Welcome!
Here you will find up to the minute news from the studio and see the pet portraits we are currently working on. You are more than welcome to contact us at any time!
petportraitartist@gmail.comTraditional Techniques
All of the paintings you see on our blog are commissions from clients worldwide. We traditionally hand paint or draw every pet portrait ourselves. There's no digital trickery involved! We start by drawing out the image by hand and follow on with painting in oils, pastel or in pencil and you can follow each stage we make here on the blog on a daily basis.Art Tution
If you would like information about our online distance learning courses in association with the London Art College, visit our tutoring page here
Art CoursesDraw Faeries Book
My first book is published! Its a Learn to Draw Faeries book published by New Holland Publishers. If you watch the video above I go through a few pages showing the content from creating the characters, learning to draw, working with mediums, looking at dark fairies, flower fairies, to creating digital artwork. It can be purchased from loads of places from Borders, Barnes & Noble to Waterstones!
Mar
11
Next stage of cat portrait in oils…..
March 11, 2010 | 4 Comments
This is the next stage of one of the cats portraits I have been working on. This one is slightly more forward than the other one and I think I’m going to continue working on it to completion and then move on to the other one. I am at a good stage now where I’m happy that they both match and the colours go well together.
We now have a training lead for Tom (50 foot) and we are taking him to a friend field this afternoon so I’m looking forward to seeing how he does on it. We need to work on his recall as he is ok in the house but as soon as he’s out and about there are always sooo many more wonderful noises, smells and things to see!
Mar
9
Happy Client Photos …..
March 9, 2010 | 4 Comments
These photos have just come through from a previous commission I did in 2009 of a dog called Sammy. It was a large 24 x 18 painting as you can see in the photo and the shininess you can see in the painting is the protective sheet I include with the portrait. They are wonderful photos and just perfect for the website. In fact I have added them already!
Mar
9
Update on Tom….
March 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Toms getting on well, he’s been with us three weeks today and is much more settled and happy, and we are happier too, as we are getting to understand him, finding out what he understands and what he needs to be taught.
He has learnt a lot already and I have moved on from getting him to sit and wait when I put food down, to sit, lay down, wait and I can now put the bowl on the floor and move away before giving the command to eat. When I give the command he skids across the kitchen floor! We have him on a new food now too which has been recommended to us, Nature Diet which is full of goodness and protein, no nasties in it whatsoever, and I think its filling him up a little more. He is still having some biscuits along with it and I think he’s put on a little weight this week which is good news and he doesn’t seem as ravenously hungry as when he first arrived. I have added a few more photos in his slideshow, just click on the picture below : )
Mar
4
Cat Portraits in Oils
March 4, 2010 | 10 Comments
These portraits of Ebony and Smoki were started back in January, however I fell behind with work from the Christmas backlog and had to put them on hold to get a bit caught up. Finally breathing a bit of a sigh of relief as the client list is actually getting much more organised and I am now where I was supposed to be a couple of months ago : ) These portraits are in oils on canvas to the size of 18 x 14 and the client is also having two prints as well which Diane will create for us on her professional giclee printer in her gallery.
I have reposted the initial stages I did in January, just so that you can see them to keep them in a block. The photo of Smoki was taken on a garden table however the client requested for him to be sat on the wall, which I completely agreed upon as it allows both portraits to become a pair. I have painted the background of each very similar, and hopefully they will be presented so that the cats will be looking towards each other, allowing the purple hues to be in the centre of the composition. I think this is quite an aesthetically pleasing composition and when creating two portraits you don’t just have to think about them as individual pieces, but them being as ‘one’.
I will hopefully be posting the next stages just after the weekend. I am working on them both at the same time, so that I can get a feel of continuity through both paintings and the colours and tones too, so it will be slightly longer between stages on the blog.
Mar
3
Chesapeake Pet Portraits Montage Pencil Drawing
March 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Having been a little behind due to being unwell over the weekend I haven’t had a chance to catch up with my blog. I had been working on a Chesapeake pet portrait montage drawing while I was working on Samantha’s oil painting during the drying stages and the portrait of ‘Looks’ is now complete and packed up ready to send to the client in Norway.
I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the portrait, I think the montage pencils have to be one of the most exciting portraits to create as there is so much going on within the scene its always refreshing working on them. I also think with every montage I do the more expressive and exciting they get. It does depends on the photos and if you are thinking about commissioning one of my montage drawings, try to take as many photos of your dog doing different things as possible, good quality photos are essential. I hope you like the portrait below : )
Mar
2
Feeling unwell with a bug….
March 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know why its been quiet on the blog these last few days. I have had a bug and have been unwell over the weekend, and just getting back on my feet. The bug seems to be sweeping the UK fortunately Nick didn’t get it but we know so many people who have so I hope you are all keeping well. I have started blocking in the cat portraits and will post them hopefully tomorrow.
Mar
1
Happy Clients Photo ……
March 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment
This is a lovely photo taken by the client when they gave the portrait to the recipient for her birthday. The family commissioned me to paint Charlie for them as a surprise gift and I am so grateful when clients take photos when they have opened the painting as it really allows me to be part of the giving process.
Happy St Davids Day too!
Feb
28
Portrait of Ted – Portrait Painting Creations
February 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
This portrait has been on and off my easel for a while. The client commissioned me back in January and requested it for a specific deadline – March 8th for her husbands birthday. This is the painting creation – all the stages and the final scan along with some details of the painting. The portrait is a 16 x 12 oil on linen of a dearly departed dog called Ted. Hope you like it!
This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery
Feb
24
Tom…our new rescue dog!
February 24, 2010 | 8 Comments
Id like to introduce you to our new rescue dog Called Tom! He is a one year old Sheltie x (collie we think) and is just over a year old. We have had him six days so far and they have been pretty eventful for both him and us. He is an angel in the house, he is very gentle and polite and I have added a page on our about us section of the website which you can get to by clicking the images below. There you can read about where we rescued him and how he ended up with us.
We are pretty tired at the moment as we are getting up in the night with toilet training but hopefully he will gradually get into a routine. He has settled in well, and at this precise moment while writing, he is laying in the studio chewing his rawhide chew very happily – one of the many new things we have taught him. We have introduced him to toys – he didn’t know how to play, we took him to the beach and we don’t think he has been to a beach before and now absolutely loves the water…and he knows what a hose is in the garden and we have some great footage of him chasing the water from the hose.
We hope that he will develop into a lovely dog, he has a superb nature already and so its wonderful to work with him, he needs a lot of training but we have a superb trainer friend in Scotland at the end of the phone k9 harmony who will be helping us through the difficult areas.
I will add more updates of Toms progress as the weeks go by and will add more photos to his page too.
Feb
18
Samanthas Portrait…..Portrait Painting Creation!
February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment
This is my latest painting to come off the easel, it is a large painting at size 18 x 24 in oils on Linen of a lovely dog who has sadly passed away called Samantha. The painting has taken a good few weeks on and off to paint, with some drying stages in between. For me the eyes were the best part to paint on this as they are so loving, she has a very kind and happy feel to her face. She will hopefully be packed up and sent early next week, she’s off to the US and I am looking forward to seeing how the client frames the painting.
This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery
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