Going to miss my guy and girl

I am heading down to Phoenix today to spend some time with my Mom and sister.  Also, I will be running the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon on Sunday.  My husband, John, is staying behind this time, which is nice because he and Mocha will get some quality time together.  I hate leaving them, though … I am going to miss both of them so much each of the 4 days I am away!!!

Look for some new posts of pet watercolor portraits when I am back next week!

Can they all be my favorites? … Zipper’s Portrait

Every time I finish a watercolor, I say to myself, “Geez, I think THIS is my favorite portrait I have done yet!”  Then when I look back at portraits I have previously completed, I think, “Hmmm I think THIS is my favorite!”  But I have come to the conclusion, they are all my favorites and that is just the way it is and that is just fine!

Zipper is a sweet Border Collie/Chow mix (interesting combo, eh?) … he is very passive aggressive when it comes to being stubborn, however.  If Zipper is outside but it is time to go inside, instead of listening to his owner, David or Tyan, he will lay down, roll over and submit on his back, refusing to come inside the house.  We’re not talking about submitting on the front lawn either; Zipper takes a stand and lays down right in the middle of the road.  Luckily the many cars he has encountered during his strikes have been understanding and patient, and most have gotten a good laugh more than anything watching as Tyan gets Zipper back in the house the only way possible … like I said Zipper is stubborn, so once he’s down, he’s not getting up…  So, the only thing left for Tyan to do is to pick Zipper up and carry him into the house.

Zipper does not like being left behind either … I remember one day I met David and Tyan at their house to go on a road ride (road cycling), and Zipper was watching us leave from the patio.  Zipper whined and whined and as we rode away, we could still hear Zipper crying and whining when we were blocks away.

Well, without further adieu let me introduce Zipper, an unexpected but adorable combination of Border Collie and Chow:

I went for a background with Zipper because he is so light in color.  Also the background in the photograph that Tyan and David gave to me to work from from looked good and contained some nice colors (the blue, mauve-y brown, and purple).  Therefor, Zipper is another good example of when a background works out well.  Zipper is mostly white with some tan freckles, so his actual face and body did not take much color, just a little brown, tan, and buttery yellow.  Zipper’s nose and eyes were fun to work on since they contained some beautiful deep colors (dark rose-y pink and mauve-y purple in the nose … dark brown, dark gray-ish purple in the eyes).  One thing that I think was captured very well is that Zipper is very soft and fluffy … and I think that comes through in his watercolor portrait.  After working on Buca, who was also fuzzy-wuzzy, I was wanting another chance to work on fuzz and I got that chance in Zipper.

Zipper just recently got a little sister, 3-year old Snowball.  Tyan is currently looking for a good picture so that I can paint Snowball, too.

WaLk-e-Woo

So this past weekend at the dog park and the weekend before and the weekend before that, Mocha got a million compliments on her new collar (she got it for Christmas from my sister). 

Well, I knew this collar was cute, but after receiving so many compliments I realized that maybe people weren’t aware of the cute collars out there.  Upon closer observation I did indeed see many boring collars on other dogs. 

Mocha’s collar is from WaLk-e-Woo and is a thicker version of the one shown above (her’s is about 2-2.5″ wide). 

WaLk-e-Woo has collars, leashes, harnesses, and toys for dogs.  They also have hats and belts for humans.  I am not a fan of the human gear (I chose not to purchase any of my own accessories from a dog product company), but the dog goods are top notch.

Comfort Queen

In an effort for everyone to get to know Mocha (aka Mochie-Roo) better (since she is the muse of MOCHIE-ROO: Pet Watercolor Portraits by Chloe), I plan to do some posts about my chocolate girl.

Important Tid-Bit #1 : Mocha is a comfort whore (excuse my language).   This girl seeks out and hones in on soft, warm, comfy places and claims them as her own.  She will begin snoring while still awake or be asleep within seconds; either way you will know she has found her new cozy spot.  Wrap her up, tuck her in, and let her sleep.  She is good to go.

Mochie has so much energy people at the dog park think she’s a puppy …

But just as Mocha plays HARD, she rest and relaxs HARD too!

We’re Facebook-in it.

We’re on Facebook … you should join us, become our fan, post on our wall, poke us, etc.

Home Portraits: Push the Envelope dot net

I just found this website that does  inexpensive and very cute home portraits.  You provide them a photo of your home and they reproduce it as a one-of-a-kind illustration.  Then they can print that illustration on invitaions (to a house-warming party?), change of address announcements, etc.  From the few examples that are shown, they do a very nice job!  And talk about reasonable prices … it is only $35 for the home portrait and then custom notecards are only $50 for 25 or $95 for 50.

