as being. But they WALKED OVER to it by choice.

And if cages are so wonderful...why are there so many dogs that get abandoned? So many "bad dogs"? I think it's because people are getting dogs not to walk beside them...but to be taken out of a box and admired like an expensive jewel, not like the living, breathing, intelligent creature they are.

Sheltie Portrait - Catching up with my art

2011-04-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever shared this cutie with you! Her name is Pink, she's a Sheltie - A shetland sheep dog, and doesn't she look like she's posing for us? She is one of the luckiest dogs in the world! She lives with a human and a houseful of golden retrievers and shelties and is sooooo pampered! I've done the portraits of each and every dog her human has ever owned, they much such a beautiful, and memorable, display!

So, some housekeeping with showing portraits I haven't uploaded here yet. I took some samples of portraits to a flea market yesterday and they were a big hit! It made my day! More pet portraits on my site robinzebley.com.

Miss me?

2011-03-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't been doing much art, but you know how that can change in a flash when you've been looking at a lot of it?

Stay tuned, I'm re-arting!

My painting a Day commitment - one watercolor still life in 9 days, not very prolific!

2011-01-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

My commitment was one a day and it's January 9 and this watercolor still life of lemons with a vintage tablecloth on a maple table with reflections is the only thing I've completed.

I had a feeling that weekends would be hard but thought I'd get it done during the week. But on the way to Center City at a Mummers Day Party, I started sneezing and 8 days later am still subpar.

So that's my excuse.

In addition, snow and taking down the Christmas decorations and my two vintage shops all ate my time.

I also have a great dog whose portrait I'm doing, but I'm not counting this as part of the daily challenge.

But I am encouraged! This is my second try at watercolor and I see a lot of things I'd do differently, but there's plenty of still life objects in my house that I love...all vintage from the 1930s to 1960s. I really want to be looser and quicker and fresh with my watercolor paintings and I feel like I've gotten a good start with it.

A painting a day ... old idea but new challenge for me and probably not all dogs!

2010-12-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

Those of you who are artists are probably bored with the notion of a painting a day, which was a fresh, fab idea a few years ago. But I never jumped on board. (I miss all the good trends!) I am busy with commissions and they do take a lot longer than a day. I've been busy with other things, too and just have gotten off track with art.

Two things I'm doing artwise in 2011 - I'm going to life drawing classes on a regular basis with a pal, which will motivate me to show up (after all, with lunch in Center City Philly an after class reward, who can resist?).

The other is that I've accepted a challenge from a fellow Etsy artist, a craft/painting a day in January, 2011. I'll post them for you to see here, so keep tuned. Otto might make it from time to time, but I'm hoping to concentrate on still life. And once a week, a life study! Not tied to any medium, this is going to be a growth month for me! More than anything, it will keep me organized and focused, I think. I have several dog portrait commissions scheduled for January, so wasting time in forums, etc. will have to be cut to the bone! (Pun intended, my fellow doggie lovers!)

Want to join in the challenge? If you are an Etsian, hop on board. Here's our coordinator's blog: http://domesticicingblog.blogspot.com/

Why I break ALL the rules for dog walking!

2010-10-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I break all the rules for dog walking! I'm sick of feeling just a little guilty that I'm not a good dog mom because not only does Otto walk ahead of me, I let him out of the door first! I know all the latest trends in dog behavior say you have to let him know you are in charge all the time, but I strongly disagree! (I also feed him human food, every day!)

23 hours a day, Otto is in obey mode. He eats when I feed him, he gets up on the bed only after invited, he gets to run outside in his backyard when I open the door.

For one hour a day, Otto is King.

His walk is his Big Adventure of the day. He's almost 12 years old, yet he dances at the door when I tell him we're going, scampers out the door and prances down the sidewalk, tail wagging and ears flopping in merry motion. He stops to sniff at all his "pee-mail" left by other dogs, trots back ahead and appears proud of his role as the leader of the fun, with head held high and a smile on his face.

Only when we are in a crowd do I shorten his long leash and expect him to walk next to me. His whole demeanor changes and he becomes a solemn soldier, glancing up at me for direction, not pausing unless I pause. (usually become someone just needs to pet him!). At street corners, also, he solemnly waits until I tell him to "go ahead".

And I don't want the solemn soldier on a grim march. For the length of his retractible leash, with the two exceptions I've named, he's the leader of the pack of adventurers! It's a role he's great at!

And part of adventure is the tinge of the possibility of danger. Who do you want there first, you or your dog? Even my late, great Gussie, a tiny mutt terrier, was proud to be the first or second "on the scene" when something seemed irregular or amiss.

I don't want a dog who's natural tendency to run forward and investigate and protect is suppressed to totally being dependant on ME making their decisions for them 24/7. When we walk down the cellar steps to go outside, Otto makes sure all is well for me.

Now, I did have to teach Otto not to pull and it took some time. When he started to pull, I said "Uh, uh", tugged his leash, and stopped. I made him sit and we just waited.... Next time he began to pull, same routine. Early on, he did a lot of waiting! Some days even now, he'll try and pull, but just a "uh, uh" reminds him that he will have to sit and wait and he lets up.

I also have no opinion on dogs with behavioral problems.

There's a hundred ways to reinforce to your dog that you are boss of him. I just don't think that the walk should be one of them.

I'm pet portrait artist Robin Zebley. I love animals, collect and sell quirky and romantic vintage , and am restoring our 1922 bungalow that was built as a summer house outside of the Philadelphia. I'm so glad you visited my blog, and hope you'll make it a habit! Robin
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Ilsa's Portrait - German Shorthaired Pointer

2010-08-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here's Ilsa, a german shorthaired pointer. Ilsa is such a gorgeous girl, and was such a pleasure to draw!

All artists talk about marketing and whether facebook is better than twitter or better than a blog or better than a mailing list, etc. But the most common way I get new commissions is through word of mouth, and that's how Ilsa came my way.

My pet portraits are all over the world, literally, so it was a real treat to be able to delivery Ilsa's portrait in person!

She lives a few blocks from my late grandparents-in-law old house just a few towns away and of course I had to drive past Nana and PopPop's to see the house and relive the many many happy memories from such wonderful people who were such an important influence in my life. I will never be the woman Nana was, they just don't make them that way anymore!

German Shorthaired Pointer Pet Portrait

2010-07-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

This German Shorthaired Pointer girl is so pretty and this portrait commission is so much fun that it's the perfect midsummer dog art project for me!

This summer's record breaking heat robbed me of my favorite month of the year, and I just felt out of sorts and a little bored, trapped inside by the heat. So a new breed for a commission is definitely what the doctor ordered, and Ilsa is the first German Shorthaired Pointer I've ever done. Isn't she gorgeous? I love the long face, the dark, dark brown fur, the spots and those ears!

And those eyes...what can I say?

I'm doing Ilsa's portrait full length, and she will by lying on the grass in front of a holly bush. As I write this, I am about half way done, and haven't gotten to the fun part yet, just have my values and colors blocked in, the spots in all the right places, but no real details yet.

I'll show you when I finish and her portrait is received by her family, and hope you're having a fun summer!! Robin

Bidding War on my Puppy Dog Handpulled Woodblock Print!

2010-06-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

I love to donate to rescues when I can, and the more portrait commissions I get, the more I can donate! Oftentimes, though, I never hear back from the rescues once they receive the handpulled print or portrait donation. Today I heard that THIS handpulled print of two puppies that were themselves rescues made BIG money for a fundraiser of the Delaware County SPCA recently.

There was a bidding war...and this print made $150 for the rescue! Is that wonderful or what? It makes me itchy to do another print soon.

I've been busy with portrait commissions and with my new online vintage store. I'll tell you even more about that in another post, but for you dog lovers like me, today I listed this adorable vintage poodle planter.

I just love that poodle-ish attitude with the smirky smile! Here's where you can find him and our other finds of quirky vintage!

By the way, Christmas is just around the corner, if you are interested in a commission!! My commission waiting list is already building, so contact me soon if you want to make sure you will be on my "guaranteed for Christmas" list. Thanks for stopping by! Robin

The Gulf Coast - Artists Donate to Gulf Coast Relief, Me too!

2010-06-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

You know I love animals, and that includes wildlife, not just pets. Frankly, from the news reports I've seen, the White House has not done nearly enough to contain the oil and protect our wildlife, and the livelihoods of the folks who depend on a clean environment along the Coast. They've squandered crucial days either playing politics or believing without question the amount of oil BP says is spurting into OUR WILDLIFE'S HOMES!

I mean, if someone crashed their car through your livingroom window, would you believe THEIR estimates without checking them out or wait til they got around to cleaning up the debris? Whatever they ARE doing, clearly is NOT enough, our wildlife and their habitat is being destroyed every single minute, and evrery life and every inch is too important NOT to protect!

So, I believe that we as Americans need to take care of our own business and if the government isn't doing enough, we have to do it ourselves.

What can you do? Well, read on... I've joined the cool folks at Etsy.com (where I have two shops...one with my art, one where I sell super-cool vintage things) and have donated a $190 portrait of any subject, with all of it going to benefit two non-profits that are leaders of relief on the Gulf Coast, Oxfam America and the Audubon Society. As of this writing, over 150 artists and crafters have donated items for sale to benefit the Gulf and support their efforts. No profit to us, we are donating 100% of the sales to the Gulf Relief.

You can support the Gulf relief by purchasing from this collective, and remember, after fees, 100% of it goes to the relief effort. No admin fees, the wonderful etsian Kate and her mom, along with other etsy volunteers, are doing all the admin work totally free to make every cent count.

So, if you've been wanting to buy a portrait of your pet or kid or house or whatever, if you want to get a start on Christmas shopping, you will not only get my best work, but you'll be helping the animals and folks in the Gulf. If you're not interested in MY work (ok, how can that BE???), there's over 150 other items you can purchase, same deal. All of us artists and crafters in the collective are paying for shipping and supplies out of our own pockets.

So c'mon, help out, tweet and facebook this page, and visit the Help The Gulf Shop, right here. Search for me under "Art":
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HelpTheGulfCoast?ga_search_query=help+the+gulf+coast&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Supporting the Arts...not just MY Art!

2010-05-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks, we've been to two shows...one music and the other a play. It really got me thinking about how important it is to our souls to get out and see people make an effort to entertain us!

We saw Al Stewart of "Year of the Cat" fame along with his guitar accompaniest, Dave Nachmanoff, at the historic Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, PA. Never been to that theater which is famed for being the setting of the 50s era movie "The Blob". Actually, never have been to Phoenixville at all, what a charming little town!

Now, we've seen Al Stewart a bunch of times so we knew the show would be great and it was. The added bonus was his fabulous accompaniest and the big added bonus was getting the opportunity to meet them both afterward. Funny sign of the times, as we were leaving, Dave called after me, "Friend me on Facebook!" Now, that never happened at the other Al Stewart concerts we'd been to!

The next week, we saw a play based on The Hound of the Baskervilles, which was put on by our local community theater. What was really fun about this was spotting the excellence in the cast. Several of the cast members were just top notch and that was a pleasure to see. In fact, we want to see them in their next plays.

Which ties me back to visual art and collectors. It's all the same, isn't it? Now I'm more likely to "buy" again from Al and Dave, next time they're in town. For one thing, I know they'll let me know. I AM "friends" with Dave now! (Still waiting for Al...:wink!!). And it's really fun to catch a rising star!

Anyway, I encourage you to get out there and support the arts...all the arts. It's fun and I believe what goes around comes around. Support the arts and somehow...the world will support YOU!

I always like to have a picture of my art...'scuse me while I upload something I drew that has absolutely NOTHING to do with me going to concerts or plays! Okay, found my portrait of Nolan, I think he looks like a fan of the arts! Robin

Pitbull Portrait - A Beautiful Rescue Dog with Such an Expressive Face!

2010-05-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a portrait of a pitbull dog, a commission from his super rescuer who fostered this guy as a gift for the forever home mom. Now, how could anyone NOT love this face? But pitbulls do have a bad rep, and not always deserved! I enjoyed working on him, with those soulful eyes just looking right back at me. I love his coloring, don't you? Now, this week in our local news, I read about a pitbull who was a hero, she stuck like glue to a 2 year old toddler who unlocked the front door and went wandering along a busy road. The pit kept the child out of harms way while cars whizzed by, until someone finally saw him from his business across the street and scooped the baby up for safety. But the baby WAS in "Nana's" care!

What was interesting is that the newspaper didn't identify the pitbull as a pitbull. She was an "Am Staff mix". Uh, huh. You can bet your bottom dollar if the dog had growled or bit, no matter how much or how little pit was in her, they would have had a headline "Pitbull attack". But since THIS dog was a hero, it couldn't POSSIBLY be a pitbull, now could it? :D

Oh, well, those of us who love pits and have them in our families know just how loyal and loving they can be with good raising. Dogs are like children. They have the potential for good AND evil, and while "nature" plays a part, "nuture", in the way of good parenting, makes the difference. Children can be neglected and abused and uncared for and undisciplined and "turn out" wild and evil. Same with dogs. The "bad" humans have guns, the "bad" dogs have teeth. It makes just as much (or little) sense to hate kids because SOME of them, not raised properly, will turn out evil. But whole communities want to ban pitbulls because of how THEY were NOT raised. And look at this guy....he is a sweetheart!

Anyway, off my soapbox, as most of you know, my Otto is an 11 year old pitbull boxer mix, and if my community tried to ban pits, I would move in a heartbeat rather than give him up. Of course, Otto is a fabulous ambassador for the breed, and our long daily walks give him lots of opportunity to prove how wonderful pitbulls are. But more on that in another post.

Thanks for stopping by! All my contact info is on the right and I hope you'll contact me soon if you are interested in a portrait of your OWN special dog! I do portraits of humans, all animals, houses, and NOW, even Harley Davidsons. I'll be showing you that portrait as soon as it's all done.

Robin

Not a pet portrait...not a pet! An octopus.

2010-04-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

I totally love this little piece I did of an octopus. I researched their anatomy, spent a few hours designing it, then watercolor painted and inked it. All in all, I think I put in about 5 hours on this miniature piece.

Then I put him on ebay, sure he would get snatched right up, like my other tiny pieces were. AND HE SAT! It's so funny, sometimes the pieces we love the most...are the ones WE love the most! Not necessarily anyone else! It helps keep me humble, lol!

I think I'll turn him into notecards. I'm making some for shows and for sale online. I just really think there's an audience for him, in some form or another!

Maximize your Twitter Experience, Artists! Who is Tweet Worthy to YOU?

2010-04-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, lots of my art friends have been asking me why I am such a fan of twitter. How do I maximize the potential of twitter to make it useful and interesting to me? (Because each of our twitter experiences are totally unique, depending on who we follow and who follows us). Okay, here's the scoop from my perspective!

Like most new users, I didn't "get" it. Now I do. I have almost 2,000 followers, all of them people who are interested in me for one reason or another. I follow a little more than that, most of them people who I want to hear what they have to say! I've sold portrait commissions directly from twitter, I've gotten followers to my facebook fan page for my art, I've been offered opportunities and received help. And vice versa.

But best of all I get to chat with people about things that interest me or who interest me that I'd never get to meet in real life. As any artist knows, it's a pretty solitary workday, so "coffee breaks" are fun and stimulating.

So the key to me is to follow interesting people and to get followers who are interesting. Selling my art is nice...but my marketing goal is 99% just being out there. I AM an artist, it's what I do, so a lot of what I tweet will be about my work. If anyone who might be interested in a pet or kid portrait or animal art becomes aware of me and my art, I've done my marketing job. They now know I exist, if they are interested, they will let me know, I don't have to bang them over the head with it 20 times an hour with a link to items in my etsy shop.

Because you're not going to get anything out of it if you're only tweeting links to your items. Would you watch a t.v. channel that was just a barrage of commercials, one after another, with no content in between? Would you stay to converse with someone at a party who kept pulling out boxes with items to sell to show you? Ugh. Don't bother following me, I won't be following back.

