Aren’t these doggies cute?

I’m been fiddling around with the idea of painting custom Pet Portraits. I love painting these little guys and all the other animals you can see in the Gallery.

I like how Catherine Caine found that taglines were in very high demand and created a service around that.

I’m not sure what the demand for Pet Portraits is though. My prices would be something like:

• 6″ x 8″ $45
• 8″ x 11.5″ $90
• 11.5″ x 16.5″ $150

What do you think of my idea? Or am I waaaaay off track?

I had just finished my painting and showed it to Peter. I wasn’t too happy with the colour choices, but it was okay overall. I was waiting for the obligatory praise, but this is what followed:

“It looks like a penis.”

Crap. It’s a budgie that looks like a… well … you know.

It’s annoying because:

• I spent a few hours finishing that painting, putting a lot of care into it.
• I didn’t envision the end product to be quite like this.

In the case of mistakes though, there’s no use dwelling on it.

Learning from my mistakes, so next time, I’ll need to:

• Check the drawing for inconspicuous items before painting.

But for now, I’ll stand back and laugh. (You can too!)

Back to the painting board.

**Please note. This painting will not be on sale for various reasons.**

As I reached for the black paint I took a second to think.

• Why am I trying to be perfect, imitating every scene without a mistake?
• Is there a reason for this? Are we conditioned to thinking that being perfect is the ultimate goal?

I don’t believe we should aim for perfection.

My paintings wouldn’t ‘POP’ if I used the exact colours.

They would blend into the Australian background, like the animals do; a mixture of greens and browns. This galah would have grey feathers.

It would be so boring if we all stayed between the lines and didn’t test the boundaries. There would be no excitement and no motivation to try something new.

Do you challenge yourself to do things you want, instead of what seems right in the eyes of perfection? Tell me in the comments!

After telling @LisaMilesBrady yesterday that I was planning to build a website for my paintings, she got me so excited that I had to make one asap.

So, as you do, without any thorough planning, I hopped onto wordpress.com and got myself a free website.

It isn’t anything special and unfortunately I can’t customise it the way I want to, but we’re (me and @PeterAhrens) are going to plan the whole she-bang after we’ve fully completed our photography website.

I’m scared, excited and a lot of emotions at once while I write this. I’ve been working hard at this for the most part of the day and almost forgetting to eat dinner.

Before I forget to welcome you to my website, thanks for coming by. Check out my paintings that are for sale in the Gallery.

If you’ve been putting anything off and there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do, in the words of Nike, seriously, ‘Just Do It’. Trust me, the feeling is awesome!