Pet Portrait Painting Demo, from Pictures

Boxer Painting from Pictures by me,
artist Robin Zebley

I'll be doing demos all day of my pet portrait painting at Camp Bow Wow in NE Philadelphia on Saturday, May 30, 2015, from 10 to 4.  Stop on by and say hi!

2850-78 Comly Road

Philadelphia, PA 19154

  

Phone: (215) 613-8223

Fax: (215) 613-8138

http://www.campbowwow.com/us/pa/philadelphiane/

I'll be painting this picture of Hoss, a black boxer, famous in Philadelphia's Passyunk Square neighborhood and a star on Instagram!  

Black Boxer picture to be painted into a portrait
by me, artist Robin Zebley

Painting a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon in Front of a Crowd

Oil Painting Portrait of Quiggley, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.  What I love about painting WPGs is their almost human eyes!

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Oil Painting Portrait by Robin Zebley

And something really fun about painting Quiggley was that I worked on him while selling my vintage at the Golden Nugget Antique Flea in Lambertville, NJ. The "Nugget" is just up the road from Washington's Crossing Park, just across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania.  As I've mentioned previously in this blog, I'm getting busy enough to focus solely on my art, and am giving up the vintage.  But on this day, I combined the two, got a lot done, met lots of cool dog lovers and artists, and even a new commission!

It was a little scary, I was really nervous.  My french easel was so unused, I couldn't find a part (but my resourceful husband found mega big clips to substitute) and once I got started, a crowd began to gather.  I stopped to chat, and paint and give out cards, it was the most fun I've ever had at a flea!  Nobody came to tell me I stunk (is that what I was nervous about????) and I actually got a lot done.

Dog Portrait I Painted at the
Golden Nugget in Lambertville, NJ

The painting ended when it got hot, though, because my medium got thicker and more sluggish...and so did I!  I am going to paint in public more, it was soooooo much fun.  I will try the Golden Nugget again, it's between New York and Philadelphia, and it's really a neat little, quality flea AND art market.  I'm not the only one selling art there!

Robin Paints robin, Fun Painting Birds in Nature

Robin Bird Original Oil Painting by me, artist Robin Zebley

I had so much fun painting this little robin bird.  He's only 6" x 6" square on a gallery wrapped canvas, so I painted the sides, too.
I edited the photo by Rita Morgan (used with her permission, of course!), simplifying the twigs.

What was most fun was that I painted pretty quickly, I know I've SAID I'm going to do "daily painting", and I love the free feeling painting not commissioned work give me.

It's a nice balance to painting my custom pet portraits.

To be fair, this little painting is available both in my etsy shop, RobinZebleyArtist.etsy.com and at Ebay HERE

More to come!

Ebay vs. Etsy for Art, First Steps in Transition

Saluki Custom Portrait by me,
artist Robin Zebley

Today I'm beginning my first steps in my experiment in opening an Ebay store to see if it can pick up the slack that the nosedive in views at my Etsy shop.  More on that in this post about my Etsy views declining.

In order to make an Ebay store a better deal than just listing, I need more listings.

The Ebay rep I spoke with said I could convert my listings to my Ebay store when I was ready.  So my first step is to load my listings.

I have to work around my portrait commissions, but I get drying time since I use a pretty standard medium to paint, I dislike the look of the ones that speed things up.

So, don't have days to work on this project, but I do have hours.  So....off to work!  Have a great one, Robin.

More of my blog HERE.

I'm Philadelphia area painter, Robin Zebley.  I paint custom pet portraits in oils and colored pencil, house portraits in watercolor and ink, and anything else that catches my eye!  I'm currently working on florals, still lifes and landscapes in between my commission work!

I would love if you'd help me by tweeting, pinning, or facebooking my work with a link to my site, robinzebley.com.  It really helps!  Thanks!!  Robin

Thomas Eakins, Dick Blick, and Me!

Blick Art Supplies in Philadelphia, PA

Where do I buy my art supplies in Philadelphia?  At Blicks on 13th and Chestnut.
I usually buy online, but was crazed for the best Chinese Duck House in Philadelphia, Sang Kee, at 238 9th Street (the very tip of Chinatown), AND I wanted to look at some new supports in person that I'm trying out before ordering in quantity.

And here I see Thomas Eakins' studio was on that very spot.  I must have missed that plaque previously, but I hope Eakins' spirit will make for some good painting for me!

Where I buy my art supplies in Philadelphia

Taking a Chance on Art as a Career

Sleeping Cat Portrait in Colored Pencil

Will I or won't I?

Although I have been doing art for 13 years, and left the corporate world, I've been supplementing through the lean times by selling vintage.

Doing my taxes last year, I realized that my art sales have way outpaced the vintage.  Yet I spent so much time on vintage.  What would happen if I dropped that side line?

I'm going to take the plunge without that safety net.

My gamble is that by concentrating my time and effort on my art, I can replace that vintage income. It takes a lot of time to buy, list, wrap and send vintage.  And the storage of it is a nightmare.

