Early stage of mural process.

Evan Schmidt’s rain catching sculpture. Amazing!

Myself with Linzy Miggantz enjoying the Arty Party

As Gary Pletsch moved into his neighborhood, he knew he wanted to make a positive impact on his new community. A contribution to beautify the West End neighborhood is what he wanted to do to show others care. So, in the tradition of the East End Event that took place annually in the Regent Square/ Wilkinsburg area, Gary decided to throw an annual Arty Party in his new neighborhood in the West End. This year’s party will featured site specific sculpture and art from a variety of artist friends, including myself.

Here I am getting so close to finish.  Nellie, on the right, has a cream based coat.  To make her fur really outstanding, I am layering in the many color undertones such as blues, greens, yellow ochers, crimsons, that I am finding in the the subtleties of her fur.  Later, l will add layers of highlights in her cream coat.

This pet portrait is of Casper and Nellie. They are two very beloved dogs. This is the most current painting I am working on. I am excited about it; it is going very well. I have had a rough go in the beginning for this work of art. One day after I spent the night meticulously drawing out the composition, a wind burst blew through my studio, knocking this painting onto the floor. When I ran into my studio, this is what I saw below. I really could not believe it, a rip in the canvas. So, it was back to drawing board for real for me. Equipped with a new canvas, redrawn, you can see the work in progress above. More updates to be expected very soon!!!!

Getting closer to completion. The cats are developing nicely. I am bringing in more purples, roses, and blues. Just a little more definition on these three animals and this pet portrait will hanging beautifully in its new home.

In this painting, Vegas, a Harlequin Great Dane, is seated in the center with playful Sunny and Pinky in between his front paws. He is an amazingly beautiful spotted Great Dane. I love his face, so much pattern, color, and personality. Vegas is certainly developing well. Next in line are the two cats. More to come on their development soon!

Today I just finished adding the finishing touches to Buck’s portrait. I love looking at this painting in the sunlight. All of the colors really radiate beautifully together in the natural lighting. I cannot wait until this painting goes to its owners. I think they will be very pleased when they see it in person. I added a soft red hue to the left to add a sense of depth and warmth. Love it!!

Here is Buck really coming together nicely. I plan to soften his fur a touch more, add more highlights, and deepen the shadows. A touch of color here and there and then there’s pasta. Buck’s mom says he loves pasta. So to personalize the painting even more, I am going to include a pasta pattern in his bandanna. More to come as I am in the studio right now finishing this piece.

With the beautiful sunlight filtering into my studio today, painting seems to happen with so much ease. With Buck’s portrait here, I have given the painting an under painting of a warm yellow ocher with a touch of crimson. I usually paint directly onto a white canvas; however, I recently became inspired by another portrait painter here in Pittsburgh, Peggi Habets, to give this technique a try again.

Since Buck is full of beautifully dark brown fur, I am challenging myself to bring in a range of many interesting hues from the color field to give this painting a sophisticated and rich palette. I am excited to see the results.

I love this painting. Just completed Sonny’s portrait this week. The deep orange and red background really give this painting a lot of zest. What a handsome kitten, sure to warm the hearts of his owners for Christmas.

“Thank you again for the painting, Joe absolutely loves it! I can’t even describe how perfect it is. I tried to get a quick shot of Sonny with it, which I attached. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and thank you again! ”

Betsy, Pittsburgh.

Beautiful Sonny, my goodness is he is cutie. I am in love with the totally endearing look on his face. Just a kitten, you can see how little he is compared to his toy mouse. This is a work in progess that I am just can not stop painting. I made this composition a close up of the original picture to really capture the intimate quality of the moment. Love the pink little nose and the reflection of Sonny’s eyes. He’s a keeper!! Another update soon…

Sonny’s original photograph.

I worked on this beautiful Red Eyed Tree Frog as part of a community mural art piece as a part of the Roving Art Cart with Citipark’s at Riverview Park, Pittsburgh, PA. These art pieces are on display at the City County Building in Pittsburgh. I carefully designed this community art piece at home by drawing out a large shaped composition. When we arrived at the park, we invited participants to paint on the canvas. I lead the new painters by giving them color and an area to fill in, all the time giving mini art lessons on painting, blending, types of brush strokes, and mixing colors. Some very interested painters even help in figuring out what colors go where. What a blast! It is incredible to see how much paint we accomplished in three hours! Now the big question, where will this awesome work of art be seen in Pittsburgh?
See more pictures of the work in progress….