So how to find something else to talk about? Spend some time following. Use the search to find people who are interested in what YOU are interested in and folllow them.

And this is key: If they are worth following, they are worth commenting to...at the time you click "follow". When you click on their profile, you'll see their recent comments and you can make a decision on whether they are "follow worthy" TO YOU. Reply to whatever they said that you find interesting! Or ask a question. Or challenge them on a comment. Not only will they be more likely to follow YOU back, but you won't be wasting your time every time you go to twitter reading boring tweets! Because you're following people who interest YOU. Now this is a slower process than everyone tells you to do to get started...but to me, quality definitely trumps quantity.

And I find that a lot of time, whoever interesting tweeters are following are interesting, too! Now, you might find celebs interesting, I don't. Except for art and space and gardening ones!

And look local. Who around you is doing something interesting? I personally don't like to follow people who ONLY tweet ads, quotes and links. I want to hear their voice. I WILL follow occasional links that sound interesting. But that's me.

And just because someone finds and follows you, don't feel obligated to follow back, especially if you have nothing in common. There are follow bots out there trolling for followers by following and knowing some of you will automatically follow back. Don't bother. Make sure it's someone you'd like to know!

Also, cull your "herd". If you already are following people with nothing to say and that is annoying to you, just unfollow them. Ask yourself...is this person tweet worthy TO ME? No need to clog your stream with it!

Now, I tweet often, but quick. I'll hit it up from time to time and if there's something interesting, I'll tweet back. I always check my tweetname, (@robinzebley) to see if someone has mentioned or tweeted something to my attention. That's golden. Hey! See you on twitter! Again, I tweet as @robinzebley.

A Golden Retriver Painting for the Delaware Humane Society in Wilmington

2010-04-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

Two things I love to do: Help pet rescues and paint! I painted this one in acylics on a 16 x 20 canvas and call it "Making the Rounds". He reminds me of Otto checking the perimeter of his yard in the mornings..and he always stops and smells the roses...or daisies!

He's the only piece of art that will be raffled off to benefit the Delaware Humane Society Bark Louder Happy Hour this week.

I receive a lot of requests to donate art from rescues all over the country and usually will send a handpulled print for their auction/raffle but when I got this request, being close to home and I was in slow period, I felt like, what the heck? Paint does no good for anyone sitting in a tube!

I'd be happy to REALLY help rescues make some cash...by donating a decent percentage of portrait commissions they obtain or by listing an original on ebay for auction for them.

Anyway, about this painting, the photo that was my reference was from a copyright free offering and it just struck my fancy. I really enjoyed exploring in paint the myriad of colors in a golden's fur. Now, I've "painted" tons of goldens in colored pencil, so I know it, but mixing paint rather than choosing a premixed pigment is a different...animal! Some U-turns!

A new thing for me with this one was using Golden Open Acrylics. I don't like them "straight" ...too long to dry ... but I bought a few to mix in with other fast dry acrylics and it's the best of both worlds. The only reason I am not painting in oils is the drying time, I like to paint and get it out the door. Can't wait 6 months to varnish. So I think acylics must suit my impatient personality! The big drawback with acrylics is when I forget a brush. You know how it is if you're an artist...you kind of zone out while working...and if I don't zone back in, I can forget a brush I used and there's not hope once acrylics dry on it!

I am LOVING my new studio space in my home. It's got better light, is larger, and has more of a view for Otto, my studio dog...I mean...supervisor!! :D More organized with separate stations...a painting station, a drawing station, a printing station, etc. Don't have to move things around to do different kinds of art!

I'm artist Robin Zebley, best known for my pet portraits. Also offering portraits of children and prints, paintings and drawings of all kinds of animals. To see what's new and where it's for sale, come visit my facebook fan page: http://facebook.com/artistrobinzebley. Thanks for visiting my blog! Robin

Ten Great Reasons to Decorate with Original Art!

2010-03-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here's why I do! I would never settle for posters of art, it's so worth it to have REAL art in my home!

1. It's expressive and sets the tone for the room. For me, that means...eclectic! I love great pieces, from abstracts to figurative to landscapes to animal art and portraiture.
2. A large piece is "heavy" enough to be the focal point of my room.
3. Nobody else has it. It's a unique, almost living thing. I feel as though the artist is communicating with me.
4. I build an interesting collection of small pieces that have a something in common..color, subject, genre. I love animal art and handpulled original prints especially and am always on the lookout for something wonderful.
5. It's not just "wallpaper in a frame" that is just...there...original art speaks, my guests and family see my art.
6. I learn from it. As an artist, I see things in person with art that isn't possible with a reproduction...texture, and nuances that are so subtle but so effective.
7. I use it to tie in my textiles and other accessories.
8. It's fun to follow a real live artist's career.
9. It will outlast my furniture, my rugs, my car...and won't end up in a garage sale.
10. It's worth more than the frame...and could be worth a LOT more!...and one more...

It makes a statement about me, who I am and what makes me unique! And I love it!! What about you?

Cat in a Lavender garden - 8 x 10 painting - Trying out Ebay

2010-03-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I have a some dog portrait commissions in the works (yay) and am busy getting ready to show my other pieces in real life. I painted this gray cat in acrylics and added the lavender garden in the background. So I call this "Lavender".

I just put him up to bid on ebay. I used to sell my tiny 2.5"x3.5" aceos there and did really well. I sold some for over $60, which I was really pleased with. But I let that go when I had to go back to work 3 years ago and now my "following" is all gone!

So, I'm starting from scratch and that means starting wayyy low. I am trying to have a piece for art for sale every day there, avoiding the days I'll be showing this in public. So if he doesn't sell, I have another piece to bring with me.

I'm going to try the Golden Nugget Antiques Flea Market in Lamberton, NJ, across the Delaware River from New Hope. I hear there's lots of nice art for sale there and I'm hoping to check that out next week.

Meanwhile, I see lots of "daily painters" and others on ebay whose work is quite good. Not my subject matter, I personally wouldn't buy a painting of a donut or a cup of coffee, but I've seen pieces like that end up selling in 3 figures! So, I think I'm in good company if I keep my head down and work and get enough pieces so I don't fall off the map again! It's hard today, the weather here is approaching 70, I'm in shorts and a tshirt and planting peas in between everything else!

If you'd like, you can see art on ebay, my art listings can always be searched by typing rzzart. Or you can just go click that blue link! Thanks for stopping by and sharing part of your day with me. You know I Robinlove comments, and would love to see you become a follower here and a fan on my facebook page.

Cookie Chihuahua Portrait - Not snatched away by a hawk!

2010-03-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Basking in the sunshine, Cookie posed like the star she is! Her "owner" (I use quotation marks, because I think they own US not the other way around!) commissioned this portrait of a tiny chihuahua.

I'd forgotten about it, I don't like to post online til my client receives the portrait in the mail and I got busy with other things. But news recently that a chihuahua had been picked up by a hawk and then released unharmed reminded me of tiny Cookie!

Can you imagine what went through that doggie's mind? Terror? Or, for the unflappable type, just enjoyed the ride?

I enjoyed painting Cookie's portrait in colored pencils; she's the first long haired chi I've even done. I hope I'll get more chihuahua commissions, such cute dogs!!

Here's my Pet and Childrens Portrait site. And I've love to have you visit my facebook page all about my art. It's http://facebook.com/artistrobinzebley You don't have to be a facebook "friend" to visit or become a fan of my art page. Of course, I like being friends, too!

Thanks for visiting! love comments! Robin Zebley

Miniature Art Cards - Watercolor and Pen and Ink Cats!

2010-03-12T06:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (after I fixed my facebook page) I got to something I've been wanting to do, these collectible minis.They are called ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) and are 2.5" x 3.5" in size.

They started out as a trade. They are baseball card sized and artists traded them among themselves. Then a few years ago, they really took off and collectors began buying them. I did a ton of them a few years ago and sold all but 2 that I listed on ebay! Most of the buyers were other artists, and honestly, it was such a boost to my art confidence that OTHER ARTISTS were collecting my work! And bidding for them!! I sold them for as much as $65 plus each!

Then, I got too busy having to do the day job and let it go.

I am trying out yet another medium and love it. I am also going to try out some local farmers markets and the Golden Nugget Antique/Art flea market near New Hope over the bridge in Jersey. I want to bring my samples of portraits and my painted canvas pieces but think some small pieces might prove popular too. They can be collected in books, but the ones I have traded or bought from others I have put on those inexpensive wooden easels you can get at craft stores and boy, did having some super original art ever brighten my work cage..I mean cubicle.

Meanwhile, here's one of them. I have them for sale in my Etsy shop, and will try out ebay, too, where I just sold a miniature portrait commission. Have to keep all the art "balls" up in the air, sell a little here, and a little there, and I might never have to go back to that work cage... :D

Thanks for visiting my blog! Here's where to look if you'd like to see more of my pet and childrens portraits. Email me if you'd like to commission a portrait or buy any of my work HERE or visit my etsy shop, which has an easy checkout system using paypal.

Portrait of a Little Girl with a lot of Flair!

2010-03-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

Here's the portrait of a little girl I have been working on off and on for a while. I did her sisters portrait months ago, but before my Christmas rush.

For you artists, here's my skin color palette info...prismacolors and colorsofts in pinks, peaches, yellows, whites, tans, lavenders, reds and blues. No "clay rose" or any other greyed color. I found that they just deadened skin unbelievably. The blues and lavendars did the job with the shadow sides without making it look pasty and unnatural.

I also didn't copy the photo, it was shot indoors in the shade, so the skin color was way duskier than it really is. I am lucky that I had an array of photos to consult and could bring out the sunny and youthful skin color.

I am hoping to get my children's portraits out there to the real live public, not just online. I have two more samples I want to do to be able to take with me to shows...a tiny tot ballerina and a teenaged hockey player. Of course, I accept commissions online, too, I just want to expand my audience. Come visit my site full of samples of my pet and childrens portraits! You can also order via my email, and here's where you can see my animal paintings

Juggling, childrens portrait, dog portrait painting, woodblock print & marketing

2010-03-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

Still on the easel is this painting of a little mutt (I love mutts!) on a retro orange vinyl ottoman. My dilemma is needing a name for this piece, so I am asking my Facebook fans to help. It's one of the little things I never thought about when I decided that, in addition to my pet and childrens portraits, I'd paint, draw and print pieces to sell at shows and at my Etsy Store. Speaking of which, I am trying to keep my head down, so to speak. I've never worked without deadlines before, never. And then there's the marketing, updating the online sites, looking for shows and galleries that would be a fit.

It's a juggling act that all artists do. I'm convinced the better you are as a juggler, the better chances for success you have. Until of course, you're so successful, you can hire people to do it for you.

Back to the dog, I really enjoyed painting the retro, mid century modern ottoman. I can always put a dog on a carpet or grass, but I really like dark backgrounds with just a hint of something in the back (can you see the curtains?) and well lit foreground. I see some tweaking, so hopefully will have this guy off and dry and varnished at the same time I have a name!

I've been approached recently for shows and gallery shows. It's hard to figure out what would work for me, so a lot of thinking and investigating to do. The important thing for both of those, of course, is to be ready. So I've been keeping my head down and working.

At the same time, you know I love commission work. I love collaborating with my clients to create the portrait of their dreams. It's such a thrill to be chosen and I will never take that for granted. I'm glad people like my style and how I approach my work. I'm in the middle of one of a darling little girl, I'll be showing you her in a day or so.

AND, I have a woodblock print of a pug I've been DYING to get to. Wood is cut, drawing done, new set of my favorite knives bought (I like disposable ones), just need to do it!

Do I sound like I'm complaining? The only complaint is the number of hours in a day. I want to do it all even more! It's so important to make the most of each minute. But that's true for all of us, isn't it? Whether you're an artist or not?

Hey, about that name...suggestions welcome, here or HERE. My Portraits site is http://robinzebley.com/. Thanks for visiting my blog, I really do appreciate your visit, and I LOVE comments! Robin

Cat Portrait or Cat Painting... Yours and Mine or Mine and Yours?

2010-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

This cat painting is my latest piece, 6" x 6", in acylics on a fat, gallery wraped canvas. Could be a portrait, but it's not...it's not a commission.

This year will be different from all of my other years as an artist; this year will be the one where I sell "live and in person" at shows and so I am painting what I like and hoping to find someone who likes it as much as I do!

This is so different from relying on commissions, only. Before I start a cat or dog commission, it's been sold and the client has had as much input into the decisions surrounding it as they want. I KNOW they will love it because it stars their pet or kid.

Art like this? A little on the scary side!

But it's very rewarding, too. There's something about just reaching deep inside myself and pulling out what I want, what I like, what I hope to accomplish that's exhilerating...sink or swim!

My gut feeling is that there is an "audience" for this type of work from me, but that means putting on my salesgirl cap and finding them. It is a total reversal of "ownership" from commissions. I feel like commissions are yours, then mine, then back to you. With painting on the hope of selling, it's mine and it's yours. Hopefully. So a key comfort zone portion is gone.

I think, though, that growth is so totally necessary for artists. I have seen the by-products of artists who never take a chance, who are painting or drawing exactly the same way they did 15 or 20 years ago because it worked for them then. They can't see the staleness and lack of verve in the art itself and blame the economy or other artists charging less than they do or Chinese copyists or too much competition or something outside themselves. I don't want to fall into that trap. I truly believe there's a home for art that's exciting and fresh and comes from the heart and YES, takes a bit of a chance. You'll notice this isn't my usual medium, it's acrylics on canvas. And I don't know about you, but I LOVE THIS!!! Robin

My Commission Dog, Cat, Pet Portrait Site is http://robinzebley/
This piece and others like it are in my shop at Etsy or by contacting me.
My up to the minute Facebook Page is http://facebook.com/artistrobinzebley

I welcome your comments!!

Black Lab Portrait with Hunting Scene Landscape Background

2010-01-28T05:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of the pet portraits I finished recently. This guy's name is "DumbDog". Now, that's not his real name, it's a nickname, and it's not descriptive of this really smart, wonderful fellow. It's like calling a giant dog "Tiny" or a heavy one "Slim". One of those silly, affectionate nicks that just stuck.

Of course, Labs love the water, and so I posed him in an environment he loves: Ready, willing and able to dive right into that marshy wetlands water behind him.

We live near the Heinz Wildlife Preserve that borders Philadelphia on one side and my small borough on the other and often walk with Otto there. Besides the birds of every description, if you're observant, you get to see turtles and frogs, small mammals and lots of deer. We get a lot of spillover from the birds who live there and stop there on their migrations at our bird feeders less than a mile away. (We also are gifted by the mosquito visits!).

At one time, of course, much of the surrounding area was wetland...this is one of the only protected urban wetlands left.

But back to DumbDog. The specs are that this is a colored pencil portrait, 16" x 20" with prismacolor and color soft colored pencil on Mi Tientes pastel paper.

Another thing this portrait did for me was make me really want to paint outdoors, maybe plein air for all of it or maybe part of it with studio time to finish up. But that's not going to be colored pencil, which takes too long. So, I'm currently enrolled in an oil painting class to fill in the gaps of my self-taught painting technique. There's just a lot of science involved with the mediums used with oils that I need to understand, plus I just love hanging out with other artists and art lovers. And of course, I'll be showing you my work here and on my Facebook Art Page, HERE which is my short and sweet show and tell! See you there!!

Yorkshire Terrier Pet Portrait - Tanker

2010-01-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Here's Tanker, an adorable little yorkie who is the subject of this Christmas pet portrait commission! I "painted" him in colored pencil..prismacolors and colorsofts on 16 x 20 Mi Tientes pastels paper. I love his little face, his mistress claims it looks just like him, and the way his fur is cut so that it covers his ears! He loves to chase backyard birds so I put the birdfeeder in his portrait to make it more personal!

