Custom House Portrait, with dogs!

House Portrait Painting, Philadelphia Area Artist Robin Zebley

Can you see the dogs waiting at the door in this house portrait I just did?  They are almost a cartoon since the portrait itself is only 8 x 10 (and I cut part of it off to show you the dogs better!).  Even though I live between Philadelphia and Wilmington, this house is in Alabama.  I could never do this if it weren't for the internet and the USPS!

I inked this to mimic my woodblock printing style a bit, then hand colored it with watercolors.

I think houses have personality, too, and I love architecture.  But I hadn't offered house portraits because all of the samples I saw were so...cold, clinical, precise, engineering-ish.  So I needed to think about doing things in my own style.  I am not now and never will be a precise painter!

So I did a sample and put it up on Etsy, then I got one request, that led to more, I still have only done a handful, but have several in my queue!  And guess what, almost all of them want a pet in the window.

Now I need to figure out how to really market these.  I do them in oils, too, but I kind of like this style best.  I think I'm really going to pump up the black "woodcut" effect on the next one. 

Any ideas of marketing them, I would really appreciate!   I've had people tell me to hit up realtors, and my most recent is a wedding present.  So I have to think about that, but meanwhile, I'm enjoying mixing it up, doing the pets one day, a house the next!  Hope you enjoy!  Robin