Web site updates

New: Lucky 7 Pet Portrait Referral Program page


Wear Your Pet page now features links to all of the portrait shops, plus other shops such as all of my kitty designs sections.

Updated the doggie magazines on the Resources page.


Added new pet portrait pics throughout the site - you'll see a bunch of new ones interspersed throughout!

Added Kaya, Modern Dog magazine's top dog, on the enter page!!

Also added the Modern Dog illustration on my Press page.

Just keepin' you in the loop! :)

Kathy Weller illustration in Modern Dog Spring 2006 issue

I have very exciting news! I created an illustration of Modern Dog magazine's resident doggie diva, Kaya, for MD's Spring 2006 issue, which has just come out!! I am really looking forward to receiving my copy to see where it is placed and how it reproduced since I did not see a proof. Modern Dog has very high quality standards so I know it'll look sharp and rich in color. Anyway, here is the ink and painted stage of the portrait "Kaya Welcomes Spring", for your viewing enjoyment! :)

Work on Selma Jane continues - Ink stage

Selma's portrait is going wonderfully. There are several intricate things which have been included in this portrait which embody Selma, her life, her personality and all that she loves and appreciates. There are of course her Rita Polkapants and Crabbie toys which are pictured next to her but there are also a few little surprises. The landscape used for a backdrop is actually based on Selma's own neighborhood green areas. The birds in the upper right have special significance as the actual types of birds which live in Selma's neighborhood- among them, Cardinals, Chickadees and a family of Crows, all of which are represented here. We also included wildflowers as well as orange tiger lilies, morning glories, sunflowers, black-eyed Susans - all of which are alive and well in Selma's neighborhood. I added butterflies and a ladybug or two to the bottom banner to help illustrate that Selma is a 'snugglebug' pug. She is surrounded on both sides with her favorite toys - the aforementioned Rita Polkapants and Crabbiebut also a pile of carrots as well as her carrot Nylabones and her Wishbone toy. A tiara completes the picture for this Pug Diva Princess.

This portrait was my first in which I am using my new Rapidograph technical pen in a size smaller (.18) than what I have always used previously (.25). That means MORE DETAIL. It is amazing and I am very thrilled to be using a smaller and more detailed line!!!! My work is improving and continuing to become more and more refined. It's so wonderful to be creating beautiful art work of beloved pets, for people who love and appreciate it so much. What did I do before pet portraiture?

Miss Selma Jane

This is Selma Jane. She is an adorable, and I do mean adorable, 7 year old black pug. She is shown with her Rita Polka Pants, her Crabbie, and a pile of carrots to munch. I look forward to continuing work on this portrait! :) It will be very colorful.

Perry sleeping under the stars

This is a portrait of Perry. Perry owns my sister and her husband, and this portrait is a birthday present for her. I gave it to her last night and she loves it! Perry is really adorable doggie.

New Pet Shops -and lowdown on dog magazines

New Pet Shops...

Happy Friday!
There are three new pet portrait shops today. Bunny & Martha, Katie Kitty Cat and Princess Merry (YES, Pampered Puppy's Merry, the one and only!!! :) ) The first two are brand new portraits and Merry's I did a few months ago, but I had not put together the store until just now. So there you go. :)

In other news...
There is a NEW doggie maggie which I can't wait to check out. It's regional; a Las Vegas production called Lucky Dog (great name). looking forward to subscribing to that one.

Also, I happened upon one other doggiemaggie which I'd never even heard of (no wonder, it's a UK production) called K9. Looking forward to checking out their web site when I have a little time. (Looks heavily celebrity-ish on first peek. Just an observation! :) )

Lastly on the maggie front, I want to alert all doggie mag lovers to Wag magazine. They have a fresh new design, PLUS, either excerpts or the whole last 2005 and first 2006 issues are downloadable, on line! Yes, this is not a joke. So go, read! Check out! Then subscribe, because we like them and we want them to keep publishing their funny, cute doggie rag. :) Cool!!!

Tuesday - Blue is finished.

Finished painting Blue last night. I am really happy with it - it' a really nice painting and a bit different than many of my other paintings. It's more painterly, I guess, in a way. Blue is pretty tightly rendered - but to play off of this, I went looser in the background painting and used a lot of scumbling - or I guess maybe more of a dry glaze (overpainting but with a dryish brush/paint to give a thicker glaze of paint) - to layer the paint. It has an outdoorsy, woodsy, and natural feeling. The colors and the tones I used are all very earthy, yet there is some real color play between Blue and the backdrop. I find it very refreshing and I really enjoyed the process. I love to be 'in the zone' during the painting process. I sometimes can't believe that i went so long without picking up a paintbrush or pen. It's so obvious to me that this is my life's work.

What I got goin' on...

Let's see...list of workload next couple of weeks:

Katie the kitty is DONE!!!! ('cept for a tiny tweak I will do tonight)
Finish painting Blue (halfway there)

Next up:

Selma the adorable Pug
Choo Choo a very sweet and lovey black Schnoodle

YIPEE! Can't wait.

I'm waiting on pics from Daisy, a golden lab who is very very active, and I look forward to doing something very adventurous for her! But her mom is extremely busy person and I'm sure she'll get me the pics whenever she can. In the meantime, I've got plenty to do. ;)

Stores coming up:

Bunny & Martha
Merry/Meredith (Pampered Puppy's resident Princess Pug and mascot)
Katie the kitty

My world...of eraser bits

Yesterday, I finally attached my art supply caddy to my painting table. I did not realize that I had so many tiny eraser bits. I actually do use all of them too. Sometimes I cut them in certain shapes to help erase certain lines without removing too much graphite. I took some photos of my art table to celebrate my new neater and more organized table! I think the paint tubes look like little soldiers.