I'm going bigger with my paintings, too.

I'm also writing an e-booklet on starting a pet portrait business.  I get so many requests for advice that I see a need.  So keep your eye out for that.  And wish me luck, remember me in your prayers, send white light or whatever to me, pin me, blog me, tweet me!  I need all the help I can get!  Robin

What is an ACEO or ATC and Who Collects These Art Cards

Custom Dog Portrait ACEO by me

 ACEOs and ATCs are collectible art cards the size of a baseball card and are a fun and pretty inexpensive way to acquire a fabulous art collection in miniature.  I've enjoyed drawing realistic portraits of collectors' pet dogs and cats in this size.  The difference between an ACEO and an ATC is, simply put, about money.

ATC stands for Art Trading Cards.  This is how the movement started, artists trading art among one another, not selling to each other.  Then the general public wanted to get in on the fun and ACEOs were born!

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  They are meant to be bought and sold and most of them are completed works of little art before they are offered for sale.

I like to paint and draw these tiny works of art both to trade with artists I admire and to sell to folks who collect mine! I've sold them on and off for years and love to list them on Ebay with bidding wars!

 This guy is a memorial portrait of a beloved dog that had recently crossed the rainbow bridge.  As important as his precious face was to his mom, was the setting because it was a place he loved to hang, the rocks and the water.  And you can see it from his happy face!  If you'd like your own pet's portrait drawn in an ACEO size, just contact me with your photos and I'll invoice you via Paypal.  I charge $25.50 each.  More of my dog portraits are at robinzebley.com and my Etsy pet portraits shop, CustomPortraitArt.Etsy.com

Etsy to Sweatsy by Regretsy author April Winchell, My Review of her article on her opinion of Etsy's Upcoming IPO.

Pug says "What?"

Former publisher of  Regretsy, April Winchell  published her opinion of Etsy's on upcoming IPO in THIS ARTICLE on Motherboard.

April is best known for nasty-fun posts about handmade items for sale at Etsy with her hilarious comments.  A kind of guilty pleasure which ended when she published a book instead.  So she knows Etsy.

April humorously discusses Etsy's transition from a Handmade site (yes, including the badly made handmade), to a site that uses the reputation and cache of "handmade" to basically sell anything to up its profits to ready itself for the stock market investor.

I want to tell you she is totally off base here.  Because I sell both vintage and my own pet and house portrait art at Etsy.  But I can't.

When Etsy introduced the factory concept a year and a half ago, every staffer said items HAD to be at least designed by the owner, disclosed if it used a factory, that full disclosure of all workers if not a factory would be disclosed and very strict monitoring would take place.  And that they were sure no child labor was involved because a lot of them took a trip to China to make sure.  Somehow knowing in advance that the Etsy artisan who got too big to do every task to produce their own work would NOT contract out to a factory anywhere but.  As April notes, Etsy is not requiring those things, or else isn't monitoring in an acceptable level.

Orange & White Cat Oil Painting by me

One of the searches I do from time to time is "bridesmaid dresses".  I remember in the early days being so impressed that there were actually independent little dress designers working out of their home studios or a shopfront they rented, designing, cutting, sewing and SELLING high quality clothing, including bridesmaid dresses.

So for me that is a canary in the room.  How's the canary singing now?  What I see now on the front pages of search are:

"Cheap Bridesmade Dress!"  Who is the owner?  A name, a photo of someone who designed...nothing. Oh, by the way, they say,  "We prefer direct contact to ugly threats, believe me we have them."  No kidding.

Another that is prominently featured in the search results, happily selling away at "Handmade Etsy" has an owner who never once mentions designing or even ever having worked on a dress.  In fact, his claim to fame according to his self-reported bio is that he worked managing factories!  Name redacted:

"The owner  X  joined in dress business since 2004 after i graduated from university. At that time firstly worked in a large Hongkong based garment factory responsible for large USA brand such as: Macy and Nordstrom as well as some other brands from Europe countries,  X was working in the factory as a team leader. after working in the factory for years with his strong team, he set up his own factory with his team together. with the factory development smoothly and steadily. Last year, with the support of his factory, he lead his team to set up the dress studio/shop to provide the dresses to the customers."

They aren't even trying to pretend to be handmade, designed by the owner, or anything remotely associated with what Etsy claims it is!

And another who claims to do all the work herself from designing to cutting to sewing to shipping and somehow is able to accept  7 to 9 orders a day, every day.  Come on.

This just one search, one I'm familiar with so can write about.  Just multiply it out for just about every type of "handmade" there is.  If I can such obvious offenders of the Etsy TOU within a minute, Etsy can, too.  Others have painstakingly not only found shops violating the TOU, but reported them to Etsy, they say, including links to all over the internet where the exact items are selling, to no avail.  Yet Etsy claims when they investigate these shops, they are all "Etsy legal".  