It is incredible to see what people can do when they work together. This was all done in three hours of painting!!

Some young painters assist in the project.

I love my job!

This beautiful pet portrait is of Sophie, a super sweet Yorkie living in Louisiana. The colors naturally appearing in her fur allowed for a great deal of artistic interpretation in adding a multitude of yellow ochers, crimsons, thalo blues, even olive greens. I had a great time painting her portrait. The colors seems to flow off of the palette and onto my brush spilling onto the canvas with great ease. It is great to have this experience when painting, when everything just feels right. As for the background, I tend to wait for the painting to develop first, then allow the color for the background to come to me rather than chasing after one to “fit”. One night right before I was getting ready to fall asleep, I “saw” the finished version of this painting in my head complete with a light green background. It was what was needed and it works! I love when the process works this naturally! I am in the process of researching for a really good printer to purchase to make prints of my painting. If anyone has good recommendations, please let me know.

Pet portraits: Jeremiah and Dakota, Rough Collies

These two absolutely beautiful collies were great to paint. I love the composition with the two collies side by side with the ruby background.

Collie portrait, Jeremiah and Dakota, a work in progress.

Jeremiah and Dakota, original photograph.

Pet Portraits: Jingles and Charlie, what a handsome pair!

Portrait work in progress.

Original photo

Original photo

Monty’s pet portrait final image. In this painting, I really wanted to highlight all of the subtle tonalities of color in Monty’s fur- alizarin crimson, yellow ochre, a variety of blue. I love his expression.

Monty’s pet portrait preview

The very beginning stage

The original photo

Bailey’s final pet portrait.

Bailey’s preview clearly shows the next step to be painted, her body area. The background will have a overcast of hunter green allowing the under painting of lime yellow to shine through around Bailey’s face.

I used a combination of these two photos to create a composite image for the final composition above.

Bridgette’s final portrait

Bridgette is looking quite lovely here with a fuller coat and a beautifully warm background. I have been layering in some crimson and yellow ocher tones in the background to surround Bridgette color to reflect her sweet and warm personality. That is exactly what is needed in this frigid cold night, a beautiful dog like Bridgette to cuddle up with. My brushes needed some beautiful reds as well. I am going to let Bridgette’s portrait sit to the side to let it dry for a few days. In the meantime, I’ll go back and add a few finishing touches here and there. Its when the painting is sits that my eyes continue to go back to it to make it just right. She should be ready to go home by the end of next week. Bridgette might even be paying my studio a visit to check out her portrait live in the fur. I hope she likes it!!!

Those big brown eyes are pools one could get lost in. This pet portrait is of Bridgette, a German Shepard/ Chow mix. Her Grandmother is having her portrait done as a gift for Bridgette’s mother. Her special features are her big, warm, eyes, and gentle and sweet soul. What a lovely girl. I am spending quite a bit of thought on creating the perfect background for such a sweetheart. It is to be just right just for her. Interested in seeing the results? Come visit this entry in about two weeks.

Bridgette’s original photo, so cool in the shade!

Alice and Trixie

Beautiful Tabor

This lovely horse is a painting for my friends, Mara and John Roberts at Sterling Printing. This past summer I had a wonderful visit to their barn where we had a blast photographing the horses. I am completely inspired to do a series of horse paintings.

Here is some information about this baby from Mara. “His name is Champion. He is a purebred Arabian with parentage originiating from the Polish stud (stud meaning a breeding farm). I think he is six or seven years old . He is a Bay Gelding and born on the farm. We have his parents as well. Very sweet natured, easy to work with and likes humans. He will be one of our future Therapeutic Riding mounts. And as you can attest, he is not camera shy!” Thanks Mara!!! Check out more of the beauties below.

Sigh, I miss the summer already.

So, how does a photo go from a photo to a full fledged painting you ask. Well, this is a super condensed insight to inside world of my easel and hours and hours of meticulous labors of love. It all begins with a good photo. This precious little beauty is Diamond. She visited my studio this summer for a photo session for her own pet portrait. I met her humans, Greg and Amy, at the Animal Friend’s Mutt Strutt. Just look at her, she is just begging to have herself captured in paint and immortalized forever and ever. Just look at that expression, that is a smile of a happy dog!

