Lucy and Chance

This is my biggest commission yet. It was so fun to do because the subjects are so interesting. Lucy is [I think] a chihuahua mix and Chance is a Golden Retriever. Lucy rules the house and even sits on Chance to remind him now and then. This is 36x36 oil on canvas.

When I went to deliver the painting to my friend Karen, who works at Pet Depot where I hold my "Meet the Artist" mini-events, told me the store was hosting a first aid class for pets this afternoon. I was amazed with the professionalism of the instructors and class. They even had a dog dummy to practice artificial resuscitation and CPR. Those skills and basic first aid made up for a 3 hour class.

Will work for food...

Cat food that is.  I went to Pet Depot to pick up a check for  my first commission.  The owner didn't have the store checks with her.

One of the clerks for  whom I painted a "pleine air" of her deceased beloved dog during the 'meet the artist' event on March 21st said she was able to not cry for the first time yesterday when she saw her painting of her precious golden retriever. 

She asked me if I would paint one for her sister whose dog Murphy just passed away at 15 years old.  She said this dog was 'her baby'.  I said of course and she asked how much I wanted for it.  I know she does this job at the pet store for the love of animals not money.  I said she could buy a bag of food for my cats Meatball and Sami.   So paintings like this go easy because of all the love I see in this face.  I'm going to deliver it today and pick up my check for the prior commission.   Things have a way of working out don't they?

6x8 oil on RayMar

Nicia

This is a little 8x10 watercolor on board that I am giving to the Pet Depot Owner for having me have the "meet the artist" day at her store.  She liked the event so much that she booked three more days in the next three months to do the same.  [This is despite the fact, I only got one commission]  So it was a struggle because I'm not that competent with watercolor but I thought I'd try it anyway.  What's she gonna say?  I started this last month, put it away for a couple of weeks, bought some gouache for the small details to see if it would help.  Oh well, that's the advantage when it's a gift and not a commission right? 

XoP

First Pet Depot Commission

So I've let you know every step of my trying to make this art thing a new career.  Here's my first commission through the Pet Supply Store.

The customer read an email from the store and brought her daughter and several photos of the pooches she wanted a painting of.  These dogs [Rocky the Bichon and Louie the Dachshund] were her husband's babies.  She wanted to give him a painting for his birthday on April 4.

She had seen the sample of the Bichon I had displayed at the store and liked the style.

So you see one of three photos she had for me already bless her heart.  The other two were a photo of Rocky without his fluffy fur in his eyes and a closer photo of Louie.  I asked what color background she wanted and she said she really like the blue in my sample.  I told her I would send her a jpeg to make sure I was going in the right direction and another jpeg for the final painting.

I sent her the first image of the painting to make sure the composition was okay.  I sent it a day after we met and she said she thought I was almost finished because she thought I had already captured their personality.

I was unhappy with all that space on the left of Louie so I thought I would break it up with grass and because the customer and her daughter were obviously the masterminds on this I called and asked if it was okay if I painted ladybugs to represent them.  I also asked what kind of toys Rocky and Louie liked to play with so I could fill in some of the open spaces.

They sent me photos through the email of Rocky's lamb, Louie's ball and a toy they played tug-a-war with.  They also asked if I would paint bumble bees to indicate here husband and her son.

The first rendition had bumble bees hovering over Louie's head.  If anyone remembers the Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi as a rebel bumblebee you would know how silly they looked.  Of course they were not happy with this and I changed it to the final rendition that they were satisfied with.  

I'm sure I brought on most of these snags on myself.  Any advice from seasoned commission artists is truly appreciated.

11x14 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

My day at Nicia's Pet Depot

As the folks who have been following my blog for the past couple of months, you know I'm still transitioning from flatfoot to fine artist.  On top of these being not the best times for artists everywhere because of the economy, I really felt I was swimming up stream with lead weights tied to my feet.

My friends also know I try to think of innovative ways to get my art noticed because I don't know better.  Some of them work and some of them fall flat on their face.  This idea worked out better than I thought.

On a whim, I approached a smaller neighborhood pet supply store owner and ask if we could work together by the store having their own artist to provide customers with portraits of their pets.  After discussing it with the owner and working out what services I would offer, I also asked if she wanted to host a "meet the artist" day.  

I brought in samples of my work, painted their favorite store cockatiel and the owner did the rest.  She wrote a press release, emailed her customers and arranged to have refreshments during my time at the store today.  It was not a busy day for either the store or me but I did get one commission (yay) and while I was at my table I was painting the store clerks dogs.  That's Kimi with her owner to  the left of the painting.  The clerks didn't have to pay me anything but they insisted on buying me bags of cat food (for Meatball and Sami) and kitty litter.  I also had a couple of inquiries from customers that might lead up to a couple of other commissions.  The store owner liked the experience so much, she wants to hold an event like this every month.

If you're interested in trying something like this, email me and I can get into more specifics on how to approach and work the a store in helping sell your work.