Drawing of my Boxer dog, Sarge

I am afraid April Winchell is spot on.  I'm sad she is.  I am okay with Etsy going public.  I'd like to invest. But I want to invest in a company that is what it says it is and does what it says it would.   And for a totally, totally selfish reason.  I want to keep selling my pet and house portraits there.  And I fear as more and more potential buyers discover, as I did, that Etsy is not what it claims to be, that all of us will lose.  As April says, "Some corporations have the integrity to tell you who they are, even if you don’t like what they have to say."

That's the Etsy I want to invest in.

I'm Robin Zebley, a pet, house and kid portrait artist from just outside Philadelphia.  My site is robinzebley.com, and my etsy shop is CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com

Why is "Try" a Bad Word?

English Bulldog Portrait, "Otis", my first paid commission

Why do all the motivational types consider the word "try" to be a bad word?  In this post from Inc. Geoffrey James even claims it GUARANTEES failure.

That you are doomed because you leave a door open that your goal won't be reached.  That you are "fooling" yourself, giving yourself permission to fail, blah, blah, blah.

Someone's been watching too much Yoda.

To me, especially in the world of selling, whether it's art, like I do, or opening a restaurant or any other type of entrepreneurial pursuit, there's something unrealistic about declaring you WILL.  So many factors outside of our own control can impact whether we DO or whether we TRY and DON'T DO.  (Thanks, Yoda).  And so many factors that we CAN control are unknown to us UNTIL we try.  Book learning just doesn't teach the lessons that the act of trying does!

Claiming that failure is guaranteed because you leave a door open, a bridge unburned, is being pretty flip and downright snotty.

In my case, I had to try twice to succeed as a portrait artist.  I failed at my first go round.  I simply did not have enough confidence, skill, or experience in either creating the art OR in marketing it.

I needed to fall back, regroup, access my strengths and weaknesses,learn more, then get more money together in a more reliable way (working for lawyers), before I tried again.

TRYING was what taught me what I needed to learn before I tried again.  If I had stubbornly refused to retreat, I wouldn't have had the ammo to go at it again after learning what I needed to learn.  I would have steadfastly refused to step out, step back and use the distance and the clarity of not worrying sales for a while to do what needed to be done.  And if I had failed again, that would have been okay, too.  I would have learned what else was missing from my toolbox.

TRYING is taking a chance, going out on a limb, testing our mettle.  There's a lot of value in that.  I can read everything I can on how to paint a portrait.  If I didn't TRY to paint one myself, I could never succeed.  Saying "I will succeed at painting this portrait" will not make it happen, trying over and over, will.

It's reality. I think Mr. James and his likeminded colleagues are the ones dooming others to failure, if anyone takes them seriously, with making "TRY" a bad word.  What's your dream?  Give it a whirl, a try.  Do your best and see where you land.  If you have to back out, there's nothing to be ashamed of.  TRYING is an action, and even if it doesn't work out this time, it will still have moved your dream forward!

I'm Philadelphia area pet and house portrait painter, Robin Zebley.  After trying and failing, and trying again, I have painted more than 500 portrait commissions all over the U.S, thanks to the internet.  This is my blog about the art life, animals and other thoughts!  My house and pet portraits are at robinzebley.com, stop by!  Robin.   See below!

EMaze Review, Stroll through my Virtual Art Gallery!

I just created a video of a virtual tour of my custom portrait and paintings in a gallery setting using the presentation platform, Emaze.com.  I saw it in my Twitter feed and decided to give it a whirl. It was free, and for someone like me who is not technically minded, fairly easy. Here's one wall of the gallery.

Custom House Portraits on Gallery Wall in EMaze

What attracted me to this was that it automatically "walked you through" the gallery, which I would have no way of knowing how to do myself.

It was easy to change the pictures from their stock photos to my photos in some of the pages of the template I chose. Others I could not figure out how to do, so I had to paste my photo over theirs.  That's what you see in the top left.

I also had some trouble fitting the display above the scroll bar on the bottom because that wasn't visible when loading.  Some I made too high. All of which, I am sure is fixable on my end if I just spent a bit more time.

My MAIN problem though, was getting it to play automatically, walking you through the gallery.  I'm still not sure it works when you go there directly, if you share, you can click a button to activate the automatic looping.  But even that takes a few seconds, and I'm not sure most people would wait around for it.  Here is is: http://goo.gl/3gQ5IU, did it work for you?  Did you feel like you were walking through a gallery or was it just a slide show?

Custom Paintings from Photos on Gallery Wall in EMaze

You can pick colors and things. I went with what they had because it's pretty representative of a gallery.

EMAZE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

I first tried the "live chat" box but nobody answered and I had to get to work.  I tried the email for support next and within a few hours had my questions answered, along with links to presentations (of course!) on how to do what I wanted done.  Liam is the customer support person.  I tweeted about my issue also and was directed to Liam.  