I'm artist, Robin Zebley. If you'd like more basic info on me and my art, here's my pet and childrens portrait site and for the most current info, Fan me on Facebook, where in the coming weeks, we'll have some fun goings on! Thanks for visiting! Robin

Brittany Spaniels Pet Portrait - the dog whisperers?

2010-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

I have been really busy with pet portrait commissions, but haven't kept up with posting them. Here's one of my favorites recently, two older brittany spaniels who often seem to converse! Very sweet dogs, very sweet client, who found me via twitter! It's 16 x 20, prismacolor colored pencils on Mi Tientes pastel paper.

Of course, I have to apologise again for my crummy photography skills!

In other news, my FB Fan Page is growing by leaps and bounds. I really hope to make that a fun spot, with giveaways and penny auctions, etc. I just don't think art has to be dead serious, you know?

This Is My Year! Because I say so...

2010-01-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

I almost jumped out of bed this a.m., so many possibilities, a whole new decade. A very very important year for me. Either I have a steady supply of commissioned pet and children portraits by summer or...well, I will! I am claiming this as my breakthrough year!

When I lost my day job in September, I had to scramble to get back onto my "art feet". I worked very hard and accomplished a lot that I'm celebrating today. They are the building blocks for this next decade. In 2009, I:

Took woodblock printing classes again to further upgrade my skills in this really fun medium;
Took life drawing workshops, drawing is the foundation for my art, and I really want to network more with other artists in real life;
Upgraded my website and worked hard to get the search engines to find me. Went from zero to 45 on google searches for "pet portraits" in less than 12 weeks.
Signed up for google analytics and ads. Both very helpful. I can see, for instance, that now about 20 percent of the people finding my work are finding it via google searches!
Started a Facebook Fan Page. All set up but just barely utilizing the possibilities. I want it to be fun, not dead serious and that will involve some giveaways. But now have 66 fans and counting.
Devised and worked a Christmas commissions marketing plan. By the first week of November, I already had a waiting list and I'm still doing commissions that were ordered too late for Christmas.
Became an accomplished Twitterer, resulting in commissions and finding new online friends, some of whom were kind enough to distribute my promo materials.
Learning to paint in acrylics.
Dipped my toe in the waters of email newsletters. Did a test run with the least likely of my email contacts...people who inquired but never bought from me. Was encouraging enough that I'm going to do them for real.
Devised a way to help rescues that will benefit them and me. No more giveaways, we'll partner for success.\

For 2010:

Do local shows and maybe some Florida shows where I have a place to stay if I go. Twofold purpose, sell noncommission work and market commissions.
Paint larger pieces in acrylics for sale both online and at shows.
Do woodcut prints that I hand paint after printing. I love the look and the possibilities.
Take classes at different venues. Already signed up for one at Fleisher.
Maybe enter competitions.
Upgrade my website again, now that I know what works.

Those are the plans, now I have to work them. I have to give myself the same dedication, effort and attention that I gave my former boss. I have way more possibilities for growth, and now am making 2010 the year I really go for it!! Wish me blessings, luck, white light, whatever positives you can? Love, Robin

Discovering the Real Terri Stanley, Glass Artist

2009-12-29T06:42:00.000-08:00

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...I was a stay at home mom, not a pet portrait artist. My husband did some artwork; he was a sign painter and there were blurred boundries there before computers stepped in and drove him to another profession. But I wasn't an artist. I was a Mom. I knew everything!..(or so my kids apparently thought...for a while, at least.)

What I didn't know was that lurking in a house down the street a little was another latent artist posing as a stay at home mom, Terri Stanley. We were never close friends, but I always liked Terri. We both moved out of that neighborhood, and recently reconnected via Facebook as "old neighbors" and shocked each other by finding out we had both transformed our lives and become artists. Terri is a glass artist, and a blogger: Terri Stanley . I've included some of her absolutely stunning work here.

Her pieces are huge! It's so funny to me. I never knew an artist hid behind that other Mommy on my street, and I suspect Terri was as surprised as I was. I did know that Terri worked at a stained glass shop. And I did some decorative painting for low end craft shows that I didn't really enjoy ... so confining and factory-like. But that was dabbling.

So Terri reminds me of the biblical "angel walking among us". Here we were...fellow travelers who had not yet really begun our journeys...and didn't even recognize we were looking for a similar path! I realize how little I really knew of Terri...and that life after little ones for women can be deliciously unexpected! I hope you enjoy Terri's work and encourage you to visit her site to see even more. http://terristanley.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas...and a last minute reminder!

2009-12-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to remind everyone that my "shop" will be open and able to take orders for Gift Certificates until Christmas Eve at 6 p.m., Eastern Time. Upon receipt of your Paypal purchase, I'll email a gift certificate to you that you can print on your end, wrap and put under that tree! No matter when your recipient actually uses their gift certificate, I will honor my current prices.

Thanks to everyone who supported me and my art this year, I truly appreciate it. And I hope you're Christmas is cozy, lazy and fun! That's what I wish for myself! Love, Robin

Cat Painting, Horse Painting & Pet Portrait Gift Certificate

2009-12-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

While I work on pet portrait commissions with a Santa deadline, I decided to give ebay a shot with a few of my small painted pieces. I have no idea at all what the market is there now. So I have listed a few things rather than have them sitting here waiting for me to do a show or sell them in another way. It will be fun to see if they sell, I priced them well below what I think I could sell them for in an "in person" venue, but on ebay, I think the question is whether anyone will even see them in the mountains of items there. There's lots of marketing techniques to build up following there, but since I listed these 2, I got another commission and don't have time to market and increase visibility there. But no harm, you never know. Here's where they are on ebay, if you'd like to bid, please do! All the details are on there, they are acrylic on gallery wrapped canvases.

Like I said, it will be a challenge to get that commission in under their Christmas tree on time, so have to curb all of my online work for a bit. Now, an interesting thing has happened...I've been getting emails telling me "time to paint for galleries" from art friends I respect. I don't know. I like the contact between me and the people who buy my work. But it's meant as a compliment, and I do appreciate it. And of course, I'd have to double my prices, since galleries get 50%. So a lot to think about, and I do appreciate any and a, but first things first. AND I really have bake those Christmas cookies....how about you?

Boston Terriers Pet Portraits - win them!!

2009-12-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

Yes! Win this colored pencil piece, called "A Day in the Park"! Friends, I am really honored, I've been selected as a "Featured Artist" in the really cool site "The Philly Dog"! I was approached a while back and submitted this portrait piece of two Boston Terriers and it's being raffled off! And you wouldn't believe how complimentary the feature is, I'm blushing!!! All details at The Philly Dog, but one of the ways to win is to comment here on my blog! Then, go to The Philly Dog and comment and get another chance to win it. This contest closes on December 9, so hurry!

This piece is 8" x 10" and is matted. I did it in colored pencil, and the inspiration was actually the park bench. I just loved this old park bench, so common in Philadelphia. It's a work of art in it's own right, the product of craftsmen in times long gone.

But of course, the icing on the cake are the two adorable Bostons!

I love contests and raffles, I think it's important to have some fun with my art, too, which is a nice break from the marketing I need to do to survive as an artist. This BT piece isn't the only one of mine that can be won online! I have a contest going on my Facebook Fan Page, http://facebook.com/ArtistRobinZebley , but that one is a secret! It's an animal, cute as can be, and you're automatically entered if you're one of the first 50 to become a fan of my page! And we only need 4 more. So join the fun, both here, on my FB page, and at The Philly Dog!

Tiger Painting in Colored Pencil "Jungle Look"

2009-12-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a tiger I painted just for fun in colored pencil. Or did I draw it? Never know what to say...if you're a fellow colored pencil or pastel artist, you know the controversy...the pigment isn't wet, so it's a drawing? Or...the pigment totally covers the support in swaths of color, not lines, so it's a painting? Anyway, I really enjoyed this piece! I used a copyright free photo of the tiger himself. But what surrounds this big cat is what made it totally "mine"!

I wanted it to really look like he was in a thick bamboo forest. So the combo of the dark, mysterious and misty background and teh more detailed dense bamboo foreground were essential to make it look like you suddenly encountered this guy while on your adventure...or while lost...

It's 11 x 14 prismacolors on Mi Tientes pastel paper.

He's kicking off my Christmas Animal Art sale on my sister blog: http://artandanimalsgallery.blogspot.com/ . Pass it on!!

Off to the Races!

2009-11-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year, because it is always such a challenge! Can I do what I have to do by the time I have to do it?

My deadline for commissions is a week before Christmas. I've had years where I was overnighting on Christmas Eve Eve.

I also really want to have some smaller gift paintings done and up for sale for gift giving in the next week or so. So clear the decks, the house is clean, the garden ready for winter, any promoting and marketing done and done! Time to fit as much art into my day as I can without compromising quality. Cheer me on? Robin

My Pet Portrait site is http://robinzebley.com/. My Facebook Art Page is http://facebook.com/artistrobinzebley. I tweet as robinzebley, join me somewhere...I'm there!!! Robin

A HOUSE Portrait? Yep, a house portrait!

2009-11-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Last year, I got a request to paint this cute rowhouse in South Philly which was for a Christmas gift. How hard could a house be? Harder than I thought! Making sure everything was in proportion, prospective, squared up right, the right distance...a little math-y for me. I could have traced it, but that seemed weird, I would have gone crazy tracing all those bricks and THEN painting them in.

Lucky for me, my honey is a former billboard painter who had lots of tricks up his sleeve for laying out pictorials, and he shared them with me. Actually, I use a lot of little sign painter's tricks in all my artwork!

Besides the house, itself, my customer wanted flowerboxes and a filled planter. AND a kitty! Can you see him in the upstairs window? I painted this on a wood panel, which made framing super easy for her.

I used acrylic paint, which was really fun with the curtains. After I painted the insides of the windows almost black, I just thinned white way down on my palette and next to that, a big blob of white right from the tube. I dipped a squared off brush into the thin wash and picked up some of the thick on just one corner and painted the folds of the curtains. The thin paint made them look gauzy, and the thick made the folds, all in one action.

Now, that is a trick I picked up from my "decorative" painting days. Years ago, I played with decorative country painting. I painted hundreds of geese and old fashioned Santas, etc. It gave me confidence that I could develop the skills to do unique pieces, rather than the factory-like churning out of identical (but well-selling!) pieces following patterns.

The bricks were a challenge. I tried painting the mortar, but couldn't get it thin enough or regular enough with a brush. I experimented with my beloved colored pencil and that worked great over the dried acrylic. So this is a mixed media piece! The trick was making the mortar straight...but not too straight. I took a piece of straight cardboard and dinged it up and carved just a tad of a curve here and there and used that to make my lines. I moved it a little each time.

So, lots of tricks on this one! I think it makes a great gift and I know the recipient of this one loved it! Hope you do too!
I'm artist, Robin Zebley, writing about my art and how I create it here on my blog. Here's my pet portrait site, lots of samples and details about how to commission a portrait of a pet, child or HOUSE! Join my Facebook Art Page ! Lots of updates and occasional contests and giveaways. Thanks for visiting, and if you want to read my most current post, just click on the banner at the top! Robin

Now a Facebook Fan Page! Help me Promote?

2009-11-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

Whew! There's just so many places and ways to try and get the word out! There's a zillion pet portrait artists out there, and I've looked at a lot of my competition's work. I think...and those who have commissioned from me say...that my work is unique, a little different from the average bear. Because I:

Get a LOT of detail where it matters (face).
Go more impressionistic where it doesn't.
Love backgrounds, foregrounds, and putting them all together.
Enjoy composing from a variety of photos.
"Fix" photo problems like flash (I hate when artists dutifully draw or paint in camera shortcomings)
Really think about the pet or child and try to bring their personality out.
Get each piece critiqued by at least one other artist for feedback.
Genuinely love the interaction between myself and my customer. I LOVE chatting with others! I have no snobbery about being "the artist" who knows best. If you want something, let's discuss!

Anyway, the hard part is getting the word out, of course. So that's what this is all about today, I hoping you can help me! One way is that I created a Facebook Fan page. Become a Fan of my brand new Art Page and get a chance to win a piece of my animal art 2 ways! Spread the word, please!! You can:

Tweet about me, email your friends about me, Facebook your friends about me, link to my main pet portrait site: http://robinzebley.com/. and my new Artist Robin Zebley Page: http://tiny.cc/ep8kK . By the way, I'm running a contest on my new facebook page and if you Fan me, you have 2 ways to win!

Any other suggestions for "getting the word out" are most welcome!! I do have flyers in vets offices nearby, and if you'd be willing to take some to your vet or groomer, let me know and I'll send you some! I truly truly appreciate all of the help! Robin

The Rhythm of the Art Life

2009-11-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

When I typed for lawyers, my day was mapped out for me. Half an hour to and from, an hour for lunch and caged in a cube in between just doing as I was told. The little time I had at home was pretty much taken up with chores and flopping exhausted on the couch. While my art is now my fulltime "job", utilizing the time efficiently has been a struggle for me. As any self promoting artist knows, the marketing end is very time consuming. And I am learning how to make my art a small business, so I must devote time to that, as well. Here's some things I've learned:

I do my best art with a fresh eye. Two hours at a stretch is the max for me. I've been hard on myself for not spending more time at a stretch, til I realized that quantity at one sitting does not make quality.
I like media that can be stopped and restarted. Colored pencils are so easy for this. Also oil based printing inks. I don't like the media dictating when I can work and when I can't and that's my main complaint about oils.
I need to get away. A lot. Now that sounds crazy, I love making art! But shorter intervals broken up by doing something else really makes me more efficient. In the beginning, I did all my housechores, walked Otto, got cleaned up and did my emailing and blogging BEFORE I did my art. I cleared the decks. I have learned that doesn't work for me. Better for me to draw for an hour, then take a shower and walk Otto, then draw for an hour and go to the bank and library, draw for an hour and go dig up the dahlias.
Online is good. I actually like to be online when I work. So I take little mini breaks while I work to respond to a post, check facebook, tweet, etc. So much of what I do online is art related and it keeps me pumped and inspired.
Online is bad. Talking politics, critiquing, responding to trolls accomplishes nothing for me and hours can go by. Eliminating.
Online is fun. I love my online art and animal friends and enjoy keeping up with what they are doing, guilt-free. I'm outgoing and friendly by nature, and the social aspect of "work" is the only thing I miss. I get that coffebreak type camaraderie with colleagues whenever I feel like it. Fun to talk shop.
Online combines fun with marketing. Twitter has been very good to me!
Housework can be done half asleep. Yes, it is true. Don't have to think too hard, so saving those chores for when I'm beat works well!
Rome wasn't built in a day. I do a little marketing every day. I'm seeing good results. And I'm looking with a hard eye what works and what doesn't.
Business before pleasure. I'm taking the time to learn how to run this as a real business. Sounds so not artsy, right? But it is and I'm taking advantage of opportunities to learn how to do it. Recordkeeping is not my strong point but I am learning how to do it properly.
Today and tomorrow influence each other. What I do with each day is influenced by what's on my calendar down the road. Silly to spend time marketing when I have deadlines to hit. I don't have time now, for instance, to take any life drawing workshops, but I will after the holidays. The rhythm of the art day is influenced by the calendar. Go with the flow of what the priorities are.
Being organized helps me be more creative. I have a paper notebook where I write everything down. I also have a calendar where I note opportunities I might want to do in the future. Don't have to keep things in my head and can relax.
The art is the thing. I can truly get lost in the marketing, blogging, etc. Deadlines loom and as I said I do my best work in 2 hour max shots. I am strict about them. But recognizing how I work best helps me do my best work. Gotta go now! Robin

I'm Robin Zebley, specializing in portraits of pets, animal art and now portraits of children. My pet portraits site is full of info and samples. I love comments on my blog and would love to hear from you! If you would like to contact me by email, it's HERE.