Push the envelope has lots of other fun stuff as well!!!  Check it out!

Calling all Boston Terrier Fans: All-Mighty Shop & Jake the Chocolate Lab

I came across the cutest website today for Boston Terrier lovers: All-Mighty Shop: For the Love of Boston Terriers & all things cute! Talk about cute.  I especially love their logo … and the models on the dog clothing page.  Hahahaha too goofy!
If you are a fan on Bostons then this site is a must-check-it-out for you.  I want a site like this devoted to chocolate labs!!!  If anyone knows of one, lemme know!

The google search of “for the love of Chocolate Labs” didn’t return much, except for this blog posting on the Daily Puppy about “Jake the Chocolate Lab.” He is darn cute.  Why are chocolate labs extra cute when they are wet after a bath?

Fuzzy Buca girl … a lesson in necessity of background (in certain situations)?

UPDATE – February 9, 2010 – I just finished a new portrait of Buca because I was not happy with the one below … check out the new, improved portrait of Buca, which I LOVE and I am very proud of!!!

Buca … what kind of pup is she?  I do not know … note to self: ask Patrick, “What kind of dog is Buca?”  What I do know is that she was VERY fuzzy (as in furry NOT as in blurry/out-of-focus).  And, in the picture Patrick gave me, Buca was leaning against something.  I could have done the background, but it was not a special background, kind of boring.  So, I decided to paint Buca, leave the background white.

My husbands critique?  He thinks it looks funny that Buca is leaning in her portrait, but leaning against nothing.

My thoughts?  I am unsure …  I do not know how I feel about it and I think I will need feedback from Buca’s owner to know how I feel.

Buca was a challenge in more ways than one … not only was she leaning, but as I mentioned this is one furry, fuzzy girl!  That was hard to capture, and I do not think I captured the fuzziness necessarily, maybe she just turned out more water-color-y?

Buca is worth coming back to.  I may have to re-paint her when I have time – experiment with the fuzziness and experiment with her background.  However, I do think, as far as the leaning goes, a photograph of Buca’s face would work better for me.  Since I reproduce photographs (exactly) as watercolor portraits, I need a good face-shot (yikes, that sounds yucky, but you know what I mean) to start from.  Therefore, I am removing Buca’s leaning photo off of the What Makes a Good Photo posting.  It is nothing personal and I really want to paint Buca again, just not while she’s leaning.

My first kitty cat: Rizzo

I finished my first kitty cat watercolor portrait late yesterday, a playful little guy named Rizzo. Rizzo is a typical boy who loved playing and bouncing around, but he also loves cuddling with his mom in a very specific nook of her neck.

As for painting a cat for the first time … The actual painting part was not too much different than painting a dog, the initial sketch is what was a challenge.  Obviously cats are VERY different than dogs in shape, proportion, etc. and that was abundantly clear as I sketched.  I have to say, though, the photo Rizzo’s mama, Andrea, gave me was fabulous to work from.  Rizzo was the focal point; he was crisp and detailed, and his sweet face was easy to see detail on.

Rizzo turned out a little darker than his real-life counterpart, which I think is due to my layering of color.  After I was all finished and Rizzo’s portrait had dried for the last time, I went back in with the smallest brush I had and put in some very fine, “fuzzy” brushstrokes.

Rizzo’s ears – talk about some pink and purple!  Even in the photo, they were that vibrant, I swear to you!  🙂  It is amazing the vibrant, wild colors that naturally occur in our furry friends.  Just like Honey had tons of pink in her and oh my those green eyes.  Tor had a lot of dark blues and greens because he was reflecting his background.  The shadows on Ginger‘s chest had purples and mauve.  And, if you look closely at Rizzo’s chest, he has some ever-so-light sky blue.

Scrap Palettes

When I complete a watercolor pet portrait, I don’t get to keep the original painting.  It gets sent off to the pet parent who commissioned the portrait.  However, I do have my scrap palette from each portrait and I find it very enjoyable to look back at these scrap palettes.

What the heck is a scrap palette?  Well, that is my “term” for it, if it has a true, official name I do not know it.  Every time I start a watercolor, I turn to a new page in my small spiral bound watercolor paper notebook.  As I am painting I use this small notebook to test colors and lessen the paint on my brush.  So, regardless of its official name, I call it a scrap palette because that is what it is for me.

It is fun to look back at these because they often contain almost, if not all the different colors I used in a particular painting.  In essence, it is a small piece of the portrait that I get to keep.

I thought I would share some of my scrap palettes with you.  These are from recent portraits that I have completed and posted on my blog.

from Honey’s portrait

from little Ginger’s portrait

from Tor’s portrai

from Bella’s portrait