I have the free version which includes the watermark, but that doesn't bother me.  I don't know if I would need to upgrade, but whenever I test drive a site, I put a lot of stock in how they treat their freebie customers, it's a window into how important supporting existing customers is to the company and the likelihood I'll be happy paying for it if I need to upgrade.

BOTTOM LINE ON EMAZE PRESENTATIONS

I would love this if the automatic stroll through the gallery started fast enough that people wouldn't feel they were supposed to hit the arrow on the right that just takes them to the next slide without the panning through the rooms.  I think it's a nice addition to an artist's toolbox for self promotion.  I plan to clean up my presentation and install it on my website, http://robinzebley.com. as a gadget and am thinking of other ways to use it.  I posted it on facebook, we'll see the reaction I get there, also tried twitter.

I hope they can speed up the starting of the automatic playback, that would make this site a perfect 10!  What do you think?

Etsy's New Categories: My Review of Etsy's New Art Category

Custom Dog Portrait Painting

          ..  In addition to selling my custom pet portrait paintings here and from my site, I sell a lot of portraits (also house portraits) on Etsy.  This week they made some changes to the categories.  This is my early review.  Overall, I'm pleased etsy is tackling the job of fixing the categories which were woeful before.  They say they will be using them as a part of the upcoming changes to Search, which is double good, because that has been in pretty bad shape for a while.  But.....

BASICS OF THE TAXONOMY

The structuring of the categories has moved from the handmade/vintage/supplies to sorting by what it IS, not how or when it was made.

So instead of Categorizing by, for instance, Vintage/Housewares/Serving/Bowl, and seeing ONLY vintage bowls, the category basically is by Bowls, and in that result is every kind of bowl up for sale is co-mingled.  Vintage bowls, crocheted bowls, wooden bowls, ceramic bowls.

The buyer can then narrow the search.  Etsy says that will give more visibility (someone might not even consider a hand turned wooden bowl, for instance, when they thought they wanted a vintage one).  I have no argument with that.

IF the categories were ready for prime time.  Which they are not.  SOME categories are minutely detailed, even ones with few items for sale get their own subcategories.  And others, nuttin' honey.  Here they all are: https://www.etsy.com/help/categories/seller

THE NEW ART CATEGORY ON ETSY

In particular, I take issue with the Art and Collectibles category.  Firstly, they are two large categories that need to be broken up.  Etsy says can be collected, which is true...but for some things, Collectible is the useful category.  In particular, I'm thinking of vintage ephemera. Someone looking to purchase a birthday card to use now is not going to be the least bit interested in an Victorian birthday card.  And the collector of vintage greeting cards is going to be mighty off put that they can't find them.  Because they are in a category of Craft Supplies/Scrapbooking/Paper Ephemera, which is where they are currently placed by Etsy!

And the art category doesn't follow the taxonomy of every other category.  Instead of the main categories being WHAT IT IS, it's by media except for one thing: ATCs.  Which is a TYPE of a collector's card that, it just happens, ARE NOT FOR SALE.  The correct term, as has been shared with Etsy is ACEO, but still, that's not a medium, it's a size.  The media list is incomplete as well.

So what does this mean?  It means that a buyer going by category has to be so enamored by the way the pigment was applied to support that it trumps every other preference in buying art.

Someone has to prefer to buy an acrylic BECAUSE it's an acrylic, for this to make sense.  And that's not how art buyers buy.  Few buyers think "I'd like to buy an acrylic painting for that little nook in the kitchen.  No oil paintings for me!  I don't really care WHAT it is of, whether it's an abstract, a custom pet portrait, a landscape, as long as it's an acrylic"

And we who sell directly to art buyers know that's not how they think. (Of course, there's the search by sofa color....)!  The first category should be an alphabetical list of genre/subjects.

THE PROBLEMS WITH MISTAGGING, ORIGINALS VS. COPIES

Then there is the mistagging issue within the art category. Reproduction "prints" (using the common usage, I know the difference between repros and original, handpulled prints) are in the same category as originals.  There is no way to drill down to find only originals or only prints within the category system.  So any repro print that uses the word "original" in its title ("Print of Original Watercolor Painting of Gnomes") will show up in the Art & Collectibles/Paintings/Watercolor category unless they move it manually to "prints".  If they even know about the change in taxonomy.

THE SOLUTION

Two things: Here is how I think the categories should work.  For instance:

ART
  Landscapes
    Originals/Reproduction Prints.  Choose originals --> Watercolors (or other media if they are so desired).  Choose Reproduction Prints, you're as far as you can go!

Handpulled Prints should be a subcategory under orginals.

And even more importantly, Etsy needs to enforce proper placement for the sake of buyers using either Categories or Search, since Categories will impact Search.  It is unfair to them and to the honest sellers to have items purposely misplaced.

Like reproductions showing up in searches for originals.  Etsy's engineers can surely filter out anything placed or tagged "original" from certain Originals category merely by seeing if it includes the word "print".

THE BOTTOM LINE

Etsy says the categories are going to be relied upon more in the Search algorithm.  That's why this really matters, since few buyers search via categories.