Kathy Press - - Life magazine !!

Please check out the Life magazine insert in your local newspaper!!

Please make sure to NOT throw away that Life maggie in your local paper on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of this week!! There is an article called "14 Things To Do With Your Dog", and commissioning one of my pet portraits is #11!!! How cool! How AWESOME!! My mom called me at work and told me the good news this afternoon. Really cut into my concentration level... but I recovered. :)

Please check which newspaper in your area carries the Life magazine, and check it out, if you are so inclined! How exciting!!!

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

"Lucky 7" Referral Program

I am instituting a new referral program. This is pretty much the soft launch. I've been planning to put together a postcard mailing campaign to send to all of my past clients, but I have not done it as of yet, and I keep collecting more and more clients who fall into the 'past' tense...and, well, for now I will just loud-speaker it here for all to enjoy!! :)

"Lucky 7" Pet Portrait Referral Program

It goes like this...

If one of my clients racks up 7 portraits to their credit through any of the following:

-Their own purchase
-A friend's purchase whom they referred
-The purchase of a gift certificate

they will receive one of my 6x6 sized original pet portraits for FREE (150. value)!

The fine print:

-The referral is only good for 7 PORTRAIT referrals, not 7 PET referrals - - so if you refer a freind who gets two 2-pet portraits, that only counts as 2 towards your goal, not 4.

-The Lucky 7th portrait must be redeemed within 6 months. This means: from the time of your being granted the Lucky 7th portrait, you will need sign up for your free portrait by getting on my Portrait Wait List. Your portrait will not necessarily be completed in six months' time. For instance, if you redeem your Lucky 7th portrait four months' after you receive the honor by contacting me to sign in and getting placed on the waiting list at that point, I may still have a three-month waiting list at that point, and would not get to your Lucky 7th Portrait until 7 month's after you received the Lucky 7th Portrait honor.

Enjoy!!!!

(Please note: This post has been edited for clarity, for typos, and to add pretty colors to selected type)

New Ink! Katieville...

Here is Katie! She is a beauty and very cute kitty. We came up with an old-fashioned postcard theme! The paint will be muted colorful tones - kind of like colorized old movies, but better! :) Here is the ink drawing. I'll be painting it in very soon.

Detail of Katie's face. Note the Swiffers in the landscape, keeping the palm trees company.

Detail of the lower left portrait. Note Katie's ball disc toy in the left side
background behind her (along with more Swiffers, which she also likes).

Bottom right of the portrait detail. See her favorite ball hidden in the right bottom
corner. Also note her scratching post is behind her, beside a palm tree!

Bunny & Martha!

Bunny & Martha are complete! I am so pleased with this portrait-the colors, the dogs, I just love it. I am so thrilled that B&M's mom is so thrilled with it as well. It is a great homage to these two lovely doggies which captures each doggies' unique beauty, personality, as well as their relationship dynamic. :)


Other new developments...

New Cafe Press stores:
Suki the American Eskimo
Charissa the Border Collie
Pinkie the Chihuahua
Molly Abigail the German Short-haired Pointer

New Case Studies:
Suki the American Eskimo
Charissa the Border Collie
Pinkie the Chihuahua
Molly Abigail the German Short-haired Pointer

Suki in Harvard Yard

Suki is an American Eskimo doggie. This portrait shows Suki in one of his favorite environments: Harvard Yard, where he often goes for walks. Since I live in Cambridge, I was able to meet Suki in person for this portrait - which was such a treat! Suki is a beautiful doggie and it was so great to do his portrait. His fur is very full, and very creamy white. I used many different shades of cream for his fur in the portrait. I tried to work the depth and texture using shadows. I was also able to take some detailed photographs inside of Harvard Yard to get the colors and the whole mood just right.

Portrait of Suki © 2006 Kathy Weller

In case you missed the doggie show...

Check out the Boston.com photo gallery rundown of the night.

Also on Westminster's site, vid clips of all the judging is available.

Because WE LOVE the dogs...

Who's watching the dog show tonight??

Last night and tonight, Westminster Kennel Club's Doggie show is ON!
USA, 8 - 11 pm. Set your DVR!!!


Doggie LOVE Story for Valentine's Day 2006

Your dog may help you click with others
Can Fido can help you meet that special someone?
(Of COURSE!!!!! :) We already know that though don't we :) )

~
: *
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Molly Abigail

Molly Abigail © 2006 Kathy Weller

Molly Abigail is a doggie whose portrait I've just completed and sent off to her mom. I really enjoyed doing her portrait a lot. As I mentioned in a previous post, her mom was going for a certain mood in MA's portrait- a magical, twilight, foggy-mist-over-the-lake type of mood and we were both thrilled with the results!! :)

Here is the finished portrait along with some details. It's tough to show all of the detail in the portrait through one 425 pixel width, 72 ppi jpg, so here are a few other detailed shots. Not complete by any means but helps to give an idea of the level of detail in the portrait.

Molly is known as the "Treat Aficionado". The border is dotted with some of her favorite treats: greenies and doggie biscuits, as well as a couple of harmonicas, because she enjoys harmonica music.

Here is a detail of Molly Abigail's paw with her favorite toys-her blue Hurley bone and black Kong toy as well as another doggie biscuit. A ladybug and and some wildflowers hang out, too.

A butterfly sits on Molly A's paw. Molly A is also lying on her favorite real-life blanket.
A detail of Molly A's name banner, and also of the sky dotted with stars and moon.

The background features a misty lake and mountains. A Weeping Willow tree sits on each side.
Molly is a German shorthaired Pointer and has a beautiful coat with some auburn and white mottling
which was a fun and challenging texture to create for her coat.