PET PORTRAITS

Commission a Portrait - by Melanie & Nicholas

Welcome to our blog – See what we are Painting Today!

We like to take photos of  us working on our paintings and drawings in stages and they are all posted here so that cleints can see how the artwork is progressing. Clients love to feel part of the process and this is almost like having them here in the studio with us watching us paint and draw. 

We always have a fairly long client list which you can see on the left hand side navigation. Our work is in demand so if you are looking to have a portrait completed by either of us, do get in touch as soon as possible to book your space. We work on a first come first served basis. 

If you’re on Facebook, please click our ‘like’ button below to keep up with more news from the studio and view photos of our portraits.We hope you enjoy our daily portraits in progress blog and please leave us comments we always love hearing from clients and readers alike. :)

We have been up early in the studio today, we have had hail and rain through the night and woke us up early so we have both been working in the studio for quite a while. Nick has been working on Ginny’s portrait and I have been doing some admin and client mock-ups. I hope to have a final scan of Ginny, possibly even later today!

Ginny's portrait in progress

Ginny's portrait in progress

A very quick post today to show the next stages of Ginys portrait, I hope you like it so far! Nick has been working on it today and he is a little ahead of this stage, so I will post some more up to date photos tomorrow and hopefully a final scan later this week.

Ginny's next stages

Ginny's next stages

Ginny's next stages

Ginny's next stages

The first good news is that Lockhearts photo has arrived from the cleint in the US yesterday and so Nick can get started painting asap! The photo was much clearer than the scan / email so we now have a large print to work from and I know the painting is going to be utterly fantstic. Im really looking forward to seeing it underway and i will of course take plenty of photos.

The second good news is that Ginny’s portrait is looking wonderful so far here in the studio and will be a lovely one for our cat portraits website. I have taken photos of the stages, Nick is a little further ahead than this, he did some work on it yesterday but these are fridays stages. Nick will complete Ginny before starting Lockheart and I will have a final scan along with more stages next week.

We are now going out into the garden as its a lovely day here – I know shock, horror the sun is actually shining! This is the first time the sun has really showed an appearance for a number of weeks and so we are going to take this opportunity to paint the outside of the packing shed. We have bought an understated green colour and I ll be sure to take photos! Have a good Sunday where ever you are!

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Ginnys First stages - 12 x 10 portrait in oils on canvas

Its been a very busy day here in the studio..and out of the studio too! We took a portrait to Jane the framers and then trundled off to the post office to post some portraits to the US. Its always the way that we end up visiting the post office with a collection of things to post but our postlady doesn’t mind, she is so lovely : )  She is called Polly and is superb at her job, shes never flustered, very calm and relaxed…even when we hold the queue up and it gets longer…and longer!

So if you can imagine the scenario, a lovely rural post office and me taking over the entire place with lots of portraits to post. One particular portrait was too large for the counter scales, so Polly has a large weiging scales that we can use on a desk to the side of the counter. Of course typically the parcel was to large to balance on the scales on the desk so heres me lifting the scales onto the floor and balancing a large parcel in the middle of the post office floor..getting on my hands and knees trying to read the readout. Very elegant! At least it entertained the post office queue while they were waiting : )  All of the portraits went off safely and should be in the US within 3 to 4 days.

I decided, and have actually been thinking about it for a while, that we need our own digital scales. Not your every day kitchen scales – postal scales! I ordered one on the net with a detachable front so I don’t have to clamber on the floor to read it and it should be here tomorrow. It goes up to 35kg so this way I can weight the parcels before I go which will be helpful when we have the courier to the studio to collect..and when we take the portrait to the post office, perhaps I wont have to hold the queue up so much!

As you can see below my cat portrait is now complete. its a tinted montage and im really pleased with the way it has turned out. I will hopefully be adding it to the website tomorrow into the cat gallery.

Tinted Cat Portrait by Melanie Phillips

Tinted Cat Portrait by Melanie Phillips

Nick has now completed the pastel portraits for our two previous clients and I am just about to scan them in and email them to our clients. I have also collected the portraits from Jane the framer of Millie and Digit. They look absolutly fabulous and im not just saying that, they really do look amazing here in the studio. I have taken some photos today, the weather outside is pretty dull so I have used the photography lights for lighting so I hope the photos do them justice.