I think the categories are a great START to improving search so that it's not just titles n tags.  But EVERY item on Etsy deserves to be properly and completely categorized, right now.  All hands in DUMBO ought to be on deck for this very important project to be completed.

And the art and the collectibles categories need to be discarded and made to conform with the rest of the taxonomy on Etsy.  By WHAT IT IS, then down the road, by how it was made.  Agree?  Please send your opinions here:  https://www.etsy.com/taxonomy-feedback
---------
By the way...Etsy has put dollhouse and miniatures into their Toys section, which apparently is illegal for sellers to describe any non toy thusly.  I believe etsy's going to changed that toute de suite, so didn't address that here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm a pet and house portrait artist, actually I paint custom anything.  My portraits are private homes literally all over the world.  I sell from my site and from my Etsy shop.  I also collect and sell old stuff, here's my Vintage Shop on Etsy and my shop for antique original prints.  I welcome your comments, good bad or whatever, if it's on topic, it will be included here.

Cat Portrait in Colored Pencil
by me, artist Robin Zebley

   
       

Boxer dog oil painting by me
artist Robin Zebley

House Portrait, Watercolor and Ink

Coupon Code for Custom Kid, Pet or House Portrait! Unique Wedding Gift!

Colored Pencil Portrait by me, Artist Robin Zebley

It's that time of year, the mid-winter doldrums!  If you've been thinking about purchasing a portrait of your child, home or pet, I have a coupon code for you.  Use the code "WINTER" in my Etsy shop, CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com for 10% off any size, any subject. Use as often as you wish til the end of February, 2015.  Or order directly here or from my portrait website for an addition 5% off (total 15%).  Contact me HERE

This little guy's portrait was a Christmas gift from mom to dad.

Since it's positively arctic here now, those fall leaves actually look warm and cozy to me!

Custom House Portrait by me, Artist Robin Zebley

But here you go, a winter scene!  You have to admit, snow is gorgeous!  I added the little dog portrait in the front yard.  You can't really see it but there are tracks in the snow leading from the house, you know he'll be back there quick!

More of my portraits can be seen at my etsy shop: CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com.
I love to talk art, so please feel free to contact me! Robin

Great Big House Portrait! Or Wedding Venue Painting.

Recently finished this great big house portrait and immediately got inquiries on Etsy about whether I would be willing to paint wedding venues?  One was an upscale hotel, one the home of a relative, the other an ancient church.  So I added that in my listings.

Custom House Portrait, or Wedding Venue, Church by me, Artist Robin Zebley

It's funny how often things I never think of are brought to my attention by potential customers!  This was huge and it was hard to get a good photo, you know photo taking of my art is my bugaboo.  My only solace is that when my customers get their art, they are pleasantly surprised that it's nicer than they even hoped!

This would make such a neat anniversary or wedding gift!

Custom Pet Portrait Painting in a Hurry, Little White Dog Oil PaintingCustom Pet, or How to Build a Crate for Art

Custom Pet Portrait Oil Painting, Little White Dog, 16" x 20" on Canvas

"Can you paint a portrait of our dog and have it here in Texas in time for Christmas?"

That's the question I got a few weeks before Christmas.

"Please!!! We'll pay extra for shipping!"

Well, hmmmm.  My problem of course was time.  The cute doggy was a perfect subject!  My husband assured me that he would build a crate that would work with a still-wet painting.

So, I poured a cup of coffee, and started right in.  I had a ton of other commissions, so this was an overtime project, stay up late.  Well, I finished him up and then it was John's turn.

Here's what he did.  He nailed together a crate just a little larger with 1" x 4"s.  He added a strut to the back of the canvas, and drilled a hole in the middle slat of the crate.  He threaded wire around the strut and through the hole, tightened it up so that the painting would not shift a bit.  And then tacked over that masonite.  So the painting nestled with air all around, but unable to move, and no chance anything lighter than a garbage truck crashing on it would dent it.

Cardboard box cut from a Home Depot packing box, and lots of tape, and off the little fellow went.

He WAS wet when he arrived and his new owners and I had discussed what they had to do on their end!

Ten Tips for Artists on How to Work with Clients on their Commissions

Wire-haired Pointing Griffon Oil Painting Portrait

I know, I know.  I've heard it so often from my artist friends that commissions are a minefield, that they would never do them because it inhibits their vision, they are afraid it will be rejected, etc.

But I love them!  I love working with the clients to mesh THEIR vision with MINE.  I LOVE meeting new people through their pets and homes.

Here's my tips for making working with clients on portrait commissions an easier process:

1.  Ask specific questions.  WHY do they like the photo they are sending you.  ARE the colors correct for their pet or house?  Is there anything they want emphasized?  Are they interested in a complex background or more simple? Once you know what they have in mind, it's our job to guide them.  Bringing us to...

