Waiting list for December

I've finished all of my commissions for Christmas! So next it's Shamus the cat, then Noah the cocker spaniel. After that, I'm free.

Last year, I got tons of requests in Nov and Dec to do portraits for Christmas, and I was unable to do them because I was booked up. This year I've hardly had anyone asking. Maybe it's because people are checking my website and reading my blog (where it says I'm booked), or maybe it's because I've raised my prices a fair bit since I've started doing this. It would be great if lots of people are checking out my sites, but it also sort of feels like not as many people are interested :( . I hope that's not the case.

As for the prices, when I started doing portraits, I really underestimated the time it would take me to complete a portrait. Many artists don't like to charge too much when they start out because they feel a bit guilty charging what a portrait is really worth...I felt that way. In time though, I had to start raising my prices because I was severly undercharging for the amount of time and money that I was putting into each portrait.

For you, the client, the increase in price means that your piece of artwork is worth more. It also means that I have become more popular as an artist; an achievement that I am quite proud of! As animal art becomes more and more popular, so will the value of your portrait.

Mercedes is finished

Here is the final scan of Mercedes (Sadie). I'm just waiting for the ok from the client. I'm quite happy with this one. It was a nice change to do curly hair, rather than straight. This could be one of my favourites actually!

Standard Poodle - stage 3

Here is another update on Mercedes. I'm hoping to be finished by the end of the month.

Waiting list for Nov 2006, and other interesting tidbits!

My current waiting list is as follows:

1. Mercedes - Standard Poodle
2. Shamus - black and white cat
3. Noah - Cocker Spaniel

I can't give exact dates, but I figure this brings me to January-February. I don't have an update of Mercedes yet. I've been a bit busy lately and haven't worked on her much.

In other news, I've tried selling some of my work on Ebay lately. Unfortunately, nothing has sold yet though. I tried selling an original ACEO (the horse that I posted a couple of posts back)(please see description of an ACEO in the same post), as well as some prints and greeting cards. A couple of people were watching my items, but none of them sold. sniff sniff. Ah well, I've not given up yet!! I'll keep trying some different things!

Today after work, I had an interesting message on my phone. A woman from Platinum Magazine got my name and information at my vet clinic, and wanted to talk to me. The message she left said that they are doing some articles about pets as family members, and they were looking for interesting pet-related businesses. I guess mine peaked her interest, and I think they want to know if I want to put an ad in their magazine. I haven't talked to her yet, just left her a message, but it sounds exciting! I'll keep you posted!