In Florida - the Space Shuttle launch, alligators and art

2009-11-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm a little out of the loop, I've been visiting my dad in Okeechobee Florida. I came down with my son who's at Cocoa Beach, and he dropped me off at my Dad's after some really fun times with our family in Ft. Laurderdale. We watched the launch on t.v. then ran out to the backyard to see it in real life. Unfortunately, those big puffy Florida clouds blocked the view. Still exciting that my son had a part in preparing things for the International Space Station! (That's about all THIS artist understands about it!)

My stepsister and her daughter are also visiting so we took a day trip today and drove around. Okeechobee is so cool, so "old Florida" still, with natural looking vistas against that blue sky. We did our best to spot some gators but like the space shuttle launch, they kept hidden from our view.

I did get some awesome shots of big ole birds at the "intersection" of Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River.

But being here reawakens a wish I've had for a while to be able to spend even more time here in Florida, which is where I grew up. Maybe I can do some art shows? That would sure be fun! But for now, I am working on Christmas, with lots of commissions and room for a few more orders, if I am diligent about working once I get home. If I'm a good girl, I might even be able to get more than a few in. It's exciting to me how responsive people have been to my work!

Little bit of this, little bit of that - Portraits and Animal art

2009-11-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished up a kitty memorial commission...almost. I have just a LITTLE tiny more to do but had to let the piece rest to be able to add that tiny extra touch. I am finding the combination of brands of colored pencils really works nicely with my style, which I think of as realistic with a splash of impressionism! Or is it "robin-ism"? I just do what I feel like!

Next on tap is a double dog portrait. I'll be doing a thumbnail sketch first since I'm making modifications to the almost perfect photo that will be the base of this portrait. Really helps to see if there's a composition problem before I commit to the large size.

Another cool thing coming up for me is that my art will be featured on a Philadelphia dog site! I am doing a small piece of a puppy in the park for a raffle for this relatively new site. Helps us both out. I'll let you know the site once I'm on there and if you want, you can try for the free piece!

Yesterday Otto and I spent a ton of time outdoors and will be today too. Just can't let these gorgeous sunny days go by without being there. We've had so much rain that it makes you really appreciate when it's dry. I've been shredding leaves and putting them in the old veggie garden which is penned to keep the rabbits out to become leaf mold. Next year it won't be the garden anymore...it's gotten too dark, the trees we've planted are getting nice and shady and so I'll have to dig a new one out in a more sunshiney spot!

I've been REALLY fortunate that I've made some new internet friends who are trying to help me out by posting my links on their sites, passing out my cards, tweeting about my work, etc. I'll be doing a whole post about them soon. Oh..and I'm secretly doing another child's portrait! So that's the little bit of this and little bit of that I'm up to! Thanks so much for visiting with me (too bad we can't just sit down together for a cup of tea!)

Thanks again for visiting my blog. I'm animal and childrens portrait artist, Robin Zebley. I'd love to work with you to create the portrait of your dreams! My email is HERE.

Commissioning a Pet Portrait - How you can help create a portrait you'll love!

2009-11-03T06:35:00.000-08:00

With me, my clients are as important in the process as the subjects! I really want your portrait to be exactly what you envisioned, and something that you will love forever. So I work hard to try and get at what it is you envision. And sometimes, that's not that easy for a non-artist to verbalize. I understand that.

Of course, the first thing is I need some photos. I find that some people who would love a portrait hesitate because they don't have a perfect photo. That is okay. In fact, that's one of my strengths, imo. Animals are HARD to photograph in a way that shows their "true colors". Some of them are hilarious when you get the camera out. I can never "catch" Otto indoors, he's too aware of my every move (always hoping yet another car ride or walk is on tap!) and my precious Gussie (who crossed that bridge 2 years ago), thought she was a runway model. Any time that camera came out, she posed...and it was like the kid with a phony camera smile, it just didn't look like her. And outdoors, forget it. There's just so much going on!

So I know first hand how hard it is to get one great photo.

What I like is if you can send me several photos and we can decide together what will make the best portrait. Of course, sometimes we get lucky and one is all we need! But if not, we can work together.

There's 5 technical elements that I can put together for you: Pose, Face, Coloring, Background and Foreground. But the most important element to me is your telling me about their Personality.

Personality???? Absolutely. Say you're purchasing a gift of your mother's precious pooch for Christmas. She's a maltese. I want this to look like Mom's maltese, not just any maltese. Is she shy? Bossy? Outgoing? Curious? Loyal? Bratty? Naughty? Goofy? Queenlike? Serene? Silly? When I know something about the personality of the animal, I can bring it out. How? I have no idea!!! I just know that it comes through the details.

My past customers have told me that I "caught her personality". I have one golden retriever that looks...annoyed. Her human told me that she is one of many in the family and she kind of sits to the side watching the other goofy animals with a superior, annoyed expression on her face. Now if I made her look silly, that wouldn't be her, would it? Her human loved her portrait...it was "her"!

Then, the technical aspects:

First, is the pose: Is it the one of her lying on the rug? Or is it that one, of her sitting ...but that kitchen trash is in the background? Say you just love this one of her sitting but her front paws are cut off in the photo. Very common. I can work with that. Numerous photos will show us her paws, and if it's a memorial portrait, I'll take a look at the paws of that breed and match it up.

Second is the face. Very often the cute portrait pose is not the best expression that reveals their personality! I can almost always combine the expressive face photo with the pose we decide works best. Another aspect is getting the all important facial details. I find a great place to get close details that I can use is outdoors in the car! They are distracted enough to get in close and get that shot. It doesn't have to be the right expression, but if I can see just how that nose is shaped, and just how far apart those eyes are, I can incorporate it! Whatever I can do to make it look just like YOUR pet, is my goal.

Third is coloring. Indoors shots are notoriously misleading colorwise. Flashes bleach out coloring and give those eyes that bizarre green glow. No matter! A shot outdoors at any time except midday shows the coloring unique to your pet. I don't care what they're doing outdoors, as long as I can see colors. I might ask you for exact eye color, as well. For most dogs, it's black coffee? black tea? a chocolate bar? For cats, there's that whole range of light yellow to golden to greens to blues. We'll get it right. The eyes are all important...

Fourth is the background. Ultra closeups call for something simple, but I do enjoy portraits that have the pet in a meaningful setting. I really don't understand why so many portrait artists are afraid of backgrounds. Putting the pet into a real setting turns it from a "Sears" type portrait to a portrait that is meaningful to you and makes the art worth viewing in its own right! On the couch? On the oriental rug? Outdoors in the grass? On top of a motorcycle? Let's discuss!

Fifth is the foreground. Often, the foreground...the bottom edge of the portrait...declares itself from the background choice. But sometimes, it's flipped! It is the most important "non-subject" part of the painting and the background sinks in importance. For instance the pose of a dog lying on the edge of a rug with a wood floor showing that fades to a very dark background.

And Sixth, which I forgot to mention earlier in my list, is working with multiple photos of a family of pets to make sure they are in the correct proportion to each other and are included in a creative composition that brings out the personality of each of them!

Some commissions are relatively straightforward. From the array of photos, we quickly come to a consensus and the photos tell me all I need. Sometimes, we need to work more. I might ask you to photograph his tail or you might want to take a photo of the drapes you want in the background. Or the favorite toy or blanket.

Email makes it really easy to communicate and I have enjoyed getting to know the fabulous pet owners who have commissioned portraits over the past 8 years. I think the reason I have so many repeat gift orders is that my clients know I will go the extra mile to make that pet portrait that's a gift as detailed and personality filled as I can possibly make it!

But I need YOUR input; otherwise, it's just like a little art factory producing breed art. I want your portrait to be so unique and full of personality that nobody will say, "that's a pug". But instead say, "that's MY pug!"

Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm Portrait Artist Robin Zebley, with over 8 years experience creating portraits of pets, now also offering portraits of children! Many of my commissions are shown here, for more, and for ordering information and pricing, please visit my website: http://robinzebley.com/. Questions? Ready to order? Just click HERE. I work commissions in the order I receive them and your deposit saves your space on my list. I am looking forward to working with you! Robin

A Grandmother Portrait - how precious is that?

2009-10-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

For most of us, our grandmother means fun and attention, spoiling and smiles. She loved all the same people we did as children, only from the opposite direction!

Last Christmas, before I really thought about doing portraits of people, I got a call from a fellow who wanted to give a gift of a portrait of his friend's grandma who had recently passed. His friend had one photo of his grandma that he thought caught her sweet smile and expression...but she wasn't alone in that photo and cropping it would be butchery...so Steve stole the photo and commissioned a portrait!

Steve had faith that I could pull it off...he liked the way I did pet portraits. In fact, he's the person who first said, "they are just full of personality!" I knew the detail I like to do conveys personality but that was a "day maker" when he said that...

What was really funny when I worked on this was I just felt this peaceful love bouncing right out of the photograph...I hope you can feel that, too, from my portrait of her. His friend did love it..what a meaningful gift for HER..and I'm glad I remembered this little portrait from a year ago to show to you!

I'm portrait artist, Robin Zebley. I specialize in pets and am now offering portraits of people, too! Some of my portraits are shown to your right, more on my people and pet portrait website, robinzebley.com, which is HERE. "Follow" my blog to your right and get updated when I blog. I am still accepting commissions for Christmas, 2009 gift giving, so send me an email HERE or give me a call! Thanks so much for visiting and I would appreciate it so much if you would email your friends and family with a link to my site or blog because I depend on word of mouth! Robin

My Most Popular Pet Portrait! Scooter-Mania!

2009-10-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Accoring to Google Analytics, Scooter is the most popular pet portrait I have ever done! Scooter-Mania was huge...but not long lived! Here's what happened...

I am not especially computer literate. I do my own pet portrait and childrens portrait website but it's a template from godaddy and I don't have to know any kind of web hosting program. I like it because I can move things around and add things easily.

So it took me years to install Google Analytics on it which gives me a report of what is being looked at on my site. Now, it doesn't tell me WHO is visiting, it just tells me what is being looked at.

And SCOOTER was WHAT everyone was looking at the first few days!! I was a little surprised to learn that this older portrait was wildly popular the first few days I got the reports! Of all of the images on my front page and in the other pages, EVERYONE was clicking on Scooter to see him even larger. Scooter had more clicks than all of my other animal and childrens' art put together.

So what do I do with this info? Rush out and get Scooter reprints and sell them on the corner? Scooter t-shirts? Scooter book and movie deals? Well, sadly, Scooter-mania has died down. Scooter is back to getting just about the same attention as all of the other dogs on my site.

So what does THAT mean? I think someone with a dog that resembles Scooter surfed onto my site and emailed all their friends and family and said "look at this dog I found on an artist's website! Doesn't he look just like my "Mr. X?" And they all came and looked and said "yup, that's Mr. X alright." :D

So I think it's easy to over analyze analytics! But it sure is exciting to think that people are getting to my site via emails from friends! Please, feel free to help me out that way! (And please, quick, just click on Scooter, he must be missing the Scooter groupies!) Scooter and I both thank you.

I'm artist, Robin Zebley. I specialize in portraits and art of animals and children. To commission a detailed and personality-filled portrait, just email me HERE! To follow my blog, just click to your right. To visit my childrens and pet portrait site, click: http://robinzebley.com/. Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed!

Dogs - Finding their way back home

2009-10-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

In the past week, when walking Otto, he started turning NOT toward home at a crossroads intersection, but merrily turning the corner in the other direction to extend his adventure. Then, a sly backward glance to see if I was going to stop him.

It made me wonder if our daily walks would make it easier for him to find his way home if he got lost? He's escaped before and on both occasions, the humans who found him used his tags to call us to come get him. One time he ended up at our neighborhood pizza parlor 3 blocks away. He's been there before, picking up pizza. Sometimes by car, sometimes on foot (but accompanied by a human!)

Another time, he ended up just two blocks away from the tattoo shop his human brother works at. He's been guest shop dog there, and has been there by car.

When Otto and I walk, we usually stick to the neighborhood that is bound by larger streets and 2 train tracks, probably 3/4 of a mile square. Except for a school yard, the area is neat little blocks. So yesterday I tried this: I walked him across across one of the big streets where he's never been and went about 7 blocks north. Then, I kept him on his leash, but did my best to let him lead the way home. Would he find it?

What do you think? Easy as pie! I don't know how they do it or what he smells. But maybe it's me! I bike a much farther distance than I walk him. I do a lot of my errands on my bike. What do you think?

I am artist, Robin Zebley, the human at the other end of Otto's leash (and the one with the little bag full of Otto's deposits!) If you'd like to visit my website to see my pet and human portrait samples, my site is HERE. If you'd like to read my whole blog, click on the top banner. If you'd like to follow my blog, sign up to your right. Thanks for visiting me. Your comments are always welcome!

My Little Botticelli - Portrait of a little girl

2009-10-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

When I saw this photo sent to me by her grandmother, I knew it might be a little tough because the angle was a little unusual for a portrait. She was looking up at the camera. But I loved the way her hair chunked up and blew off to the side, it reminded me of Botticelli's Birth of Venus a little and I decided to give it a whirl. And

I'm glad I did! I wanted to keep her hair that way because I think it conveys the gleeful action expressed on her darling face. The angle turned out to not be a problem when I opted for a pretty plain background and close crop.

I started out with a honey colored pastel paper, and used professional grade colored pencils...a mix of brands. I like the harder prismacolors for the bottom layers and the softer ones to even things out.l There wasn't much contrast in the photo, so I really had to search hard for the subtle shadowing and color transitions.

The size is approximately 7.5 inches square. I like this size and this shape and think I'll offer it as a suggestion more often. It's just large enough to show enough detail, yet would look awesome in a display with the same size of portraits of her siblings. I hope you will feel free to comment! Next up artwise is a portrait of a kitty lying, in all things, in a potful of peppermint...the herb type, not the candy type! And I have some interesting dog things coming up as well. Thanks for visiting! Robin

I'm American Artist, Robin Zebley. My site is HERE robinzebley.com, and is primarily of my pet portraits, but I'm adding children's portraits often (a high school hockey player is coming up soon!). If you'd like to follow my blog, click on that button to your right. To read my whole blog, click on the banner at the top. Thanks for visiting and please feel free to contact me privately if you wish at robinzebleyartist@gmail.com. Robin

Little Boy Portrait

2009-10-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show you what I have been working on...it's a portrait of a little guy in colored pencil. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed working on children's portraits this week!

As much as I've been joking that I have to remember...it's a "nose", not a "snout", I'm just drawing/painting what I see. I have especially enjoyed studying the hues of skintones and picking up the subtle transitions from the warm pinks and yellows to the cool blues and violets.

I didn't do much to change the composition of the photo of this little one that I took from a copyright free site where photographers offer their work free for the taking for artists to use. I wanted a very dark haired child, since I know I have several very fair skinned kids coming up so I would have some variety for my portfolio. When I was starting out in dog portraits, I had a run of golden retrievers. I think I did 9 in a row! Same thing, I don't want to only have blue eyed blonde girls in my "human" portfolio!

This portrait took about a third of the time it took me to do the little girls. I learned sooo much with that one. This time, although also lit darkly, not in bright sunshine, I started out with an almost light valued blue paper. It definitely helped to have that as the undertone, especially with this particular child's coloring.

I hope you like it! Next on tap will be another child, I am on a roll! Hopefully I'll have another one to show you in a few days.

I'm pet (and children!) artist, Robin Zebley. My portrait and woodblock print site is HERE Would you like to follow my blog? Click on "follow" to the right. To read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. Have a comment? I'd love to hear it! Thanks for visiting! Robin

Children's Portrait - Two Little Girls

2009-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love the pose of these girls, love how the light shines on their beautiful faces. In real life, the portraits are much darker on the dark side. I will try and get better photos, but have taken a hundred and they still don't really show the details and coloring exactly right.

This is colored pencil on dark red Mi Teintes pastel paper. I love this paper personally, and chose it because it's almost black but warmer and I think it works with dramatically lit subjects.