2.  Be confident in your suggestions.  Few who commission pet portraits or house portraits have the knowledge and experience YOU do.  Explain why you are advising what to do and not to do. Keep it positive, why x is better than y.  Don't let impatience show!  If what they want won't work, try again to explain it. (I have this issue with folks who want a small portrait but for a group yet expect the detail they see in my portfolio of large portraits).

3.  Don't be afraid to turn down a commission if it will not work.  

4.  Insist on good photos.  Ask for more for details, if you need it.

5.  Stay true to your style.  Your portfolio shows it.  If they want something that's nothing like how you paint, suggest they go elsewhere.  You might be able to copy a style, but it will kill your enthusiasm, and will show.

6.  ENJOY your customers, you met someone new!  Keep in good touch.  I let my customers know where I am in the process.

7, Take good care of your clients.  I thank them for the commission in every communication.

8. Get paid upfront.  I went from no deposit to half deposit to payment in advance.

House Portrait Painting in Watercolor and Ink

9.  Get everything in writing.  I don't do contracts because I wouldn't ever sue anyone who didn't love my work.  But I DO restate all the conversations and decisions made down to the color of flowers in a house portrait so there's no misunderstandings or confusion.

10.  Don't introduce negatives.  I'm amazed at artists who spell out in contracts what they will and won't do, how much it will cost the client, etc. if the client doesn't like it!  If you do all of the above, have a portfolio so they can see what you do, are technically able, then chances are they will love it.  Why suggest to them, before you even start, that they might be nitpicking and putting you through the paces and what their push backs will be.  They found you, chose you, over the hundreds or thousands of competent portrait artists on the internet, why won't they love your work?  If you follow my tips above, trust me, they will!

Custom Watercolor Portrait of a beach house in Galveston, TX

Galveston TX Beach House Portrait

I want to share with you my watercolor and ink painting of a beach house in Galveston, TX!  It's one of the 28 portraits of homes and pets I painted in the 5 weeks before Christmas.

So now you know why I haven't been sharing my art lately!

The challenge for this one was isolating the actual house from the houses surrounding it.  There were neighbors sort of behind and to the side, I either had to include tiny slices of other houses or not.  And we decided not.

I worked with my customer to get it exactly how she wanted, to work in the dunes, and I have to say, I LOVED painting the palm trees!

 If you're interested in having me paint your home or a gift for your loved one, just contact me to get started.  You can see a lot more of my portraits here: http://CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com.

Tiny Corgi Portrait, my custom portrait of a sweet dog that's only 4" x 4" square!

Corgi Painting

Corgi Portrait 

Love Corgis?  I painted this teeny portrait of a Corgi named Coor for a client on 4" x 4" gallery wrapped canvas (deep sides that need no framing).

I love his sweet expression on his face!

My family and art friends are telling me I ought to paint a lot more little paintings like this, that aren't commissions.  I've collected some neat cat pictures and am going to give it a whirl.

But it kinda goes against my aim to paint large! Ha! There's room for large and small in my life.  All I need are the right sized brushes!

When I'm painting custom pet portraits

Sarge, my art studio dog, totally bored while I paint a pet portrait!

Poor Sarge, as much as I love to paint custom pet portraits and houses, I look over at him and know he'd rather we be doing just about anything else!

I get so "immersed" in my painting that I literally lose track of time.

And all the while, waiting for a walk, or a snack or a toss of a toy, Sarge sits.

I like to say he's supervising, but you know, he's really not.  And from the expression on his face here, he knows it, too!

A Home, a Haven, my custom portrait of a house full of Love in Atlanta

House Portrait with Custom Pet Portraits of Cats

This is a story of a house portrait, custom cat portraits and a lot of love.  Every portrait I do, I kinda of just get immersed in, but this one was really special.

When I received the order for a portrait of this home, there were a lot of special details and I had the pleasure of getting to speak in depth with the human occupant!  What a lovely person!  Her home, you see, not only is her sanctuary, but is a haven for lots and lots of cats, one feral!

And a centerpiece for her pretty flower gardens, which included a bird feeder for the wild birds who come to call at a place full of love.

We also included the American flag, and all those beautiful, sheltering trees!  I was almost sad to send this off, as I knew that our collaboration of her vision and my painting meant that we'd kind of go our separate ways.  But this house, and the beautiful soul who occupies it with the creatures who need her, will always be special to me!

Signs of fall, a walk and a thought

Sarge my boxer dog on our daily walk

What are the signs of fall coming in the last weeks of August?  They are all around us as Sarge and I walk through our neighborhood on our daily "constitutional"!

Every sense is screaming change of seasons!  I hear the Canada geese flying overhead as they gather to go south.

Is that an apple pie I smell?

The tart and sweet tomatoes from our home garden.

The drier, cooler late summer breeze.

The late summer blossoms of the morning glories and dahlias.  But today we heard the absolute guarantee that summer is ending and fall is almost here:  The high school marching band!  I have to say, starting my day with a walk with Sarge is good for my artist's soul.  I think about what's on the easel and where I am and what's next.  But anyway...what signs of fall are you seeing in your neck of the woods?

