Sheltie Portrait - Catching up with my art

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

More on Vermont and Adrirondacks Vacation

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

Guerilla Marketing! Artists and crafters take over the media!

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!

Dog People ... why I love doing animal portraits

I almost never meet my subjects. My work is done from photographs that are sent to me by their moms and dads...dog people! This portrait came from a wonderful dog mom named Maureen.

I met Maureen by chance...I got a phone call out of the blue from a pr guy who worked for a chain of doggy daycares, traveling all over the country promoting them. They were opening a new one and were holding an open house and he thought he'd invite some vendors. He called a local groomer asking for a dog photographer. She instead talked him into calling me. I have no idea who she is, or how she found out about me, but yay!

It wouldn't cost me anything...and I was kinda hesitant, I'd never done anything like that before, all my work comes from the internet or from people who visit my pet portrait site robinzebley.com. But then I asked if my friend, Sharon, who makes handmade soaps, including dog soaps, could come. Sharon is still in the infancy of her soap business...I'll tell you when she gets a website going! (In the meantime, if you're interested in her doggy soap, let me know and I'll put the two of you together!)

Anyway, we had a wonderful day, with lots of dogs, but most fun, lots of dog people. You know animal people are so special. Their hearts are so big....

And Maureen was one of them. She actually was a worker at the daycare...lucky dogs! And these two precious ones are her babies.

When I'm working on a portrait, I "talk" a lot back and forth. I always have questions...exactly what shade is that eye color? And get to feel like my customers are friends, which we are for a short time while we work on the project together! And I miss them when we're done! One of these days I'm goign to make the time to reconnect with all of my wonderful customers...who I think of every time I see my photo of the portrait I created for them! Want to read more of my blog? Here's the link!

Tips for Taking Photos of Your Pet for a Portrait

Beautiful day in Philadelphia! And John and I are celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. I'm a lucky girl. I was thinking about a post of Q and A for portraits, being that I've answered a lot of questions from so many wonderful animal lovers, who have commissioned me. But the number 1 "Q" is "How do I get a decent photo of my dog?" (Cats seem to make better models!)

Here's a few of my hints:

1. Take a LOT of photos. Many dogs change their spots when the camera comes out. Otto gets VERY VERY serious. Some look sad, or frightened or disturbed. So you probably won't get to take a shot or 2 and have it turn out. Others are so curious, they just come up and sniff the camera, especially if you are doing #2 on my list.

2. Get down on or near their face level. It's easier if they're on a couch or a bed.

3. Don't use flash. Get outside in the early morning for a nice soft light that will cast interesting shadows on their features and show their colors true. Or snap them near a window.

4. Don't worry about getting everything you want in one shot. If you like a pose, but his eyes are shut, that's okay. I take what I need from a variety of photos. Face from this one, pose from this one, tail from this one, coloring from this one.

5. Don't worry about what's in the background, I promise I won't include the trashcan or hubby's sneakers!

6. Some ideas: Put them in the car. They will be distracted hanging out the window looking at everything outdoors, and have a natural, interested look. This is a great spot to take a bunch of facial shots. Get a buddy to talk and play with them while you shoot the photos. Put them in a chair. On a bench. In the back of the truck. Take a shot of them asleep. Or just as they are waking up.

7. Again, take a LOT of shots. It's my job to put them all together!

Do you have some great tips for photographing dogs? Share them with us! If you haven't stopped by my portrait website, please do. It's http://robinzebley.com