I had a question from a tweetpal who wanted to know how I blend the colored pencil so you don't see the pencil strokes? Here's my answer. The way I like to do that is with a lot of layers, and I do mean a lot in some spots. I also use a cut stencil brush to polish the skin and push it right into the pits of the paper so no paper shows. I use dull "points" to glaze color on. I also love to use the sides of the pencil "lead". It makes it nice and subtle...a nice light touch. I only use sharp points at the end for details, which don't even show in this photo...the eyelashes, the transitions in colors...

Anyway, I spent about 10 times on this as I do a dog portrait! I learned a lot that I will be able to use in my next human portrait! I hope you enjoy it! Robin
I'm artist, Robin Zebley. I've done hundreds of pet portraits over the past 8 years and now am building my portfolio of "human" portraits! My site is "http://robinzebley.com

Goin' Mobile - my newest dog woodblock relief print

2009-10-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to capture that ecstatic expression on dogs' faces when they are out for a car ride. Our mundane errands are big sight and smell events for our dog friends! I took a ton of photos trying to capture just the right expression with my Otto as my model. I enjoyed carving the pine block grabbing the detail of the expression and the fur.

What's extra special about this print is that it is part of the Baren Forum's exchange. The theme for this exchange was "My Window", so I borrowed a title from Pete Townshend, which, incidentally is the perfect theme song to the expression on Otto's face.

It's open edition, and one of the prints will be archived at the University of Kentucky.

And like all my woodcut prints, it's for sale, HERE.

Next up for me is finishing a portrait of two little girls. Almost done, so stay tuned!
I'm American artist, Robin Zebley. My pet portrait website, including custom woodblock print portraits, is HERE at http://robinzebley.com If you'd like to keep updated, click on "followers" to your right. If you'd like to see my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top of this post. I love dialogue on my art, so please do comment! Robin

Twitter!

2009-09-29T07:51:00.001-07:00

Are you tweeting? It takes some time to "get" twitter, but it's fun and another way to "meet" fascinating people you'd never have the opportunity to otherwise. Sure, it's a promotional tool, but I find the more I use it, the more I GET out of it. The world is full of interesting people, isn't it? If you're tweeting or would like to, follow me, I tweet as "robinzebley"... for up to the second updates from me...or OTTO! And I'll be glad to follow you to hear what YOU have to say! Robin

Stepping out of my comfort zone...life drawing workshop!

2009-09-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today I took a workshop at the historic Plastic Club in Philadelphia. I've never drawn in public, never drew a human from life and felt nervous as all get out.

It turned out, of course, to be wonderful. Everyone was really nice and helpful, and nobody lurked over my shoulder, they were busy with their own work. I did show and tell and was really encouraged. And it's exactly what everyone tells you...you really have to try it! I feel like I learned more in 3 hours than 3 months of working from a photo!

I was pleased with my likeness of the model, but worked in a tight, nervous manner. Next time (maybe tomorrow!) I'll be bringing bigger paper and will force myself to loosen up and enjoy.

The bonus is that there was a dog there! So I got in some dog sketching while the model took his breaks. (Relief to draw a familiar snout, rather than nose and mouth!!) And I drew the chair, the model's hands, I just filled up that 3 hours with drawing.

So, the first giant step taken forward.

I'm Robin Zebley, my primary interest is in pet portraits, but I'm learning to draw those 2 legged animals! My site is http://robinzebley.com. Stop by and visit! If you'd like to see this whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. And if you'd like to comment, I'd love to hear ya! Robin

My New Cause - Walk Your Dog!

2009-09-18T09:01:00.001-07:00

When we moved to a house with a big backyard several years ago, I didn't HAVE to walk the dogs anymore. The result is I got fatter and my dogs got sadder. Although Otto and Gussie (who since has passed over the bridge at the age of 16) enjoyed their yard, on the few occasions I'd get their leashes out...they went nuts!

I realized that "backyard" is pretty predictable for them. The squirrels Otto chases run right up the same tree every time. The bunnies through the same gap in the neighbors fence. Dogs know that walks are always an adventure..or the potential for one!

So I have become a giant proponent of dog walking. My doctor actually recommended it to me several months ago as a nice natural relaxant after a stressful day at work. But morning is the prime time for me and I found that after a week of walking Otto every morning before work, well, he expected it. Having a walking partner who nagged at me with those big, expectant brown eyes kept me on track. When it's raining um...cats and dogs...though, he is no more interested in going out in it than I am! Now that's a relief!

There are so many human benefits, too! I've lost 7 lbs., can ride my bike without effort, am sleeping way better, have met nice other dog people, saw a striped rose today and got to stop and smell it!

Otto has always been very fit (people have asked us if we do weight training with him, lol) and the only thing giving away his senior age is his white muzzle. But I have noticed that his leg that gave him trouble when he's overdone, doesn't bother him anymore. The consistent exercise has cured that lameness. And for dogs that are pudgy, you know the health benefits for them are even more pronounced.

I've also noticed that now that he is consistently walked, and walked for 20 minutes to and hour and a half a day, he finally stopped pulling on that leash, making the walk more pleasurable for both of us.

So, what are you waiting for? There's nothing he'd rather do with you today!

Robin and Otto
I am Animal and Pet Portrait Artist, Robin Zebley. For more about me and my art, visit my site at http://robinzebley.com

So Many Options...so Much TIME!

2009-09-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

I am having such a hard time organizing myself with all this time! When I worked fulltime, my art was always in a triage mode. When I was taking woodcut classes, I was always preparing for them. Then, starting last fall, I started participating in printmakers' exchanges which had strict deadlines. And I did small colored pencil projects, like the International Drawing Day entry for American Artist Magazine's forum, where I am a docent. So that pretty much ate up my available art time in the past year and a half.

I've also done a lot of non-paid commissions, where I donated a commissioned portrait for various rescues around the country. (I love doing that. I do something fun that I love and they make some money from it to help the poor dogs!)

So now I don't have to do artwork I'm obligated by classes or exchanges or commitments to do. It's almost scary!

I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and I am looking for a part time job so don't want to take formal classes because I don't know what my schedule will be like.

So I'm going to try the drop-in life drawing/painting classes at the Plastic Club and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. I know this will help me all around, and after I get settled workwise, I can worry about something more formal. It will also help with the social part of me, get me out and about.

But I am wanting to get back into shape, after 3 years of being glued to a chair all day, and I'm biking every day and walking with Otto for at least an hour a day.

I also have ordered material for new curtains in bungalow-ish prints from a cool reproduction fabric place I found online. And I have some FANTASTIC prints from pritnmakers all over the world I got from my printmaking exchanges to frame up. AND I've been sending hundreds of my dog art bookmarks to rescue groups all over the country to use at their fundraisers as a giveaway. And my website needs changing now that I'm focusing on growth. And I'm doign a portrait for my niece of her daughter that is reacquainting me with my colored pencils!

And the garden, dinner, organizing and really cleaning the house, have all been calling my name!

I'm sure it will come together. Meanwhile, I can afford to just relax, something I haven't done in 3 years since I went back to work. Thank God, I don't have to worry about my insurance...I won't even GO into that...I have mine through John, and nowadays, that's a major issue!

Farewell, Chris...til we meet again.

2009-09-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

The past week has been pretty harrowing for me. Two of our closest friends' son died in a tragic choking accident just short of his 29th birthday. It somehow seems wrong to just go on in this personal blog without marking this sad but important event. The beauiful obituary his father wrote, the sad but comforting Mass, the luncheon afterward that was exactly as Chris would have wanted it, with stories told, music played, laughter and love in the air, are over.

It still seems unreal that this person I've known all of his life and nearly all of my adult life, is not here among us. A change in status for all of us, but of course, more for his family.

When Chris' uncle died tragically while he was away at college, he took me aside at the funeral luncheon and asked me to look after his mother and not let her get too sad about her brother's death. Because he wasn't there to do it. And he's not here to do it now. I will do the best I can to honor Chris' wish to comfort his beautiful mother in her grief. And father and brothers and sisters. But I wish it would really help more than I know it will...our consolation that we know we will see him again in heaven is overwhelmed by not seeing him today, here on earth.

Of course, we all regret that we didn't make more time to hang out with him! If only we knew how short his time here would be.

Chris was one of the most courageous people I've ever known. It's odd when someone who's diaper you changed on occasion becomes someone to teach YOU lessons. But that was Chris. Be determined. Never give up. Keep fighting for your goals. Love the ones that love you and let them help you when you're the one who needs it. Appreciate. Be kind. Thank people. Be considerate. Laugh. Enjoy each person in your life. Have courage.

Chris, we miss you. This world became a better place 29 Septembers ago, and a worse place last Friday. Til we meet again. Love, Robin

Lost My Day Job!

2009-09-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

I knew it was coming...less and less and less work, which is painful for me. I'm a very energetic type! I just have such a hard time sitting around with nothing to do day after day after day, along with others. I was actually excited this week when the boss had something for me to do, even if it was only 15 minutes worth!! And I am just glad it was me...the other people all depend on that company's insurance, and I have mine through my husband, and you know how expensive insurance is.

Since there's been a ton of layoffs in my line of work, not too hopeful about finding something...but will start shaking my networking trees!

If only the economy wasn't in such a sorry state otherwise!! I actually sat and pondered about how to answer the question on the unemployment form: Do I do commission work on the side? :( ...and realized that since I haven't GOTTEN a commission in a very, very long time, that although I USED to do them, I honestly don't do commission work anymore, so reluctantly checked "no"!

And thinking this is a good time to think about whether I want to lower my prices to the bone and try and troll for some commissions. And you know what, I don't think so. Why go backwards? I think the big picture is that I want to grow and learn as an artist and will take some time off to take a leap forward skillwise and get out of my comfort zone.

So, I'm truly going to learn to paint now. Have dabbled, but not enough to grow. And I'm going to push the printmaking. I enjoy that for its own sake so much.

But, hey, with the economy the way it is, what stinkin' choice do I have? We'll hope for the best for a new job, and meanwhile, make some lemonade, huh?

The Many Hats of THIS artist!

2009-08-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the day trying to update my VERY dated website. Here's the result: http://robinzebley.com Still have some image issues but this took me ALL DAY! Which frankly is why I put it off for so long. I like the crisp organization and the focus on the portraits.

But to "be" an artist sure means a lot of things other than making art, unless you have the dough to hire someone else to do the "other" things:

- Website Design
- Writer
- Marketing
- Public relations
- Procurement
- Shipping
- Photographer
- Newsletter list organizer
- Studio Cleaner
- Sales clerk

Some artists claim the above list takes the same amount of time that the actual artwork takes. It's not what we signed up for!!! I want to create dog portraits!

I also struggled this week to learn some photoshopping so I could put together a bookmark that features my dog portraits with dog quotes. I wanted something for the many rescues who ask me for help, it's a small item that they can include as giveaways for fundraisers. I shopped this week for cardstock and inks, and coordinating ribbon to lace through. Then, I had to do the photoshopping. Whew!

I'll show you my bookmarks after I get them all printed out and ribboned up.

So that's where I've been..a webmaster/photoshopper/cutter outer and ribbon lacer. Hopefully, today I'll get to be an animal artist again!! Robin

I'm pet portrait artist, Robin Zebley. My website is http://robinzebley.com. I also do animal printmaking! If you'd like to follow this blog, click to the right! If you'd like to read this whole blog, click on the banner at the top. If you know an animal lover who might enjoy my art, please forward my links, I depend on word of mouth from wonderful people like you! Robin

Boycott the Eagles and their Sponsors - for Dogs' Sake

2009-08-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

I hope you'll join me in boycotting the sponsors of the Eagles...and the Eagles...for hiring dog torturer/killer Michael Vick. Here is a link to the sponsors (Eagles removed their corporate sponsor list to make it harder for us). Here's a list: http://foryourentertainment.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-contact-info-for-philadelphia.html

And here's what I'm tweeting all these companies: Hey @Companyname, let me know when you stop sponsoring the Eagles, not buying Snapple til they fire dog killer Michael Vick. #Eagles Boycott

Tweet the #Eagles Boycott to help make it trend. This is just about the only recourse we dog lovers have to send a message that a "second chance" to be an entertainment star in our living rooms should never go to a man who hung dogs, drowned dogs with his own hands and electrocuted them with jumper cables.

"In America we believe in second chances". Yeah? None of the dogs he tortured to death got a second chance.

"He paid his debt to society". No, he did his jail time.

"We need to forgive him". Forgiving and rewarding getting out of jail with a plum job that by its nature makes him a role model are two different things. When someone does something evil, like he did for years, some doors should close. FOREVER. Someone who tortures the innocent does not belong in my living room...he makes me sick.

Instead of a message that "he did evil and ruined his career", the Eagles send the message "when someone gets caught doing evil, they just have to sit in jail for a while and then they can get one of the best jobs in the world back". Cause we think we can make more $$$$ with Michael Vick than without. THe repercussions for DOING EVIL TO INNOCENTS should be forever...like the forever dead dogs he killed.

Shame on the Eagles and I hope their sponsors will step up and send a message that dog killing is not forgivable after a little jail time.

Sorry for the rant, it's just so upsetting that some think that 2 years of jail makes up for the life of an innocent dog, much less MANY innocent dogs.

Rabbit Woodcut Relief Print - Printmakers Exchanges

2009-08-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am really excited that I joined up a printmakers' exchange recently that involves some really talented printmakers. Here's what we did: We each printed 19 handpulled relief prints. We sent them to a volunteer coordinator who collates them, which means in return, I'll get original prints from 19 other printmakers! Our theme was "Printmakers Gone Wild" and our interpretation of the "wilds" outdoors. I LOVE to decorate our home with original art, there's just nothing like having a one of a kind piece of art that nobody else does! With handpulled prints, all the prints are similar, but not identical. Each one has slight variations that make it totally unique!

Here's mine. I liked that the theme fit in with my series of urban wildlife. Rabbits are a constant in my garden...last year I hated them, this year I fenced the out of the veggie garden and like them much better! For wild things, they are incredibly fearless, they let me come so close before bounding off.

I carved this out by hand outof a 5.5" x 7.5" pine, printed on Japanese printmaking paper with oil inks. The paper is real soft and pliable. All the dark made for some pretty timeconsuming and tiring printing, since I do it all by hand the old fashioned way. I really thought about buying a press but you know, one of the things that really attracts me to printmaking is doing something modern and to the minute yet with a method that reaches back through time.

The carving was really fun, though. I had fun figuring out how to do the short little hairs on his head, then the longer fur on his body and finally the grass.

I printed extra, it's an open edition so I have some for sale! The paper itself is 8 x 10, so the border I left makes a perfect "mat" to fit an 8 x 10 frame. Or, for an even more dramatic presentation, an 11 x 14 frame with an 8 x 10 mat, all standard sizes. Just email me if you're interested in purchasing one, they will be signed by me, titled "Rabbit". Price is $15, unframed, with $1 shipping. Original art like this makes a fantastic Christmas gift! To purchase, just email me HERE. Thanks so much, and enjoy! Robin

I'm artist Robin Zebley. My portrait site is http://robinzebley.com/. If you'd like to see my whole blog, click on the banner at the top. And I'd love you to follow my blog, click to the left. Know someone who loves animals? Please pass my info on! I depend on word of mouth, and truly appreciate all of the wonderful people who have helped me in this way! Robin

More on Vermont and Adrirondacks Vacation

2009-08-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Still getting back to the real world after our vacation. We three love road trips so we drove north using small old roads going through old towns and rural and woodsy stretches. Otto had his nose going a mile a minute.

Two things we noticed that were really interesting...the more north we went, the more beautiful the gardens got! Maybe because the flower growing season is so short? But it seemed EVERY town we went through, each outdid themselves! They were about a week behind us and so the daylilies were absolutley at their peak. As a daylily lover, I really enjoyed seeing the unusual cultivars, and how everyone used the ubiquitous orange road lily to brighten some part of their front yard garden!