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

Pet Portrait, Before and After, in Colored Pencil by Me, Philadelphia area Artist Robin Zebley

And here is the portrait I finished of this cute little white dog whose photo I showed you a few days ago.  Since it's a tiny portrait, only 5" x 7", I cropped it quite a bit so I could still get the important details!

Pet Portrait by me, Philadelphia Area artist, Robin Zebley

This guy was particularly fun because of the way the weak sunlight bounced off of him, some cool spots, some warm.  I used Prismacolor colored pencil on off white Mi Tientes pastel paper, the smooth side.  This fella is a Mother's Day gift, from the human daughter and our little furry model! 

I have 4 more small dog portraits on the drawing board, all colored pencil!  Keep "tu

Watch me turn THIS photo into a custom portrait! Before and After!

Before and After, my portrait by artist Robin Zebley!

Before and after, here's the photo that I'm going to turn into a portrait!

Check later today!  I hope to have it finished by then.  Robin

Painting Norah, a Florida dog with the sweetest eyes

Custom Dog Portrait of Norah

Norah was a pleasure to paint, what pretty eyes she has!  She's a Florida girl, and I posed her under a palm tree.  Being that I was raised in Ft. Lauderdale, I had dogs that "hid" in the palms that are more like shrubs than trees.

My challenge with Norah was not letting the palm fronds take over and become stars of the show!

But Norah wouldn't let that happen, would she?

On another note, I thought I'd be painting outdoors in my gazebo studio by now.  But it's been too cold.  As I write this, I have a fire in my fireplace the next to the last day of April!

Hopefully we'll be moving outdoors soon.  Sarge sure loves it!  Here he is with his brother, Hoss, who is the black boxer dog. Just a week ago and look how few leaves on the trees still.

Sarge & his brother Hoss, a black boxer dog

Making Lists, Artists and Crafters, making the most of your overwhelming task list!

Cat Portrait I painted

I was talking about this with a very successful artist friend of mine, how not having a boss, but working for yourself.  It's so easy to get overwhelmed, so much to do, so little time.  His work-around?  Just do anything.  Because the often advised list-making, task ranking and finished crossing offs take time and sap momentum.

Now, I have been trying goal setting on a team at Etsy and that did help.  But some days, I felt like a failure.  My day had veered off in some weird direction and what I came back to report was that I hadn't gotten anything done on my list of priorities, but had worked all day.  Kind of deflating.

I have a friend who is ultra organized.  On paper.  She writes down every single task in order to be able to cross them off, as advised by the experts.  AND she prioritizes them, as advised as well.  I often thought she spends more time reordering tasks than the tasks would take to do!

And lists can be overwhelming.  Look at all that needing to be done.  What is the most important one?  Maybe this, maybe that.  Maybe the hardest thing, the easiest thing, the shortest thing, the longest thing.  Maybe I'll see if there's any new tutorials on Youtube.  Then I'll get started. 

Just do it!  When you're overwhelmed, just picking anything and getting moving affects your whole list.  Every minute you spend on ANY task, moves the rest of them up a minute.  And really, is "clean palette knives" more important than "file away the paperwork"?  Either one can be behind the other, and once one's done, the other is next!

C'mon, get moving!

Of course, being ever mindful of deadlines is crucial.  We work well under pressure because we must keep working, not sitting back thinking about working. 

So my lists now are very short.  
1.  Any must dos.  Things that can't wait even a day.
2.  Anything I need to do later that I'm likely to forget.  (I get up very early, so calling the insurance company about the problem on the bill has to wait).

Then, I make it a habit to revisit my list around 4 pm, when I have the chance to do any of the things that I needed to do that slipped through the cracks.

What about the rest of the tasks?  I just did them.  Without ranking them, crossing them off a list or debating their importance.  Just get started and put that overwhelming list making away!  Off to finish up that house portrait...... :D

New Site for my Custom House Portraits

My custom house portrait paintings have really taken off!  So I have decided to give them their own home so I can market them to real estate agents as a realtor closing gift without all the dog and cat portrait art intermingled.  

 

I really am not into formal, cold architectural renderings of houses and wanted something more fun, more warm, and more artsy.  And more "me".  I'm still learning and developing my style.  One thing I learned is that I don't have to be a slave to the features.  I don't have to include uninteresting, functional fencing, or drainpipes.  I can move things around a bit.  For instance, I did one recently with a tree hiding the front door.  Just moved the tree a tad.  :)

 

Anyway, my house portrait site is http://customhouseportraits.blogspot.com.  Come on over and take a look at my portfolio of finished paintings!  Robin

English Cream Golden Retrievers, what's different about them?

English Cream Golden Retriever Portraits

What's different about English Cream Golden Retrievers?  Mostly their color!  But there are differences, as I learned when I was honored to draw these brothers' portrait. 