This is the beginning phase where I spend time figuring things out. What goes where, shadows, highlights, browns, blues, yellow ochers, and all the shades that come between. Doing this has taught me the word patience. Sometimes I just want to see the work at its end phase right at the beginning. That just doesn’t work. When climbing a mountain, you can’t start at the top. Its a slow steady climb from the bottom-up.

She’s really looking good here. I really loved painting this portrait, especially since the original photo was so clear. Ah-hem. I took it myself.

This is the near final stage of our beautiful Diamond. She has great energy, it is only suiting that her background color embody her vibrant, youthful spirit. I love that neon lime green on a dark furred dog. I just wish I could really convey the way this painting looks in person over the web. It looks GREAT!!

The Final Product! Beautiful! Beautiful!

Yes, do not attempt to adjust your screen. That is a giant letter D with dogs painted on it. This summer I was asked by Citiparks of Pittsburgh to create a nifty design for an eight foot high giant D as part of their Storywalk celebration in Frick Park. After much consideration, it was obvious that this towering letter should be covered in floating orange, blue, purple, and pink dogs. Its for the kids! As a bonus, I also asked the 300+ kids who visited my station to draw a picture of their favorite dog to tack up on the large D. Their drawings were a hoot!

I especially loved the drawings done by a group of little Korean girls (not pictured) who pretty much corner the market when it comes to drawing anything cute.

Looking good! I added the antenna, the final layers of burnt sienna to the dark area in the wings, filled in the blue/gray “wing drops” at the bottom, and gave a final layer to the background to this commissioned butterfly painting.

Here is a bit of background information on this “butterfly”. It is actually inspired by the Zodiac Moth, the only member of this genus of eleven day-flying species to occur in Australia. The wings are black with coppery green tones and purplish pink iridescent bands. I actually skipped the layers of green and alternated with layers of sienna to create a warmer look. The Zodiac is native to Papua New Guinea and northeastern Australia, but she is will be migrating to Michigan this year!

I know it is the beginning of November and I am painting a butterfly; that is fine with me. I know the butterflies are on their merry way to Mexico or some other warm place. They have the ability to live carefree and take off for the season. Unless they are a little confused with the fact that it was eighty degrees in Pittsburgh in October, maybe some decided to stay. I doubt it though. Anyway, here in Zapata Studios, I have been working on this painting for a wonderful woman in the Detroit area. Apparently, her wedding theme was butterflies. She saw my butterfly series on the web and picked up the phone to give me a call to ask if she could have one done for her house. Would I to deny such a flattering request? Never! Plus, as the days turn gray, its totally energizing to look at such a colorful piece.

Creating a positive energy through visual means was the intention of my original butterfly series. Each piece was painted with the intention to uplift, inspire, and to bring positive energy to the atmosphere of the room in which it would be displayed. So far they work wonderfully. I do have to admit, they are not all butterflies. Some are moths. I’ll get more into that later. I have work to do!

I love this painting. The loose brush strokes and uplifting colors create a fabulous composition of Pixie and Magnum. I made a few subtle changes since the last update. Magnum’s fur around his eyes and bridge of his nose are much softer now. His back paw is just peeking out behind Pixie. I deepened the color of the couch behind his to add more of a contrast behind his soft wheaten coat. One can tell from their soft gazes that these two are real sweet hearts. I am very happy with the out come of this painting, I can’t wait for its owners to see it in person!! See the work in progress…

Pixie and Magnum, the final stage. This is such a fun portrait. Pixie and Magnum have such loving personalities, it really shows through on this painting. Soft and subtle lighting from a window behind them and to the left offers an interesting effect on these two pups. I am interested to hear their family’s comments! See the process… (more…)

These two are just so adorable. I intensified the background color and added more yellow to the green above the dogs while adding reflections of the yellow/green in the blue ground below. Also, in this painting especially in Sienna the darker dog, her fur has a velvety appearance to it. So I added more shadows and hues of crimson and yellow ocher in areas. I just love this painting! I wish I had an actual sized canvas replica of each pet portrait I have done in the past because it would be great to see them all together. But now they are off, like baby birds leaving the nest. They must go. I simply do not have enough wall space for them all. I can’t wait for Winston and Sienna’s humans to see this in person! See more of the work in progress by clicking on the read more link!!!!

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This summer, I have been working with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts to create the Endangered Species Community Art Series. This gorgeous macaw painting was created by participants at the North Side Community festival. Adults and children had the opportunity to paint on a giant pre-drawn canvas to complete this painting. Check out the images of the process.