The porches were gorgeous with hanging planters, too. Some small towns really did those up big with huge planters filled with flowers hanging from every lamp post. It seemed so catchy, the more flowers the town had, the more the businesses did. It somehow made modest sandwich shops look quaint and must-stop here-ish!

The other thing we noticed, John having been a sign painter years ago, was how many gorgeous hand painted signs there were! These were so much more enticing that the inexpensive, merely identification signs, of computer generated and cut out vinyl! Many many hand carved, hand painted, with lush colors and eye catching appeal. They ADDED SO MUCH to the "curb appeal" of the shops, and told a story in a second that made you want to hit your brakes and go in.

We went out to dinner with our cousins in Vermont and assumed they were taking us there by the scenic view. But it seems every view in western Vermont is scenic! With the Green Mountains as a backdrop, every little farm and the grazing cows begged to be turned into a landscape painting! Same with the mountain drives in New York.

When we camped on Lake Champlain, the wildflowers blew in the breeze serenaded all day by the multitudes of birds. We took a very early morning hike, and the little islands of pines surrounded in the morning mist were a woodcut printer's dream. Except I forgot my camera! We vowed to go back the next morning, but that's when we got rained out.

It's funny when you vacation as an artist. It's hard NOT to see a painting or drawing everywhere you look! Here's Otto enjoying the Adirondacks. Be back soon with my latest woodcut print, this one of a rabbit.

I'm American Artist, Robin Zebley. I am a printmaker and portrait artist, specializing in pets and animals. To read more of this blog, click on the banner at the top. To be notified when there's a new blog, click on "following" to your right. You'll be in great company, my follwers are some of the most interesting people on the web! To see my pet portrait site, click HERE, it's http://robinzebley.com. There's a link on the top right of my blog to see my woodcut prints. Thanks for visiting, please pass my links on to anyone you think might be interested. I depend on word of mouth, so I really appreciate it! And please, feel free to comment! Robin

Vacation! "Dog Friendly" lodgings

2009-07-23T20:14:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a fabulous vacation in the Adirondacks with Otto, and one of the highlights was discovering a cute, snug place to stay that's not only tolerates dogs, but loves them!

We were camping in Vermont when it started to rain, and decided to pack it up and get a room. We crossed over Lake Champlain on the Ticonderoga ferry and went in search of a room that allowed dogs. No. No. No. No. I never dreamed how hard it could be to find a place that allowed dogs! We almost gave up and drove home! It was almost dark, raining and we spied The Pine Tree Motel and Cottages on Route 8 in Chestertown, NY. What a little gem! Not only did they ALLOW dogs, they welcomed Otto!

We three stayed in this adorable cottage decorated so cute with handmade "cabiny" curtains and comforter with knotty pine walls and handmade lamps. I actually prefer camping most times because of the filthy motels and hotels I've stayed in for business and pleasure, but this place was downright pristine. The owner, Norleen, who after 5 minutes feels like a favorite cousin, actually line dries the sheets! Norleen has kept the essence of an old timey cabin but with all the modern conveniences, air conditioning, REAL comfy beds, embroidered blankets. Just fabulous.

Now the best part for Otto was meeting Norleen's dog, the canine hostess of the Pine Tree, Knotty. Knotty is the perfect hostess for well behaved guest dogs, she is friendly and playful but keeps to the area they should stay in, so an obedient dog like Otto can romp with her off leash for a while.

I think anyone without dogs would hardly be aware of the presence of guest dogs. Knotty is not a barker, and like I said, she is very well mannered and obedient and sets a great example. There's plenty of room for man and beast to relax. In fact, our one night stay turned into two, we enjoyed the hospitality, setting, and adorable cottage so much, it was a great "base camp" for 2 days. I understand from the other guests that once you stay at the Pine Tree, you're likely to come back, they've been coming back every year for years! Here's their link: http://pinetreemotel.net

I hope to see more on the web from folks who find a place that's GOOD to stay with dogs, not just "permitted". And again, what a pleasure to be in such a clean, clean cabin, with such friendly and helpful hosts!

And did I get any dog portraits done while on my Adirondack/Vermont vacation? Absolutely not! I didn't even bring a pencil to draw with. Now back home, I can't wait to get back to work, but I just wanted to totally relax and I've taken 3 weeks off from art. We artists need to take a break sometimes to recharge our batteries!

I'm animal artist, Robin Zebley. If you'd like to read my whole blog, about Art and Animals, an artist's life, etc, just click on the banner at the top. If you'd like to follow my blog, you can do that to the right of this post. If you'd like to see my pet portrait website, it's http://robinzebley.com. Please pass it on, I rely on word of mouth and the support of great people! Any questions? Just email me! robinzebley@gmail.com. Thanks for stopping by, and hope you "come back" often! Robin

I interrupt this step by step demo to show you Sofie!

2009-06-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the gorgeous Sofie, who I mentioned I was waiting for her mom to receive. Isn't she adorable? Sofie is so such a yorkie Yorkie, you know? She's got those eyes, that laugh, the silky fur, and I just had to show you! (I'm still working on my step by step demo of Carol and Madison and will upload my next step soon)

What was especially fun about Sofie's portrait was working very closely with her "mom" to create a portrait that had a lot of meaning. Besides our star, Sofie, Mom wanted the beach. And could I somehow incorporate a photo of Mom as a baby with her mother? So this involved a lot of planning and thinking. I had only a tiny photo of the women and several photos of Sophie, none of which were her posing like this! I needed to put all of these components together while still keeping Sofie front and center.

I way simplified the beach scene beyond the window. And took some artistic license, which I did on purpose. With such a bright sunlit scene outdoors, the photo on the windowsill would be very dark and probably not very "readable", if I were to take the lighting absolutely literally. Same with Sophie. But I just had fun with it, with her pretty eyes, the detailed fur, the sheen of the sunlight hitting her back.

My foreground, as always, is sooo tempting to overdetail. Just enough leads us in to tell the story...a beloved pet, in a place that brings happy, relaxing memories, with a small portrait of those who love her. I could feel the love of Sophie's mom just pouring through for her mom and for Sophie as I created this work of love.

Incidentally, this was also fun for me because Sophie is the pet of a very interesting published author! What a neat thing it is to be able to meet cool people you'd never meet otherwise, brought together by art!

Carol and Madison - The darks and the lights - #2 in Step by Step Demo

2009-06-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is a crucial period of the portrait. I am creating my roadmap so I drive this double portrait in the right direction! First thing I must do is preserve my lightest areas so that any smudging, migrating, mistakes, etc. from darks to make sure they won't stain my paper so badly that I can't get back to light.

I detailed my drawing of the bit, and colored it in with white. Of course, it's not going to stay white, but it is an important light, and I can always go darker over the white. I also used white to "paint" all of the highlights on Carol's face.

Then, more white on the muscles and planes of Maddie's head and face. I tend to over do the white a little, because I can always erase it. Then, the roadmap to his face with the darks. Horses' heads are a mixture of curves and planes and what I find so much fun about doing equine work is how crucial capturing these details are for a good likeness! I used a prismacolor dark brown pencil with a very rounded "point" with a very, very light pressure to color in the darks as I see them.

Now his eye has a lot more darks. I overdid the white reflection in his eye to preserve them, but hardly did anything more to his eye. Maddie's eye is the focal point of this colored pencil painting, so will get the most attention. That's for much later! Right now, I'm just looking for those patterns of darkest darks and lightest lights.

So, after I thought I was done, I flipped it over, flipped over my photo, and saw that there were tweaks here and there! It always helps to do this. My eraser came back out and I refined the dark shapes I see.

Getting the lights and darks right at this stage makes the rest of the process enjoyable. Otherwise, I'm fighting my bad drawing the whole way through. It's worth it to take way more time at this phase than I want to, cause of course, I WANT to get to the fun part of adding the real color.

Now, with Carol, I haven't done as much to yet. I have resketched her body and arms, and fixed a few facial features that weren't quite right. I saw the errors of my initial drawing when I was adding the shapes of white to her face where the light hits. This method of adding the lights and darks right after I think my drawing is perfect, really helps me to see when I haven't hit it. You might notice I didn't touch her white shirt. That's because I made the decision that this giant white shape takes too much attention from the action and story I want to tell, that of Carol looking right up Maddie's nose into his beautiful eye!

Next time, I'm going to have work done on the background. I know lots of artists hate backgrounds, but background frames the subject..or subjects in this case. I am going to tell the story here that Carol and Maddie are outdoors on a beautiful spring day, but I can't let that blooming tree become the story!

Also, by doing the background next, it gives me time to take a fresh look at what I now think is the best drawing I can do on Madison. I know from experience, that I will see even more areas where I need to move something a smidge here and there.
It pays to go back and perfect to the best of my ability. It's like in knitting. If you mess up one of the first rows, you can never really get it back! Of course, I am not perfect, but getting this part as close to perfection as I can will let me relax later on because I have the basic framework in place and will be able to relax and let my style show through later. Which makes each artist's work unique!

Hey, thanks for following along! I'd appreciate if you'd direct anyone you know who might be interested to follow along with us! If you just started, this is the second step in my demonstration. Click on the banner at the top and my whole blog will appear. Click on the follow button on your right to follow. My pet portrait website is HERE I depend on word of mouth so won't you please pass on my info? Thanks again for coming, and hope to see you next time! Robin PS: please do comment and ask questions! I will be happy to answer all questions about how I work.

Carol and her horse

2009-06-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've had requests that I do a step by step demonstration of how I create a colored pencil portrait and think this would be a fun one! It's of my new friend Carol, and her beloved horse. I'm going to do this "real time", I've done demos before for artists websites but this will be the first one that is truly done as I do it, unedited, so, mistakes and all we'll see together how this progresses!

The size is around 16" x 20". I left a lot of space on the borders to migrate to because I have found that I sometimes wish I had 1/8" more on the left or whatever, so have learned to leave myself some cropping room.

I know this drawing is hard to see, I even photoshopped it to make it a little easier. But it's important at this stage that I use a pencil that's close to the color of the paper, because I will be refining this drawing as I go, and colored pencil is a bit translucent.

I am using Canson's Mi Teintes paper in a peachy/apricot shade. It's just dark enough for me to see my lights but not too dark, and I love the warm shade.

I started out using a pinkish nupastel, a hardish soft pastel, to sketch in my basic shapes of horse and girl. Lots of brushing off at this phase, and lots of standing back and looking...

Then, when I'm pretty happy with my sketch, I use a white plastic eraser to remove error lines. Then, I use a paper towel and just wipe off the excess of the pastel on the "good" lines.

Today I finished that up with a peach prismacolor colored pencil right over the pastel lines. This is still erasable, but not as easy as pastel. You can see I'm still unhappy with Carol's arms, and realized after I took this photo that part of my problem with her arms is that I made Carol way too skinny!

Composition wise, I'm nudging the whole thing over an inch from the photo and will have to just create what's not there. In the photo, Carol's right hand is just about at the margin and I think it looks better with a bit more. I'm also adding a teeny bit more on the right side of the paper. And I think I know where I'm cutting it off on the bottom, but am not making any commitment to that yet!

I have a lot more work to do on this basic drawing, mostly on Carol. In the beginning, the eraser is my best friend. I frankly think that if you don't erase a lot in the beginning, you're just accepting "not perfect". I try to make it as good I can in the beginning because that's what I'm going to be building on all the way through.

Next time, I'm going to be blocking in my darkest darks and my lightest lights to get a feel for where I'm going on this and make sure I'm on track.

I hope you'll follow along with me! In the end, we'll have a full color portrait, but the journey will be fun, too! Invite your friends, the more the merrier!! Robin

I'm artist, Robin Zebley. My pet portrait website is HERE robinzebley.com. If you'd like to follow along, click "follow" to your right. If you've happened upon this particular page, and would like to see my whole blog, click on the banner at the top. If you'd liek to order a custom portrait, just shoot me an email at robinzebley@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting, I do appreciate it!! Robin

Drawing Day Entry

2009-06-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today I participated in the International Drawing Day event. We artists from all over the world celebrated the backbone of of art and the community of artists by drawing whatever and wherever today! This is my entry, in colored pencil. He's actually a miniature, the size of a playing card. I mentioned previously that I am thinking about offering some of my mini art again on ebay.

I really really want to get more horse commissions so am going to be doing a lot of samples of them, along with the two legged animals who ride them! Of course, I always love those dogs and their humans as well!

Little Bitty Art

2009-06-04T13:57:00.001-07:00

A few years ago, I was painting and drawing tiny art cards and selling them on ebay. I love it! There's those who caution that selling on places like ebay or etsy could hurt, not help, your art career. But to me..part of having an art "career" is doing whatever I feel like! Here's a few samples, most of the photos are on a disk somewhere...

Plus, it meant I was drawing or painting every single day. Since they were "aceos" (3.5" x 2.5"), each piece took hours, not days. And it was so much fun to watch people fighting over my work! I was so lucky, 98% of my pieces sold, and almost 100 people got to own a piece of my original art at a VERY affordable price!
I honestly can't tell you why I stopped and I'm going to do them again. I don't know if there's still a market for them, but I'll find out! I think it complements, not competes with my pet portraits and woodcut prints. So tune in soon for new aceo-sized pieces.
Meanwhile, I am WAITING on pins and needles for my Yorkie portrait to be opened up by her "mom". Mailed it out to her summer home, so I'll post it as soon as she gets it. She does get first peek!Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm American Animal Artist, Robin Zebley. I'd love to draw or paint YOUR pet, my site is: HERE. Just email me and we'll get started! Click on the top right of this blog to see my woodcut prints of animals! And follow me! Just click on the "FOLLOWING" button on your right. I truly appreciate and value every visit, and hope you will pass my info on to anyone who might be interested! I depend so much on word of mouth...put on that thinking cap...hmmm...how about a gift? ....hmmmm!! :D If you'd like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. Thanks again.,Robin

The Print Center Opening

2009-06-01T15:18:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity to attend the opening of The Print Center's exhibit of its 83rd Annuel International Competiton: Printmaking. I was a little disappointed that there was not one traditional woodcut print. There was a large white line print that was interesting and makes me want to try that technique some day. Also shown was a mixed media that included two of my favorite media: colored pencil and woodcut relief.

What I saw was a mix of all of the other types of printmaking, including drypoint, which I do want to try. I like the slightly misty edges and the drama you can achieve.

My absolute favorite piece was a silkscreen print entitled "Untitled: Bridge" by artist John Williams from Philadelphia. This image was full of energy with vibrant colors and a bold composition. Unfortunately, I could not give it a new home as it very deservedly was priced higher than my budget would allow! I am thrilled to report that my artist eye is getting better...this piece was also an award winner, so I wasn't the only one impressed with his work. I am going to keep my eye out --I will own a piece someday!!

The best part, as far as I personally was concerned, is that I could not WAIT to get back home and back to my woodcut print bulldog portrait!!

I highly recommend all of my artist friends to get out to shows. So inspiring!!

I'm animal artist, Robin Zebley. I work primarily in colored pencil, acrylicsw and woodcut prints. My website is http://robinzebley.com. If you'd like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner. To follow, click on the gadget on your right for updates. I truly appreciate your visit. I could not do this without you.

The Print Center Exhibit in Philadelphia

2009-05-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

As a really enthusiastic printmaker, I just can't get enough! I am so excited that Saturday I am going to the opening of the Print Center in Philadelphia's exhibit! This wonderful, competitive exhibit is the result of its 83rd Annual International Competition: Printmaking.
I knew of some of the names of the printmakers and have googled a bunch in anticipation of seeing their work in person. I just love this art form, I love the ancientness of it mixed with the totally current. This show is definitely one I'd love to try for, what an honor THAT would be, huh?

I can't wait to see it in person. (I MIGHT even take a checkbook!)

If you're in the Philadelphia area, c'mon, stop on by!

Collecting Art! Colored Pencil as a Collectible Medium.

