Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Time Tells All...

Or so they say = )

Two weeks ago I started the Zoe-Chronicles: A Dog Blog (http://zoe-chronicles.blogspot.com/).  What I have learned is that people would much rather read about a dog than about art!  My blog has been on-line for several months, and has hosted a-l-m-o-s-t 500 visitors.  Zoe's blog has been on-line for 2 weeks and she has has had almost 300 visitors to her blog.  And so, during this holiday season, rather than trying to update two blogs...and do the artwork and make the jewelry to support my art blog entries, I am going to focus on Zoe's blog for the remainder of the year. 

I will still offer some art items for sale through my Etsy shop (http://debjeffrey.etsy.com/), so please feel free to stop by and see what is new.  And if you would like to keep up with Zoe and her antics, please check in often, to see what our little girl is up to.

If you would like me to contact you once I start updating my blog again, after the first of the year, please email me at djPortraitArtist@aol.com and let me know.  Until my next post -- be blessed!

Deborah

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Introducing the Zoe Chronicles -- A Dog Blog

What's on my Easel...
My easel is currently filled with whimsical, dog and animal art work. 

Why, you ask?  Well, it seems lately my husband and I have been hearing about dogs, horses, animals (and people) who are struggling and in need of assistance.  My husband and I decided that through a collaborative effort, we could help support animal (and human) rescue. 

So, we've come up with a new "dog blog" featuring our dog Zoe.  It is called, "Zoe-Chronicles" and in it, we will share stories about Zoe's life (from her perspective of course), provide training tips, links to animal related sites, and offer Zoe's PAW PRINT ART for sale -- with 30% of all sales profits being donated to animal (and human) rescue.

So, please check out the Zoe-Chronicles at http:zoe-chronicles.blogspot.com/  Tell people about it, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us.

Together we can make a difference!

Today's Quote...
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What's on My Easel...
With the Tribute to Francis painting completed, I decided to try my hand at an animal portrait, of sorts. This drawing is from a photograph I took in the Cal Poly Canyon. The painting is being painted in Corel Painter XI, using the Artists/Impressionist brushes for the underpainting, and Pastel brushes to finalize. The painting will be called, "A Little Bit Country".

Step 1 - the drawing...
Step 2 - underpainting (Artist/Impressionist brushes) and beginning detail on the cow...

Step 3 - work out the colors and detail using Pastel brushes...


From the Jewelry Box...

The jewelry box is filling up fast -- following are a few of the latest designs...





Cover to Cover...
Work on the book continues. The text is divided among the pages and I am working on rough draft sketches. I've been drawing the sketches into a sketchbook in random order and at this point they are just "gist" sketches. I now need to scan them and add them to the text pages to see how they look. Once I have a visual, I can see what sketches need to be "revised" to ensure that some images take up the whole page, some cover a spread of 2 pages, some have a margin around them, some are toned differently, etc. -- in other words, to ensure that they are not all the same. We want to make sure that each page is different and catches the reader by surprise.
Today's Quote...
"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art." ~ Oscar Wilde