During the painting process, I create opportunities to show people painting techniques such as how to hold a brush, how to use a brush to paint clean lines, shading, and blending.

I helped children and adults by giving them colors and areas to fill.

The original drawn canvas.

I love this mural. Sea Turtles are very special. They are endangered species with such gentle souls. I love learning about them and watching them swim. They are so graceful and serene. I designed this Sea Turtle mural in a paint by number fashion with no numbers, just colors. Participants filled in areas with acrylic paint. People of all ages, from toddlers to adults were excited to be a part of this large scale painting. People tend loose their inhibitions and become part of a larger project with others. It is a great joy to see this. This awesome mural was created at the South Side Works with support from National City Bank and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

3′ X 9′ acrylic on gallery canvas. See the work in progress.

Children working on the mural. It was great!

It turns out that Bisbee’s family really likes the colorful painterly background. That is great. I have also added more body to Bisbee’s coat and deeper, darker tones in the shadows of the fur. I also added the white highlights to Bisbee’s chin area. What do you think? See the original image and the work in progress. (more…)

A painter’s work is never done. After much consideration, I decided, along with Merry’s owner, that this painting really needed to have more pink. Merry really loves pink and the painting simply would not be complete without it! So, I went back to the easel and added a glaze of pink over areas to make it much warmer in appearance. I am very happy that I did. The result is a more vibrant painting. See the work in progress… (more…)

This little cutie is Rock Enzo. This painting is of him after just being born. Wow! And yes, he had that much hair! This painting is intended to be a gift to his mother for her birthday. Coupled with the fact that this is the day of Rock’s birth, I think this is complete heaven! See his actual photo… (more…)

Zero, the Bull Terrier, was painted as a gift from my friend Leighann of the dog barkery, WAG, in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, for her friend, Richard, of the South Bank Gallery in Pittsburgh’s South Side. This charming Bull Terrier was captured in bold and florescent colors creating a uniqueand interesting work of art! See the Zero’s pet portrait work in progress… (more…)

This collage is of my Grandmother, Connie Trenga. She is such an amazing and strong woman. She is from a school who still believes you should get to know your neighbors, send them plates of dinner when you have plenty to give, and take time out to talk over food. This is a picture of her when she was in her twenties. She was a a real heart-throb. Her influence on my life is immeasurable and its effects are still being discovered.

This collage piece is based upon my father, Alberto Zapata, experiences growing up in Pittsburgh as a Mexican American in the 40-50s. He had lived with multiple family members at the same time. This is a photo of him with his cousin, Mary Rose. I used needle and thread to hand stitch the paper pieces together creating a book like appearance. My family was proud. Because they were not rich, they worked hard to piece together a good life together as a family, sharing in responsibilities, such as helping to raise each other’s children. His life was like a quilt, a lot of worn, weathered pieces put together by a labor of love. The result was a solid life experience with such depth and mysteries still being discovered. My father passed away September of 2006, less than a year ago. I still think sometimes that he has not called in a while, I’m due to hear from him any minute. Then I remember and say a prayer.

This collage is called The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The first image on the left represents the Holy Ghost, a mystery, impermanence, and absense of sometimes categorized of fathers. Next is the son, a boyhood image of my father while he is riding on a donkey that used to be paraded in the East Liberty Streets for the children to ride. Last is the Holy Ghost. This is a tie-in to my father’s devout Catholic religious beliefs. This dedication to faith is admirable and inspirational to me.

This collage is of my Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother throughout the three phases of their lives. Their love is passed on in each generation.

This is collage that I am still working on. Its meaning, I am not sure of yet.

This is a collage of Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican revolutionary who brought empowerment to the indigenous farmers. He is a symbol of strength and pride to all of Mexico.

Tula, the finished work. I think this painting is especially endearing. It must me the warmth of Tula’s eyes. The yellow background really showcases the warm browns in Tula’s fur. This is a great piece. I cannot wait for her owner to see it in person. See the work in progress… (more…)

See the process of this painting. (more…)

Josie, the gorgeous bulldog mascot of MCN Salon in the Strip District of Pittsburgh. Zapata Studios, Pittsburgh.
See Josie’s portrait in progress and her big night at the Carnegie Museum of Art…. (more…)

Finally, the finished pet portrait of Sophie. Now this painting is on its way to Harrisburg to suprize its new owner. I am anxious to hear the reactions! Interested in seeing how this painting developed… (more…)