Commission Me for a Pet Portrait!
As my middle name suggests, it is the great "Joy" of my work to create custom pieces for clients. I love the process of honoring special things in a person's life, whether that be a pet or an original one-of-a-kind custom art piece that has significant meaning to someone.
Pet Portraits
If you have a pet that you'd like to honor (living or passed), I would love to co-create a masterpiece with you. I acknowledge that pets become integral parts of a family and by drawing them I feel honored to capture their light and spirit forever on canvas or paper. I work diligently to ensure the fur, smiles, spots and paws are as their family remembers.
How to Request a Commission
1) REFERENCE PHOTOS: Find a few great reference photos of your pet. The best photos from which I can work are clear and well lit with crisp detail of the face and fur (and collar, etc). There needs to be light reflecting in its eyes as well (think, a glint and sparkle!) - that way I can truly capture the spirit of the animal in the photo. Without light reflection, the eyes are not as "alive" as they can be and the portrait will not be as "realistic" in my capturing.
2) SIZING: At what size do you think you'll enjoy this portrait? The smallest portrait I can do is 5x7" (see Adak, the German Shepherd on the stairs below) and the largest I have done (so far!) is 20x30" (see the double boxer portrait at the top of this page). Personally, the best sizes for me to create are between 8x10" and 16x20". That's a good sweet spot for pricing versus completion time and detail captured. Of course, you may consider that you might want to frame the portrait which will add a few inches to the border.
3) MEDIUM: What medium that I've worked with resonates with you? I've worked in various combinations to create special portraits over the years and each medium offers a unique approach to portraiture. Here are your options and why you might choose each:
- Acrylic Heavy Body Paint: I've worked with this medium for 20 years and it has always been a favorite of mine. It's a gloriously buildable, thick, lively medium. It holds light well in the contrasted hues. I prefer to use acrylics for portraits of animals with shorter hair as the style of the medium lends its hand to the soft brushstrokes of the short fur patterns. Think, boxers, mastiffs, and French bulldogs. I have painted many long-haired dogs and cats with acrylic, but for those I truly prefer colored pencil.
- Colored Pencil: I started utilizing colored pencils as a child and specialized as an adult artist in them for portraits prior to later diving into acrylics. Pencil colorings are soft, sketch-like, and lighter in form, and excellent for allowing me to capture minuscule details in the muzzle and eyes and paws. Working with colored pencils is a little faster as well, so if you're hoping for a quicker turnaround time on your portrait, I recommend this medium. Pencils are great for any animals, but suited really nicely for golden retrievers, pointers, terriers, cats, afghan hounds, and bichons.
- Micropen Line Work with Marker and/or Colored Pencil: With pen, it's back to the beautiful basics! After completing a pencil sketch of the animal(s), I go over the line drawing with Faber-Castell micropen to formalize the line work and capture the details with hatching, cross hatching, and dots (pointillism!) alongside thousands of exacting lines! This creates a simple but striking black and white style portrait and is really lovely on its own. You can request color added with colored pencil, marker, and/or watercolor. This portrait is the fastest for me to complete if you're looking for a last minute gift.
- Watercolor Paint: This is such a lovely medium and offers its own positive attributes for portraits. It produces an ethereal, soft, almost glowing effect and is buildable from darks to lights which allows for the work to have incredible depth.
I recommend portraits in watercolor is you're looking for a dreamy style portrait that is not intensely focused on fur details. Details can be harnessed later with micropen or colored pencil on top as desired.
- Varnish: Each painting receives a double coat of Gamvar gloss varnish to lock in the hues and textures of the paint. For watercolor paintings, I varnish with Gabmlin Cold Wax Medium. For colored pencil drawings, I spray with Krylon Kamar Satin Varnish Spray.
Varnishes protect the work from oil, grease, dust, dirty, hair, dir, and sun damage for many years after completion. Please note that varnish protection claims refer to portraits that remain indoors only. It is recommended to frame the artwork in glass to further protect it.
4) BACKGROUND: After I complete the portrait in your preferred medium, I can add a background. You can request any background you like! Here's a general list of ideas:
- Single Hue: Request one single color of your choosing or let me add a color that I think fits the portrait best. You may notice that a lot of portraits have a blue background, that offers a complimentary hue to the browns and oranges of most of the dogs.
- Horizon Line with Shadows: This is a simple yet effective and eye catching way to place the animal in "space". This works best for full body portraits where the animal is seated/lying down.
- Abstract: If you like the colors of the background in your reference photo and how they frame your pet's face/body, I can replicate the colors in a soft abstract rendition of the reference picture.
- Natural Setting: I can paint, for example, a skyline of mountains or a backyard or a beach. In previous works, I've added night skies with constellations and window sills and Colorado mountains. These portraits work best on a larger canvas (9x12" or larger) where I can explore the background with visible details.
5) TIMELINE: Now that you've defined your request, let's talk schedule! As a working artist, I complete portraits on an as-needed basis and thus my schedule for completion varies throughout the year. Most portraits take between 2 weeks and 3 months to complete though paintings with acrylics take longer to complete than drawings. I charge a 25% surcharge for portraits requested with a <7 day turnaround time so please be mindful of your timeline.
6) PRICING: Pricing varies per portrait depending on size, medium, and timeline request.
Think you're ready to commission me? Then head over to the Contact Page and shoot me a message. Looking forward to hearing from you!