They are actually the oldest bloodline for goldens, and their eyes are a bit rounder and darker.  They also statistically have a lower rate of being struck with cancer.  The reasoning is that they are more carefully bred.  I have a feeling this is why these guys were chosen, since their owner's last dog, died.  I did his portrait just before he lost his battle.
But it's the color!  I really thought there was something wrong with the color, until "mom" told me they were English Creams!  Rather than lots of gold, oranges and yellows that I usually use, I needed to pull out the pinks, lavenders and pinks in addition to some warmer tones!  They also tend to be a little fluffier.

Now, I have a friend with Goldens and she literally took fur with her to pick out carpet colors.  And she is a clean freak, but you know they do leave their beautiful hair around for us to pick up!  If she gets English Creams, she'll have a whole new palette to work on in her bedroom! 

Glad you stopped by!  Looking to purchase a pet portrait?  I hope you like my work.  Here's MORE 

More from my blog about art and animals: ArtandAnimals.blogspot.com

Dogs Jumping on Trampoline?

Have you seen the boxer jumping on a trampoline video?  (Link below).  Okay, my boxer dog Sarge is the jumping-est canine I've ever seen.

Flash Boxer Dog

 

He LOVES to be in the air.  Water?  Not so much.  After seeing this video, though, I'm convinced that a trampoline belongs in our back yard, not a pool!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hly0vuXPG-M  Gotta see this!

Unusual Daylily cultivars, now blooming!

Have I mentioned I love daylilies?  Here's a few of my favorite unusual cultivars in bloom.  I am very bad, though, about their names. Love this purple with lime ruffles.  It reminds me of grape soda!

 

And here is a ruffley peach one.

 

A dark, dark red.  Love the spanish yellow eye.

 

What does this have to do with art or animals?  Nothing with animals except I am so lucky that Sarge is not the kind of dog who tramples in garden beds.   With art?  I may paint or draw them someday!  I want to do more flowers, I think they show personality, don't you? 

I love the spectacular colors and shapes and variety of the named cultivars (even though I can't remember the names), and even have some common orange "ditch" lilies as filler around.  This year, I didn't get any annuals planted at all, so am especially thankful for my perennials.  I just am a little sad that the weather is soooooooooooooooooo hot just when they are in their glory!

House Portrait Painting, a big shot of whimsical fun!

Home Portrait Watercolor and Ink with Dog

I am enjoying drawing and painting portraits of houses! I like to make a house look like a home and personalized it.  This watercolor and ink home portrait has a little dog on the porch!  He's not exactly to scale, but especially with a more fun and whimsical style, I really don't HAVE to have him be the right size, right?

I love playing with the foliage, I'm now dropping the greens on wet, then after they dry, picking out the variations to outline in ink.

The knock out roses in the front were not in bloom in my reference photos, but luckily I have them in my backyard garden, next to my gazebo where I do most of my artwork in nice weather.

The only problem I have with this, is it makes me want to get out some wood and carve a wood block.  I might just.

New Pope Francis I, embraces our Animal Saint!

St. Francis of Assisi with birds

How excited all our little creatures in life must be that their saintly champion is honored by the selection of his name by the new Pope!  Yes, I believe animals have souls and spirits and yes, I believe that God lives in all good things, so St. Francis has always been my favorite saint.  We know he's the patron saint of animals, did you know he preached to birds?  That he made a peace pact between dogs and a wolf and humans?  That he considered the sun and moon our "brothers and sisters"?   I just love that, and maybe it's a little wacky, but it's my kind of wacky!

When I paint or draw a pet portrait, I always ask about their personality.  I know some might think I'm a little "off" by asking that, but I truly believe that if I know what they are like, their personality comes through in their portrait.

Look at these two golden retrievers whose portraits I drew in colored pencil.  One is full of fun and mischief, a bit of a tease.  Just because YOU want me to get in the car, I'll have to think about it!  The other, who was an elderly rescue successfully placed by a great rescue in Dallas, TX, is laid back, goes with the flow, just happy to be alive and loved and uber obedient!  Which is which?  Call me what you will, I agree with St. Francis on animals!

Golden Retriever Portraits by me, Artist Robin Zebley

It's through my deep love and respect for dogs that I have come to believe in the spirit of God in all creatures, great and small!  St. Francis was also an environmentalist, so that also appeals to the naturalist, compost making me!  Pope John Paul II said about St. Francis, "It is my hope that the inspiration of Saint Francis will help us to keep ever alive a sense of 'fraternity' with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created."

I am pleased that this kind of philosophy, being one with nature, respect and love of animals and all of mankind, no matter what country or religion they were born into, no matter social status, is being talked about as this new Pope Francis I begins his work. 

Of course, it's the wacky in me that thinks there really can be Peace on earth, no matter what religion, or even no religion each person has.  We can unite under that good hope, can't we? (Repro of St. Francis courtesy of turnbacktogod.com)  

My Custom Pet and House Portraits can be found at CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com