2009-05-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

When I chose colored pencil to create my animal portraits, it was because, after trying others, I just loved how I could get great, lush bold color and the finest details all in one package. AND it can be combined with other media so nicely. But can you make money on it?
Earlier this month, Sotheby's sold a pastel/colored pencil piece, by David Hockneys at auction for $39,000! Of course, it helps to be a top shelf artist who is a household name! Of course, Hockney wasn't ALWAYS rich and famous. How cool is it to those who bought from him early on to watch the value of their pieces skyrocket!

It's encouraging to see that in this economy, art is still selling...and selling very well indeed! I think more and more "everyday people" are thinking of quality, not quantity and are surrounding themselves in beautiful things they love rather than just filling up space on the walls.

An art collection is a living, growing thing. The beauty..and fun...of collecting orginal art is that it is so personal. Whether commissioned portraits or handpulled prints or paintings or drawings, when you buy an original, you are the only person on the face of the earth to have that image to enjoy! Your collection is as unique as your fingerprint..only you have exactly that art to enjoy. And there's good, original art available in every price range!

How to pick art to own? Basically, buy what you like, what you'll enjoy. And here's hoping YOUR collection will not only provide you with a lifetime of enjoyment, but will increase in value, as well!

I'm American Animal Artist Robin Zebley. I love to create animals in the most ancient form of printmaking, woodcut block prints, and accept animal portrait commissions. Contact me at robinzebley@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting my blog! Follow me by clicking on the "Following" button on your right. To read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top of this post, See ya! Robin

5,300 and counting...visits to this blog

2009-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

YAY! today is a milestone, over 5,300 unique visitors and lots and lots of "Chronic" types!! Welcome to you all. I'm pleased you are intersted in my artwork!

My art is so important to me. I think about it when I'm not doing it, I feel lost when I have more than a day or so without art! I enjoying looking at, and owning, other people's art. I just can't imagine a life without it!

Now, my house would be neater...but so much more empty. :D

Art is important. All art is. Go make some today, buy some today, enjoy some today! Here's to all the artists and art lovers out there, and especially those who love MY art! You are the best!! Robin

Same dog, same chair, the dog that launched my art career!

2009-05-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

If you've been to my website, or met me in person at a show, you know Brutus. He's the first dog I ever did a portrait of...just after my wonderful nephew Anthony was born! Pouting in the chair, while we oohed and awwwed! The whole adorable story is HERE

Brutus launched my career and has brought me many, many pet portrait commissions! So naturally (next to Otto), he's my favorite dog!

Anthony's mom posted this photo of him on Facebook...same dog, same chair, same handsome face. Isn't he adorable?

If you're on Facebook, friends me! My facebook entries are all over the place, but I'd love to see what you're up to, too!

I'm animal artist, Robin Zebley. Click on the top right box to see my website and my woodcut prints that are for sale. If you'd like to read more of my blog, just click on the banner. If you'd like updates, just click on "following" to your right. If you'd like your own portrait of your pet, just email me at robinzebley@gmail.com. And facebook or twitter connect with me. I'm rzebley on twitter.

The Award Winning Kitty and ME!

2009-05-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

As my regular readers know, I recently won the Printmaking Cash Award at Fleisher Art Memorial. Imagine my thrill when the check came from the Philadelphia Museum of Art!

To me it was just as thrilling that my woodcut print of a feral cat, "Kensington" was bought by another artist! That's Maria on your right, my print...now HER print... in the middle and me on your left. Of course, I signed, titled and numbered the print, which was #1 of my still-open edition. If you'd like to see my series of animal prints, click HERE If you're interesting in purchasing your own print of "Kensington" or any of my other animal prints, just email me at robinzebley@gmail.com.

So I should be busy printing more Kensingtons and other animal prints. Instead, we took Otto to the Open Studios at the 915 Building in Philadelphia. Here's Otto enjoying the art!

October is when the huge, all - city open studios tour is, so if you're anywhere near Philadelphia, keep that in mind...it's so huge, that it's split into 2 weekends, one east of Broad and the other west. It's a great time and you can buy fabulous pieces right off the easel and often score somewhat of a deal before they hit the galleries. I'll keep you posted on that.

Finally, today I'm working on the background of my Yorkie portrait, it's a very detailed, meaningful background, incorporating the Yorkie's mom's love of the beach and even a sentimental small portrait of her with her mother when she was a girl. So this is more time consuming than my usual background, but soooo meaningful! I enjoy doing human portraits, but my dog work takes most of my time. Same with horses, as much as I enjoy them, it's mostly dogs for me!

Guerilla Marketing! Artists and crafters take over the media!

2009-04-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what? My art is indirectly in the Wall Street Journal!

Yesterday I blogged about Etsy day, which was so successful, it was the most tweated-about topic on Twitter!

Here's what we did:
One artist, a photographer, thought up the idea. If we all publicize the Etsy site, itself, instead of just our individual shops, we could...maybe...create a big enough buzz to be noticed...without spending a cent. We discussed it online for about a month, brainstorming, and set a date, and yesterday was the day and we sprang into action.

We spent no money, except for paper and ink to print up some signs on our own computer/printers from free designs to put in car windows and shop windows all over the world.
We wore buttons we made.
We Twittered.
We Facebooked.
We Blogged.
We Craigslisted.
We handed out cards.

We created a buzz! Wallstreet Journal isn't the only medium to pick up our story and further our self generated publicity! It shows what can happen when we pool our energy and resources to positively promote all things made handmade!

As you might know, my Etsy store is just in its infancy and I need more pieces before I'll really be able to roll with a shop, but here it is...taking its baby steps! www.robinzebley.etsy.com. I still sell all of my pet portraits directly from my website: robinzebley.com

The second exciting thing that happened to me yesterday is that I was accepted into the Printsy Group, a group of talented printmakers who sell on etsy! What an honor! What a fabulous medium...original AND affordable art!

Okay...beautiful day here outside of Philadelphia, I have lots of things to get done today including working on my Yorkie portrait, yardwork and a visit to Fleisher to attend the closing show where my full sized cat woodcut print won the printmaking award! TTYL. Robin
I'm pet portraitist and animal artist, Robin Zebley. Want to be notified of a new blog post? Click "Following my blog" to your right. Want to see my whole blog? Click on the banner. Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you buy some orginal art today to enjoy forever!

It's ETSY Day!

2009-04-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

April 24 is ETSY day! Come VISIT! http://etsy.com It's hard to believe there's ANYONE out there who hasn't visited and bought from this wonderful site where all things offered are handmade, one at a time. I love machines...washing machines, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner...but I don't have to be dressed by one, accessorized by one, or have one make "art" for me!

I opened an etsy store recently with my woodcut prints and small original pieces. The community of artisans there have coached me and encouraged me. I haven't had time to fill my store (something I have learned really drives sales) because my portrait commissions take most of my art time (got another one today!! yay!) but I see this as a super addition and I am so impressed with the professionalism of the "etsians" and the drop dead gorgeous work they offer.

So those of us who make things handmade, including us fine artists, are celebrating this wonderful site today.

So stop by and take a look...and support small business, craftsmanship and score something special (Mother's Day?) all at the same time!

Auburn Road WInery - Great Live Entertainment

2009-04-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

Saturday night, we had so much fun going to the Auburn Road Vinyards in South Jersey. http://auburnroadvineyards.com/default.asp. I'm not a wine expert, but the bottle of their Rustica that I shared was outstanding!

And the live music was fun. Best-Party-Giver-In-Jersey, Cindy Wilson, sang an interesting set including an amazing song she wrote called "Tailspin". And Tom Kurman gave his usual great performance.
I'm really fascinated by musical artists. We visual artists put our work out there, but rarely see the reaction, especailly if you're like me and do most of your promoting and sales via the internet. But Tom and Cindy...face to face with the audience! What guts!
The other really cool thing about this place is the neat artwork. I saw pieces by Carly J. Mortimer and Alex Alami. (I'd link to their sites to share but can't find them!) How wonderful to find a place that is so supportive the the arts! Thanks to all for a wonderful time.

More Art Success, congratulations, Andrea!

2009-04-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Real life friend and fellow woodcut printmaker Andrea Gingrich is also a professional photographer. If you haven't seen her work in person, she's got an awesome eye! Her prints are super mostly because her fabulous photos are the reference for them.

Anyway, take a look at her blog, above. ONe of her super photos is on the cover of the book! Yay Andrea!

Kensington Woodcut Print Wins Award!

2009-04-16T04:36:00.001-07:00

Remember "Kensington" the life-sized woodcut print I created from a photo of a rescued feral cat? She's now an award winner! I am thrilled and humbled...my print won the "Printmaking Award" at the annual student show at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia!

She is on display in the gallery, along with my reduction cut sheep. I hadn't seen the show hung yet because the "big day" is closing day, not opening day. I stopped by last night and there it was! She won over all of the prints entered from woodcut printmakers created over the past year. Incidentally, the winner for the non-woodcut prints was a gorgeous dog...animals rule!!

How encouraging for me. I am currently working on a woodcut print of 4 boxer puppies.

Now the good news is that as a woodcut print, there's more images of "Kensington" available! If you'd like one of your very own of this award winner, just click on "Etsy" at the top right corner of my blog. She'll come to you signed by me, titled and numbered.

If you'd like to see my pet portrait website, it's robinzebley.com. TO get updates on my blog, just click on "Follwoing this blog" to your right. And if you found this post and want to read my whole blog, click on the banner at the top. Thanks for visiting!! Come again!

2009-04-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't Bo, the newest Obama resident in the White House! But she could have been! This is gorgeous Pepper, who is up for adoption from a rescue right nearby: The K9Lifesavers http://www.k9lifesavers.org/

I'm hoping Pepper and her fellow Portuguese Water Dogs up for adoption will be all the rage and someone will just have to have the newest, coolest dog breed! She's around 3, which means she's through the stressful puppy times and would happily settle in!

Now, Bo has a nice big fenced yard, even though he's just moved into a big city! Lots of us without are not permitted to adopt any dogs, even if we have experience and a track record of keeping dogs from birth to "rainbow bridge" as elderly seniors in an urban environment. So lots of dogs just never can make it out of foster care/shelters just because of that one requirement, no matter how wonderful his prospective humans would be.

But here's hoping for Bo to have a happy and long life, and Pepper too! I love to support dog rescues, and especially seniors (see blog post below this!) And here's hoping the PWDs in rescue benefit from the publicity!

I'm American Animal Artist, Robin Zebley. To read my whole blog about animals and art, just click on the banner at the top. To keep updated when I write a new article or show artwork, just click on "following my blog" to your right. My pet portrait website is robinzebley.com and my woodcut prints and other work are for sale at etsy...just click on the link at the top right of this page. Thanks for visiting!

Why Adopt an Older Dog?

2009-04-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Our Otto is 10 and so is considered a "senior". He ignores all comments on his graying muzzle and his rests after an all out race with squirrels. Pffewww! He still acts like a pup in many ways...just in shorter spurts, with longer rests!

If he were tragically to find himself without us, his human family, would he have a chance to live out his life?

Why would anyone want to adopt an older dog?

I asked this question recently online and found that lots of folks think older dogs are just dandy!

Sarah tells me that she wouldn't change a thing about adopting her two older dogs. "I would never adopt a puppy and have to go through the whole training thing again. Being an older dog, they seem to bond quicker with you and are more timid."

Christine fosters seniors. She says, "I usually rescue the older labs on their "last day". I do not sleep at night after people, most of whom I do not even know, email me pics of senior dogs that need my help. It's the most rewarding experience!" She adopted one out to a woman who had a deposit on a lab puppy and then changed her mind and took a senior from Christine. She was 40 lbs overweight at the time and Christine helped her take off the extra weight, no doubt buying her extra time to love her new family to death!

Melissa found Punkie on Craigslist 5 years ago...when she was 10 when her "old family" developed allergies and had to move. Hmmmm...to take her or not? "We met her, she had already been trained was used to other dogs and had tons of spunk."

Ease in training seems to be a real plus, and I was surprised to learn that vet bills with the seniors was not an issue. It seems that when they get up in years, they are a healthy bunch by nature. Our late Gussie was a case in point! Until the week before her death at 16 and a half, she was the picture of health!

And they are grateful and just seem to seamlessly fit into their new homes, often with other dogs. Don't seem to need to prove anything about their pack status, etc.

Older dogs go with the flow more, aren't so insistent on a walk when you feel like lounging, are through with teething and other destructive behavior, know at least some commands.

But if they are so great, why are they available? A LOT of them came from loving homes and simply outlived their humans. Or the "new husband" doesn't like dogs, or a new job with travel came up or the new baby is allergic.

And unlike puppies, their personality, how big they'll get, what breed they really are, are known.

And those that weren't loved, can really blossom! An old dog CAN and WILL learn new tricks! Here's a particularly heartwarming story about an older pooch!

So if you have a little more room in your home...consider a senior!

I'm Robin Zebley, animal lover and American Animal Artist. My website is robinzebley.com If you'd like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. If you'd like updates, click on "following this blog" to your right. If you're a vet, groomer or any other dog lover who'd like to print this page for your waiting room or copy for your website, please do! I'd ask that you just leave my contact info on and enjoy! Robin

Great Animal Video

2009-03-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the great video of Christian the Lion? I can't figure out how to link it to you directly, but just search "Christian Lion" on Youtube and you'll love it! Here's the link to YOUTUBE.

Launching my Etsy Store!

2009-03-21T09:06:00.001-07:00

I signed onto etsy a few years ago but never did a thing with it. Beside my pet portraits, I sold all of my "other art" on ebay and did quite well. Just didn't have time.

But I did learn two lessons from selling art on ebay:
1. You need more than a few pieces. So I've been slowly adding items to my etsy store.
2. You need positive feedback. How to get? I'm offering pieces, one at a time, way below my normal selling rate, to "prime the pump"! Hope this works! I'm using my "Muse Series"...pieces that don't have any particular other theme or tie in, just things I felt like drawing or painting and did. I think in many ways, these pieces show who I am more than anything else.

This is the first piece I'm offering for my "prime the pump" sale. Come visit my etsy store HERE and help me get the ball rolling! Robin

I'm American Animal Artist, Robin Zebley. My pet portrait site is robinzebley.com, if you'd like updates to this blog, click "follow my blog" to your right. If you'd like to read the most current blog entry, click on the banner at the top. Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear your comments! Robin

Printmaking Class at the Plastic Club

2009-03-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today I had the honor and pleasure of a private printmaking lesson by two accomplished Philadelphia area artists at the historic Plastic Club!

The Club, which was started in 1897 as a way for women artists to gather, fellowship and show their art, recently obtained a beautiful little printing press and began offering drop-in workshops recently. I happened to be the only person to show up today! Since today the city was full of drunken "Erin Express" partiers, it's entirely plauible that most Philadelphia artists were likewise otherwise occupied!

Anyway, printmaker and educator Louise La Font very patiently showed me examples of every kind of printmaking, and patiently explained the various processes to me. Together we printed a beautiful chine-colle from a vintage plate of Louise's self portrait as a very young woman. And yes, I did get my hands dirty!

Did I mention that the Plastic Club no longer restricts membership to women artists? Back in the day, the male artists gathered at the Philadelphia Sketch Club. Now both art clubs, a few doors from one another on a cute little alley (Camac Street) with cobblestones, jury in members of both sexes.

Shortly after we printed, we were joined by the talented painter Michael Guinn, who brought along some plates he'd made as a student and we enjoyed going back in time! The only input I had to Michael's printmaking today was rolling up his sleeves, when he realized he needed to and his hands were already well inked up!

I've never seen a press in person before, so just watching the process was fascinating. I especially loved the drypoint prints and am going to work on that. I would like to avoid the chemicals of some of the other processes, so am pleased that I liked the LOOK of drypoint in addition to the fact that it is less harmful to breathe. I think the drypoint will be a great addition to the smaller life sized pieces I have in mind for my Urban Wildlife series.

