On Painting Big, what am I afraid of?

Why am I not painting big?  I just received an order for a dog portrait painting so large that I had to figure out the shipping before I could even give a quote.  Measured in FEET, not inches!  Which leads to the question of why am I not already painting large?  Is it fear?



Boxer Dog Portrait ACEO, 2.5" x 3.5"

THIS is my comfort level...inches, not feet.  When I started out 12 years ago, I was amazed and thrilled whenever I sold anything, and those anythings were ACEOs on Ebay.  I could NOT believe people actually spent their good money on something I did!

Well, hopefully I've gotten a little more confident.  But maybe not enough.  Other artists in my life have been challenging me on this.  Why do I think an 8" x 10" is big?  Why do I continue to offer small, and not large?  Well, I do offer large but have very few samples of large.  And not very large.

It's not like working small is easier.  In fact, it's harder to get good detail, hard on the eyes, hard on the back, scrunched over a table, etc. 

But I think it is a fear, and one I aim to get over in the next few months.  Fear of being too bold.  Fear of appearing too confident?  Fear of paying a little more for art supplies?  (I still tip my hat to the late artist on WetCanvas whose tag line was "Paint Like a Millionaire").

Fear that charging more means I price right out of EVERYONE'S market?

I am not sure.  But I have lots of paint, lots of big brushes and lots of everything else needed to paint large and I'm going to do it.

Watch me.

How's that for hubris?  YIKES!
Thanks for reading!  Robin

Meeting Other Artists

Eclectus Parrot Portrait
 

For artists who are self taught, like me, connecting in real life with other artists can be a challenge.

If you went to art school, especially locally, you have a group you can rely on, socialize with and invite to your openings!

But not us who are largely self-taught.  And our work is pretty solitary, not many of us collaborate.  So that was one of the things I wanted to change for this year.  I want to meet other local artists.

So when I spotted a Meet Up here in the Philadelphia suburbs that was a few miles away from me, I jumped at the chance.  What a great bunch!  The studio it was held in is in the back of a garage, an interesting space, cozy but large enough.  The other artists all had formal art educations except one.  Which was pretty intimidating to me, but the warmth and support of art at any level really put me at ease.  We had to bring a piece for critique, and that was interesting.  As someone whose main focus in art is to recreate and improve on a photo of a beloved pet, painting with other intentions is interesting.

For instance, one artist brought a lovely pastel landscape and someone asked her what story she intended to tell with it before critiquing it. 

Another had a portrait of a chair, and 20 minutes of discussion of the meaning of the chair along with discussions of color, texture, etc. introduced a component to me that I never think about with my own work.

But bottom line, it was really fun to get together with other artists and talk art.  I am stretching my wings so maybe someday I'll graduate to having a story to tell, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying my commissions to make a pet like the eclectus parrot look like THAT pet whose portrait I did in colored pencil a while back.

We're doing a just for fun group project of painting Elvis on black velvet, talking about art field trips and invitations to openings.  One of the participants also leads an en Plein Aire landscape painting meet up that I would like to try.  I haven't ever painted a landscape that didn't have a pet in front of it, but I'd love to give it a try!

How to take photos of your art. Don't ask me!

 

I'm really happy with this painting of a Japanese Chin that I did, but you will never know because my terrible photography skills won't show it as it is!

This has been a thorn in my side that I can't seem to overcome.  Especially in the wintertime when a dash outdoors to try and get a decent shot while the wind does its best to make a painting airborne.

This is the best of the shots I got, and is dark, but glared.  Photoshopping made it a little better, but I am so frustrated that it's not good enough to put on my pet portrait site or my Etsy Shop as a sample.

I did enjoy painting her.  The nose!  The eyes!  And that fluffy, tangled fur.  I painted in lots of color but so flat looking here.  Also, the cushion made of kimono fabric I found online to paint.  It's really a modified cerulean blue, with tones of greens, reds, cool blues and whites in the pattern.

Ah, well.  Lesson learned here is not to mail out commissions til I check and make sure I get a better shot, no matter what it takes!  Anyway, this gorgeous Japanese Chin is oil on canvas, 8 x 10.

Sarge the Boxer Dog on T.V.! Oh, me, too!

Sarge the T.V. Star Dog Getting His Beauty Sleep

Sarge NEEDS his beauty sleep, he's about to be a t.v. star!  For real!  On Tuesday, Sarge and I were interviewed by Philadelphia's Channel 6 producer Gaby, for a segment on their newsmagazine show, FYI, which will air on December 15.

I was naturally nervous, but Gaby was a real pro, as was the camerman, Andy.  They really put me at ease. 

Sarge, however, had no butterflies in his tummy, he knew they came to our home studio to see him, naturally!  Sarge was a total ham.  He really seemed to understand what he was supposed to do.

Actually, along with doing a little demo (hands shaking!) and talking about how I started doing pet portraits and telling some stories about the dogs and cats whose portraits I have done, we did discuss Sarge!  Since most of the pieces I've done in my career are sold and gone, I only had a few pieces to show, one was my painting of Sarge in profile.

The other one was Brutus, my nieces's boxer, who was the very first dog whose portrait I did!  The one and a half hour taping will be edited down to a minute and a half, and I can't wait to see what sticks and what gets snipped.

So now Sarge has what Wally and the Beave would call "a swelled head"!  Not really, later in the week Hoss came for an overnight visit and let him know that in some ways, Hoss is Boss! 

A Snapshot of My Pet Portraits

Pet Portraits by Me, Philadelphia Area Artist, Robin Zebley

Here's a little sampling of my pet portraits, I made a treasury of them on Etsy in my Vintage Shop to show my visitors the other side of my life!  It shows up in my profile.

It's not clickable, so if you'd like to see it "live", click ---> Pet Portraits!

It's funny how I look at these and remember little details about what I was doing and what time of the year, the client who commissioned it, and the animals themselves but never the names!  Except for my own Sarge who is 3rd, second row, I have no idea what these pets are named.  I do remember the little girl on the bottom because she is a niece of mine, isn't she a doll? 

So, gearing up for the busy Christmas Portrait season ahead, and looking back down memory lane at just a few of the precious faces I've been honored to capture in portrait.  Many of them were gifts, and I also remember the beautiful emails I've received from the recipients.  It's how I know for a fact that it's a most treasured gift and one they will love forever!  I am so honored to be a part of that exchange of love!  Robin

Something wonderful is coming with my Pet Portraits! Shhhh

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!!

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