First here is Millie and we have used a new moulding and I have not only added these photos to Millies gallery page but I have also added the new moulding to our framing page. We asked Jane to use this mouding when we re-framed our lovely Flaming June print by Lord Leighton earlier this year which hangs in our hallway (I really enjoy the preraphaelites).  The moudling is really beautiful and I think will work well with our clients Victorian style  home.

Millie on our mini easel

Millie on our mini easel

Framed Pet Portraits

Framed Pet Portraits

Next here is Digits portrait framed and photographed. This is the gold dots frame which is really popular at the moment and its accompanied by an inner linen slip. I have added Digits portrait framed to the gallery and framing section too : )  What a busy day! Its now nearly 6pm and i havent scanned the pastels yet so it looks like they will be done tomorrow now. More posts to follow soon!

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

Digit Framed in the Gold Dot moulding

The last couple of days have flown by and I have been doing a lot of admin and general jobs around the studio. This will be the first of a couple of blog posts today with news and updates and im starting with the new happy client photos that have come through.

The first is from Donna who emailed us a wonderful photo of the 30th birthday bbq and Michael holding the portrait of Al! I have added it to Al’s webpage and also onto our testimonials page too : )

Heres what Donna had to say about the portrait -

Hi Melanie,
Thank you so much for all your hard work. The BBQ for Michael’s 30th Birthday went really well. The weather was ok, at least dry ish. The portrait of Al was a great hit. Everyone was very impressed and Michael loved the portrait. Was an emotional moment as you know poor Al past away in February and you captured Al so well. Michael was delighted and we will enjoy the portrait for years to come, with Al with us mounted on the front room wall.
Here is a photo of Michael just after he opened the portrait.
Thanks again for your hard work and giving us such a special portrait. We love it
Donna Westbrook Michael Johnson

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

The next photos to arrive were from a cleint who commissioned Nick to paint two of her dogs, Monty and Sultan in 2011. You can read her testimonial below along with viewing the photos. I have added the photos to our testimonials page and their gallery pages too!

I’m sorry it has taken such a long time to send you these photos. As you can see the portraits have settled in very nicely in our study – not the grandest of rooms but it’s where I spend most of my time and it’s nice to have the boys close by!
Since losing Monty last July it’s been strangely comforting to see his painting in our room as dogs leave such a huge gap in our lives when we lose them. I still miss Sultan after 18 years!
Thank you for doing such a wonderful job in producing such fine portraits, both Roger and I are extremely grateful.
Keep up the good work and thank you for the warm welcome you’ve shown me when I’ve visited.
Kindest regards
Lynda

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

Happy Clients

Here is the final scan of Digit, a really stunning Pointer. I’m just about to add the portrait to our website and hopefully it will be off to Jane the framers this week! The cat montage will be added to the blog next, and while we are waiting for Lockhearts photos to arrive which shouldn’t be that long now, Nick will be starting two lovely dogs in pastel for previous clients so I will add those when they are complete too.

Pointer Pet Portraits by Nick Beall

Pointer Pet Portraits by Nick Beall

Madisons portrait is now back from the framers and its all packed and ready to go off on its journey to New York. Its a bank holiday weekend here in the UK so its a holiday weekend. We are taking the opportunity to work hard though as we are trying to catch up on some jobs here in the studio. I worked at my easel all week on the cat portrait, which I will scan soon along with nicks portrait of Digit which is now complete, so I have some admin, emails, mock-ups and teaching to catch up on.  I have also been doing a few more changes to the website, our main pet portraits website is pretty up to date now and over the next few weeks I will concentrate on the dog, cat and horse sites to bring them into line. There’s always something to do! Hope you like Madison’s portrait below : )

Madison Framed

Madison Framed

Madison Framed

Madison Framed

Madison Framed

Madison Framed

Here is the next stage of Digit! We have had a fabulous day in the studio, Nicks doing really well with Digit’s portrait and im hoping to have a final scan sometime over the weekend.

Also today I have put the final touches to the cat montage. I have tried to take photos for the blog but they haven’t come out very clear so I thought it would be best to wait until its complete. As soon as its scanned I will add it here!

Next stage of Digit

Next stage of Digit

Late night in the studio tonight, a busy day at our easels, and here are the next two stages of Digit : )

Next Stage of Digit

Next Stage of Digit

Next Stage of Digit

Next Stage of Digit

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