About Melanie Phillips – Pet Portrait Artist

My Journey as a Pencil Portrait Artist

I have been drawing pets in pencil for over 28 years now and it is still something I genuinely love to do. I trained in Natural History Illustration at art college have worked in all of the different mediums available, but even from those early days at school, I have just loved working in graphite. Plus of course I have always loved animals, so it's wonderful to get to draw them every day.

All of my pet portraits are hand drawn using graphite pencils on Arches watercolour paper. I build up my drawings gradually in layers, working on the portraits as a whole rather than in sections. This allows me to compare and contrast tones and highlights to keep everything balanced.

While Nicholas creates our oil paintings, I am the artist behind all of the pencil drawings you see in our galleries — including my Life Story portraits, which combine multiple poses and memories of the same pet into one composition. I have been creating these since 2006 and they remain some of my most personal and meaningful commissions.

Natural History Illustration Training

Here is where it all started! I first did a foundation course at Carmarthen Art College, which gave me a solid grounding. I covered all the bases from graphic design, history of art, life drawing, sketching and sculpture, to creating huge paintings and charcoal drawings on large sheets taped to the wall. All essential practice elements that make you unafraid of creating. It really was an eclectic mix of art genres all crammed into one year.

From my Foundation Course, I was lucky to be accepted onto the Natural History Illustration Course at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. This was where I met Nicholas! Little did we know that our Natural History Illustration Course was to be one of the last years the college would run it. Technology, time and a fast changing world meant there were fewer illustrators and fewer jobs in our field of study. When you think about how much has changed since the early 1990s, especially with technology, it's not surprising.

So, upon graduating and having our end of year exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London, both Nicholas and I moved back to Wales where we could start our pet portraits business.

Teaching and Working with The London Art College

I joined London Art College in 1998 and it has been one of the longest running relationships of my professional life. It started with teaching. I wrote and taught the Pet Portrait course, then the Coloured Pencil course and two courses for younger artists. In the early 2000s, the college was having website difficulties and I offered to help. What followed was quite a project. I took over the running of the whole site, redesigned and grew it. I built an online area where students could upload their work and launched a student forum so people could connect and converse with each other. This was all quite pioneering for an art college at the time.

Over the years, my own pet portrait work grew busier and I eventually handed the courses over to other tutors so I could focus on commissions. The student forum was eventually retired as Facebook groups took over that role. I now help run those too. Today my work with the college centres on the weekly art challenge I run for students, providing technical support to both students and tutors, and posting on the blog weekly. I have been part of that community for over 26 years and I still love it.

This photo was taken in our living room as part of one of the weekend art challenges I was setting for the students. Although our own business keeps me busy, I still love being part of the London Art College team. It's a real privilege to share knowledge with aspiring art students.

A Country Childhood in Wales

I grew up on a smallholding in Wales, surrounded by animals. Chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, geese, a goat, pigs, piglets, cows, calves, sheep and lambs. Although I have to say the Male goose was pretty mean and I was quite scared of him as a child. Not to mention the time we had the huge cockerel who ruled the whole yard...literally! All of the animals had names, I would even tame the neighbours cows who sometimes came to graze the fields. The neighbouring farmer nicknamed me Miss Doolittle. The animals were my best pals and I was in my element.

With 15 acres to roam, I spent my days building camps and damming the stream to make ponds for the ducks. My favourite chickens following me around for the corn I had in my pocket! It was a fantastic childhood that shaped my deep connection with animals and the love of painting and drawing them.

I have added a few old photos from when I was small. There were no digital photos back then, so these are all scanned slides. You could say vintage!

We still live in Wales, not far from where I grew up. Our garden is a little slice of heaven and we try to improve it every year. Head over to our cottage and garden page to find out more.

Our Little Welsh Cottage

Nicholas and I live in a little 350 year old Welsh cottage made of stone and slate, in the heart of the Welsh countryside and we absolutely love it here. The photo was taken in our living room at Christmas 2021 — warm, peaceful and full of character.

If you visit our old welsh cottage page you will see photos of the inside in various areas and we explain how it was all renovated. It has taken us many years to get it how we wanted it. Saving up for the next set of work, all the while working on our paintings and drawings. When we moved in we worked from our spare bedroom. In 2014 we had a workshop shed built in our garden to use for storage during one of the ground floor renovations. Once that was complete it was perfect for converting to a studio. You can read more about our studio on our Studio and Materials page.

We have renovated the cottage to bring back its natural charm, and we enjoy every minute of life in this special place.

Running and the Great Outdoors

One of my favourite hobbies is running. I head out with friends for local runs along the lanes and roads and I love exploring the countryside with Nicholas. This photo shows Lily and I on the coast near Stackpole in Pembrokeshire — one of our favourite spots.

It's the perfect way to clear the mind and take in the beauty of the Welsh landscape.

Favourite Walks

One of our favourite places to visit is Bosherston Lakes in Pembrokeshire. It’s about an hour’s drive from home, but it’s always worth the trip, especially in the summer. This photo was taken on one of the little footpaths winding around the ponds, with Lily in tow as always!

It’s a peaceful, beautiful spot, perfect for recharging and enjoying nature — something we never take for granted.

Capturing the Welsh Landscape

I really enjoy photography when I'm out and about. I use either my iPhone 13 Pro Max or our Canon EOS RP camera that we normally use for photographing our artwork. It's nice to grab a few shots just for the joy of it.

There's so much beauty in the everyday, especially when you take the time to really look.

Ready to Commission Your Pet Portrait?

I hope you've enjoyed learning about my journey as a pet portrait artist and getting a glimpse into life here in rural Wales with Lily. Every pet has a unique personality, and I'd love the opportunity to capture your beloved companion's character in pencil.

Ready to get started? I'd love to hear about your pet and discuss how we can create a beautiful portrait together.