A quick look at my recent pastel pet portraits, all of which were commissioned as gifts.
As a pastel pet portrait artist, I absolutely love creating pastel pet portraits as gift. As a dog owner myself, I know what a thoughtful gift a pet portrait would make for any dog lover. They are timeless pieces of artwork, that captures not only the looks but the character of a most beloved pet. Great paintings of pets capture the true essence of the animal, in a way that portrays what makes them special.
Pastel Pet Portraits - Commissioning portraits of multiple pets
The first of two recent commissions was a pair of pastel pet portraits, of a springer spaniel and a staffie.
Here you can see the springer spaniel portrait, completed in pastels on pastelmat paper.
Here is the second pastel pet portrait of the pair. We chose photographs that were of similar poses, they both had little bow ties on and I used the same pastel background to ensure they worked nicely as a pair together. When wanting to commission portraits of multiple pets, there are a few options available, including portraits of them both together on the same page, merging different photos of them both together or having 2 separate, yet still matching portraits.
Both portraits were mounted in the same ice white conservation standard mounts and can be framed in the same design of picture frame to ensure they look harmonious on the wall next to one another. Both were in my 8x10 inch size, mounted to 10x12 inches.
Pastel Pet Portraits- Commissioning a Larger Pet Portrait
This is my next pastel pet portrait, this time of a black labrador, in a bigger size. This piece was also commissioned as a gift. I had been wanting to do a larger portrait for some time, and this commission definitely counted as larger, with this labrador coming in at pretty much life-sized. Commissioning a pastel pet portrait of this size means you do need a clear, very highly detailed photograph of your pet. The bigger the portrait, the clearer the photograph needs to be.
My client who commissioned this portrait said she loved this photo of her labrador, because his ears are forward and that means he is happy. It is very important to use a photo of your pet that you already love, one that shows not only what they look like, but their character too.
I for this pastel portrait used a grey background, we felt it would work nicely with the grey highlights for the sun on his fur and is a nice neutral colour for any decor. When working in pastels I generally use a dark grey pastelmat paper, this can then be coloured any colour that you wish.
I utilised pan pastels for filling in some of the earlier layers of this portrait. You can read more about this portrait coming to life here.
Pastel Pet Portraits - Border Collie Portrait
This little lady is one of my favourite portraits. She was commissioned as a house warming present.This border collie pastel pet portrait was created from a lovely photo, which I helped assist her owners in taking. Photographing any dog for a pet portrait can be a challenge, but puppies are another level! I sent her owners a link to my guide to taking photos of a puppy for a pet portrait blog post. This helped them take an absolutely lovely photo for me to work from.
If you are wanting to commission a portrait of your pet, why no learn more about the process here. It really is very simple, all you need is a high-quality image of your pet.
My name is Amy and I am a pet portrait artist, specialising in pastel pet portraits. I am based in Derbyshire but can work with you wherever you live and post worldwide.
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