I'm looking forward going back to the Plastic Club (named for the movement of in progress paintings) and hope to become more involved.

I'm Robin Zebley. To read more of my blog, just click on the banner at the top. To keep updated on my art...and animals! click on "follow my blog" to the right of this post. To visit my website which is primarily of pet portraiture, click here or go to robinzebley.com. Any questions or comments? Email me at robinzebley@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting my blog! Stop by again soon. Robin

Woodcut Pet Portraits!

2009-03-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

I had a fun show on Sunday and the BEST part was the request of several customers that I offer commissioned woodcut prints of their pets! "If I give you a picture of my dog, can you do a woodcut print of him for me?"

Why not? It just never occurred to me. But what a cool, unique pet portrait that will be! And so much fun. I just updated my website with a page dedicate just to woodcut commissioned portraits. Here's the kind of thing I have in mind for a simple "headshot" portrait. Let me know if you're interested! robinzebley@gmail.com

My portrait website: http://robinzebley.com. To read this whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. To get updates, click on "follow my blog" to your right. Thanks for visiting! Robin Zebley

Animal Woodcut Prints for Sale at Penn State Brandywine!

2009-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

Preview! What I'm showing at Penn State Brandywine show on Sunday, March 8 from 10 - 4. Route 352 just above Route 1 in Media, PA. Besides portrait samples, I'll have my woodcut prints and doing demos. Here's my small series of original handpulled woodcut animal prints. If you can't make it...you can purchase directly from me online and I'll take care of the shipping. Prices are between $20 to $45 for the life sized feral cat which is about 10" x 19". All prices and full descriptons on my site: http://robinzebley.com

If you'd like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top of the page. And if you'd like to know when I update it, just click on "Follow this blog" on your right. Thanks for visiting! Robin

Upcoming Show - Penn State Brandywine

2009-02-28T06:25:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendar! I'll be doing woodcut printing demonstrations next Sunday, March 8, 2009 at the Penn State Brandywine Art Show on Route 352. Also will have animal prints for sale, other animal art for sale, and samples of my pet portrait and human portrait work.

My website is http://robinzebley.com; if you'd like to see my whole blog, click on the top banner; if you'd like to follow my progress in my art journey, click "Followers" to your right. Thanks for visiting my blog! Robin Zebley

Back to Fleisher!

2009-02-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow night I start my next series of woodcut relief printing workshops at Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia with teacher, Jeff Dentz. This is the third time I'm taking this class.

First time, I learned the basics.

Second time, I learned to do a reduction cut.

This time, I'm planning on learning to do multi-plates combined with reduction cuts. My squirrel woodcut will be this and I know Jeff will be a real help with crits and with his excellent suggestions to make me think of possibilities!

Most of all, I miss the comaraderie of fellow printmakers, and I have been told that several of the talented printmakers from last workshops are also coming back for more fun! It also pushes me to work, and I need those deadlines to get more pieces ready. I know I can't really offer prints for sale until I have more than a few...and I'm hoping I'll have a really nice series of urban wildlife after the finish of this class!

My pet portrait website is at robinzebley.com, if you'd like to read more of my blog, just click on the banner at the top. If you'd like updates on this blog, just click on Follow This Blog to your right. Thanks for stoppig by! Robin Zebley

Capturing Personality - Golden Retriever Portrait

2009-02-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

I was chatting with a prospective client today and one of the things I mentioned was that I NEED to know something about their dog when I am drawing or painting him/her. That's because while photos can capture color, fur patterns, etc., personality usually doesn't come through.

I've done a LOT of goldens, so many, that I only have a few samples on my site, otherwise it would be almost all goldens!

Some are ladylike and polite. Friendly and goofy. Friendly and curious. Shy and quiet. Mischievous. Relaxed. Observant and reactive.

This guy is more the confident, leader of the pack kind of guy. And he is lucky enough to have other dogs in the house with him!

When I know their personality, somehow, it translates onto the paper or canvas. I will study their faces and look for those clues. I honestly feel like I know them when I'm finished drawing or painting them!

I've met some of my subjects, and it's funny, but they are always affectionate to me, it's like they know that I know all about them! Crazy huh? But not if you love dogs, they have an uncanny sense of humans. It's funny to me to see distinctive little whorls of hair that I captured on paper or canvas in real life, along with those eyes, each one is unique and SO expressive!

I love doing commissions, but I hate to see them go to their new homes. I feel like I'm losing a friend who has been looking at me and communicating with me while I draw or paint them!

My pet portrait website is: http://robinzebley.com and if you've found this particular post and want to see my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top of the page. Interested in my next post? Just click "followers" at the right. Thanks for sharing a few minutes of your day with me. I'd love to hear your comments about dogs and how they communicate..

Happy Tears - Behind the Scenes on Location - Otto the Star!

2009-02-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Tears, starring Demi Moore and Parker Posey, was filmed on location in and around Philadelphia...most of it right outside my home studio in my 1920s bungalow! It was just screened at the Berlin Film Festival, but late last spring, Happy Tears meant fun and chaos on our street, with bona fide movie stars strolling through the yard, snacking in my driveway and um....using the portapotty at the back of our property. Our neighbor's Victorian was the "house" in the movie.

Besides Demi and the very personable Parker (whose dog performed tricks for us neighbors) there was a mob of crew...you just don't realize how many people it takes to film a movie. Since I'm a pet portrait artist, I was really tempted to put up a sign, since besides the cast and crew, there was a sudden and steady stream of folks who just happened to stroll down their street with their dogs!

Through it all, Otto was the Star on set. He absolutely loved all the people, and HAD to be outside when they were filming. He learned to be silent when "Rolling" was called, but had a ball playing with the visitors. Don't tell director, Roy Lichtenstein, but I'm hoping we can hear Otto barking in the distance...I got him to bark while we were inside during filming one day. And he and I MIGHT have made the cut in the background during the rainy garage sale scene, while we were sitting on the porch.

I have lots more behind the scenes stories to tell, but in the meantime, come on by my pet portrait website: http://robinzebley.com . And if you'd like to see my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. To be notified of new postings, click "Follow this Blog" to your right.

Open Studio Night at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

2009-02-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Last night was a special Friday night, we again attended the open studio tour at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It's so much fun to see what's new and the amazing creativity of young artists! Like every year, I never get to see it all, I end up chatting too much and miss whole floors of studios.

At the Academy (the oldest continuously running art school in the United States), they train in a rigourous, very traditional way...drawing from casts, then live models from a fabulous faculty. The final two years, the students get their own private studios and use their training to go in their own unique, expressive direction, culminating in a really good show in May. The open studio is just a taste of what they're working on and is more informal than the show in May.

So I got inspired all over again! It's always so invigorating to be among the body of artists, touching base with folks you know, meeting those who are joining us to create something that never existed before...a new piece of art.

My pet portrait website is http://robinzebley.com - come by! my email is robinzebley@gmail.com - feel free to write!

Art Blog Award!

2009-02-08T06:58:00.000-08:00

I'm so honored to receive this art blog award from Jenna, who blogs here! It's great and SO encouraging to know other artists read and enjoy your blog, isn't it??

There's 2 things that go along with this award...one is to name 7 things you love, and the other is to pass this award along to other artists. I'm going to do the easy one first, 7 things I love. I might not get to the passing along part for a few days...

Of course, besides the PEOPLE I love...here are a few things that make me feel really great..

1. Walking in the garden, poking aside leaves and looking for signs of God's creation coming alive again! Spring ALMOST makes winter worthwhile!
2. The magic of printmaking! I love pulling that print, it's really such a fun experience!
3. The internet. I enjoy making friends, reconnecting with old friends, learning something new, getting inspired.
4. Artists. I love the notion of creating something that wasn't here in this world before.
5. Laughter. Looking and laughing at the comical part of life doesn't mean you don't recognize the darker side. It just helps me cope with it.
6. Road trips. Longer the better. With lots of stops on the way.
7. Ice cream, Hershey bars, french fries, wings, ribs, crisp cookies, fried chicken. Etc. I'm hoping and waiting for nutritionists to tell us that all of the above are GOOD for you and will make me skinny, energetic and healthy.
8. Like I said, I love laughter. Go ahead and laugh at #7!

Woodcut relief print cat PROOF- another feral kitty

2009-02-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

Back to woodcut printing! I actually cut most of this in my fabulous woodcut printing class I took last fall at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. Our excellent teacher, Jeff Dentz, was so good at listening to what I saw in my mind's eye and helping me develop a plan to accomplish it on wood.

This is the proof. Which means, sort of a test run. I see more areas I want to develop, so there's more cutting ahead today.

While I like the woodgrain to show, I don't like the darkest stripe of woodgrain that goes right through the center of this guy's eye, making it look like he has no iris.

The dark stripe is where the wood is harder, and therefore, the ink doesn't sink in as much. To compensate, I'm going to go back in and cut deeper. Of course, the eyes are scary to cut, one mistake and the piece is trash.

This piece is 19 x 10, my largest piece yet and virtually lifesize. I really like working larger.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you what I'm up to. I'm also working on another children's portrait in colored pencil. And the big news is I took apart the vacuum cleaner and found the giant clog of shredded paper that Otto so kindly decorated the rug with!

Comments most welcome...especially before I start cutting again!

I'm American Artist, Robin Zebley. My pet portrait website is http://robinzebley.com ...stop on by!

Okay, it's a 2 legged animal!

2009-02-01T07:59:00.001-08:00

And it wasn't that long ago he was on "all fours"! :D

I'm practicing human portraiture. I get a lot of requests for them, but was always so busy with the animals, I didn't put in time practicing the human animals! But, as you can imagine, the economy has given me the ummm....time/opportunity...to practice more!

I can see some errors, but I'm pretty pleased with it, too. It's colored pencil on colorfix sanded paper. I like the paper, you can put light colors right over darks and vice versa.

Not much of a background, but it was a practice piece. My model is from the WetCanvas! site's reference library and is copyright free for me to use.

What do you think?

My pet portrait website: http://robinzebley.com - come take a look!

Feral Cats - Colored Pencil Painting

2009-01-27T16:21:00.001-08:00

My wonderful stepmom, Barb, is one of the many, many kindhearted folks out there who care for feral cats. I didn't really believe they were really feral, or wild and untamed, until I tried myself to get mama and baby kitties to come to me. I pride myself with animals, I know how to to talk them!

Not these guys. Even though they came by at night to eat the food Barb leaves for them, and even though they are within site of Barb and my dad often, they just are plain wild. Presumably they decended from once tame cats, they look like your average kitty, they are even clean as a whistle! But they are wild and seem to want to stay that way.

But there's a dilemma. There's a LOT of them. They don't have access to vets or immunizations, etc., yet they stay healthy enough to breed and grow up and breed, etc.

I think it's really exciting that there are rescues devoted exclusively to temporarily catching, spaying and vaccinating the wild bunch.

Anyway, feral cats are the inspiration for this piece. I actually did the whole thing on the R2 Septa train back and forth to work! I used my portable art studio that my son gave me for Christmas, with a new for me paper, Fabriano, and prismacolor colored pencils.

I'm going to do an art show this spring so this guy will be going with me then, unless someone buys it beforehand.

If you belong to a feral cat rescue, I'd love for you to post your link, just post it in the comments so we can all visit!

My pet portrait website is http://robinzebley.com, and if you'd like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner above. If you'd like to follow my blog...well, click on "follow this blog" to your right. Thanks for coming by! Robin

Westie on a Harley...putting it all together!

2009-01-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite commissions because I actually combined 3 different images from 3 very different photographers to achieve this portrait!

First the Westie...and a story that his humans were Harley owners...could I somehow combine their two loves?

Hmmmmmm....I've been on a motorcycle ONCE in my whole life, on my honeymoon on the beach in Daytona...a LONG time ago! Soooo off to google Harley Davidson forum. Sure enough, there was one, and I joined just to ask...anyone have a photo I could use to put a dog onto for a portrait? I got a lot of nice responses and chose this particular one. In the stack of photos was a pooch wearing his leather. Okay, add that! Too cute!

So I had my dog, I had an outfit for him, I had my "setting" but what to put behind it. My husband came up with the idea of a winding road...maybe on a hilltop?

I searched through lots and lots and lots of photos online until I found the perfect one! Here's one I found in the wetcanvas copyright free reference library, it was soooo perfect, I didn't change a thing!

What I learned from this particular commission was to THINK...a lot. How could I put it together...what resources did I have...who could help me? My experience has been that photographers have been very generous with allowing me to use their images as a reference.

Again, I think the background...and the supporting "setting" of the motorcycle...makes this portrait. The motorcycle took a lot more time than the dog!

I believe that my customer would have been happy with the dog and a Harley collar. And I would have made the same exact amount of money...more per hour! But I think it's important to approach every single commission as though it's the most important one I'll ever do...to give it my all in every aspect. To me, that is important to keep from burning out.

I read about a famous child's portraitist grousing at a workshop that she was "stuck" doing portraits of rich kids. I hope I never get there. And the way to keep from seeing just another dog or just another kid with blue eyes, imo, is to try and stretch artistically and intellectually EVERY time I work.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions, questions and comments! If you haven't seen my pet portrait website yet, it's http://robinzebley.com . And if you'd like to read this whole blog, click on the banner at the top and don't forget to look at the older posts at the bottom! Want to keep up to date on my blog? Just go to the "follow this blog" section to your right and sign up. We'll see you around!

Next time, something really special...a cat, a train, a fence...you'll see!

Otto on Santa Patrol

2009-01-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm behind...but I thought I'd share a photo of Otto on Christmas morning...with his "Santa Patrol Chimney Inspector" hat on and his brand new bone from Puppyclaus.

I made him wear that hat for a few days when we went for strolls around the neighborhood and it was no doubt embarrassing for him, but he got so many smiles and waves from folks driving by and I think it always helps to do some pitbull public relations!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope Otto made you smile, too! My pet portrait website: http://robinzebley.com Stop by!!

Black Dog, White Dog, Tabby and Tortishell Cats

2009-01-06T16:28:00.001-08:00

Here's the final version of my 5 pet portrait! Sorry for the poor photo quality, I so admire photographers!!

Everything just got detailed up, I use progressively sharper pencils and add the details. I save my sharpest pencil..and details for the faces and let the rest be a little softer to draw attention to the faces. With a portrait like this, a viewer's eyes travel from face to face and then hopefully stay awhile to take in more!

The white dog is really white here. Some "white" dogs are very beigey, like polar bears. We think "white", but they aren't. This guy is and I showed him that way. If you could see it in person, there's blue undertones and shadows.

The black and white dog, interestingly, also has blue undertones, but of course, black couldn't be further away from white! I purposely didn't highlight a lot of fur, although I could have given them more shine. I felt I had to simplify the body fur, there's enough going on here!

Now for tabbies, it's important to get the colors just right. The stripes also need to be just right for likeness! I do a lot of light layers...just glazing the surface of the paper with a dull pencil point...of the light shade of fur before adding any of the identifying darker stripes.

Tortoishell or "calico" kitties also start with the lighter color....the oranges all over (unless there was white, I'd start with that instead). Then, I can "paint" in the large areas of darks and finish them. Finally, with a very sharp dark pencil, I pick out the areas where the orange and the darks kind of mix. Same with a brindle dog.

Finishing up with everyone, I use very sharp points to overlap fur colors, fur over background, and whiskers. I don't like real noticable whiskers, I want them, but I don't want them to detract from the eyes. And that's it!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I did this portrait. I loved the animals, but the "mom" is even cooler. I know lots of artists dislike taking commissions, I love them! I get to meet so many great people!!

If you have a comment or a question, just post it and I'll be sure to answer it. If you'd like to read this whole blog, just click on the banner at the top. If you'd like to visit my pet portrait website, it's my name, Robin Zebley, dot com! http://robinzebley.com . thanks for stopping by!!