Answers to your pet portrait questions
I get asked lots of questions about different aspects of my pet portrait business. You’re always welcome to get in touch and ask but equally you may find helpful answers to some frequently asked questions here.
General
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The best thing to do if you would like me to draw a picture of your dog or cat or any animal for that matter, is simply get in touch.
Let me know what size portrait you are thinking of, and whether it’s a head and neck, or full body portrait.
If you’re not sure, you can take a look at my size and price guide, and get some ideas from my galleries of dogs, cats and other animals.
My home page will also give you a helpful overview of how I will work with you to create a beautiful pet portrait that’s just right for you.
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My commission queue is usually a few months long, but it gets longer in the lead up to Christmas. I will be able to give you a rough estimate of when I might start when you make a booking enquiry. Basically, the sooner you book the better!
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depending on the size, pet portraits can cost anything from around £50 to hundreds, even thousands, of pounds. This price chart will give you a good idea of how much different sizes might cost. Having a background or more than one pet in the picture will increase the price. Postage and packaging is extra.
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A really good pet portrait captures the unique character of your pet, and also something of the bond you have with them. They must be instantly recognisable and evoke the sense of connection you have with your pet.
A good portrait will capture the light in their eyes, the texture and shading of their fur, as well as their particular pose and expression.
I love doing all this with a highly realistic but warm style that seeks to capture almost every strand of fur.
Photographs can be really good, but a drawing can often capture and recreate an even greater degree of detail and a broader range of colours, textures and tones.
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Yes, my pet portraits can have backgrounds to them, although the increase in price will reflect the extra work involved.
I would usually recommend a pastel pet portrait if you would like a background as that gives the most options, especially if you want a blurred background/depth of field effect.
Please contact me to talk about what sort of background you were thinking of.
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It can take anywhere from several hours to several weeks to complete a pet portrait. It depends very much on the size and complexity of the picture. A mini 4 inch by 4 inch head and shoulders portrait can take up to a day while a large A2 portrait with a background can take well over a week.
The other factor to keep in mind is pet portrait artists are often in great demand and have long waiting lists, so it pays to book early. Feel free to get in touch to enquire about a commission.
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Some clients commission me to do more than one pet portrait. They either like the first one so much they want to commission me for another, or they order more than one first time.
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The cheapest option is currently a mini-portrait which is 4 inches by 4 inches. It’s big enough for a small head and shoulders portrait and makes a great gift. At the moment it comes with a free frame too while stocks last.
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Yes that is not a problem! I love working in colour but I have also created some black and white drawings of both pets and wildlife. Get in touch and I would be happy to discuss how I can create the best picture or portrait for you.
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Pet portraits are a great gift to give someone because they are so unique. People love their pets and so really value and enjoy a high quality portrait of them. They make the perfect gift for someone who has everything, or doesn’t want much, because they are so personal and mean so much to people.
What’s more, the range of sizes and prices means you will always be able to find something suitable.
The only challenge, if you want to make it a surprise, can be getting a good reference photo but that’s usually not too difficult as many people post lots of pictures of their pets online. Facebook and Instagram are good places to discretely start looking. Or sometimes friends and family have some great photos so it’s worth asking around a bit too.
I’ve written more about why people love pet portraits in my blog. Here are some more great gift ideas for cat lovers and dog lovers.
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If you would like to have a picture with more than one pet that’s absolutely possible.
If you have a picture of them all together in the poses you want, that’s great, but it can be a bit tricky to capture. In which case, I can work with separate individual photos of each pet and arrange them together in a way that looks right.
Usually they are separated on the paper, but sometimes it’s possible to have them more together. It depends a bit on the perspective and lighting in the photos.
For compositions with more than one subject, I would recommend a slightly larger picture. Certainly no smaller than 10x8 inches or A4.
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I’d love to start teaching soon as I feel I’ve learnt so much over the last few years about drawing pets and other animals. I plan to create a Patreon account soon so if you are interested, let me know or subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll keep you informed about that side of my business and when I start teaching.
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I currently use Squarespace as it was easy to set up a good looking website with a blog and shop. I’ve written more about my new site here.
Reference photos
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A good reference photo for a pet portrait artist to work from will be taken in good lighting conditions, with the eyes clearly visible. It will be high resolution so that it shows lots of the fine detail of the fur. It should be in focus, and the pet should be in the pose that you want in the final portrait. Check out my reference photo page for more tips on taking or choosing a great photo.
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I can usually add in small missing parts of your pet if they have been cropped in the reference photo or are obscured by something. Having other photos can help me do this.
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Sometimes it is possible to add a collar or name tag to a portrait if I have other pictures to work from. Adding a name to a collar tag is usually possible but a collar can be more difficult because of the way it interacts with the fur.
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One of the most rewarding (as well as the most challenging!) things about my job is taking an old photograph of a much loved but departed pet and creating a highly detailed artwork from it.
If you scan in an old photo or take a photograph in good lighting, I would be happy to take a look and see if I can turn it into a pet portrait.
Materials
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I use pastelmat to draw most of my portraits on. It comes in a variety of shades and sizes but it’s the quality of the surface that I like most of all. It holds a good amount of colour and allows me to work with many layers of pencil. The surface texture also helps create really soft looking fur.
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Coloured pencils allow for a high level of detail but are harder to blend, while pastel pencils are much easier to blend, and can give more intense colours, but can have slightly less detail. They also need a little more care taken with them in order to prevent unwanted smudging. Pastels are great for larger portraits and ones with backgrounds.
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As well as good quality paper and pencils, I often use a slice tool to remove a thin layer of colour, revealing the colour underneath.
I don’t tend to use blending medium or burnishing pencils. I just use coloured pencils and build up the layers until I am happy with the way it looks.
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I have used both acrylic and oils for various projects, but I have not used them so far for pet portraits.
I have enjoyed working with acrylics in the past but I find they don’t really suit my realistic style of pet portrait.
It’s hard to beat the way coloured pencils and pastel pencils can capture and express the texture of fur, but I will keep practicing using oils and perhaps one day I’ll create pet portraits with them.
Timescales
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You will usually need to book up several weeks or even months in advance to be sure of getting a commission in time for Christmas. This is because they make such excellent presents.
It’s always worth getting in touch and asking though, as you never know.
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My style is highly realistic, where I sometimes seek to draw almost every strand of hair. While a small 4 inch by 4 inch mini-portrait can take a day or so, to complete a large A2 sized artwork with a full background can take up to two weeks.
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Sometimes, when my waiting list is not too long, it’s possible to get a smaller portrait quite quickly. It is best, however, to get in touch as early as possible if you have a particular date or timescale in mind.
Postage and packaging
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I take great care to make sure my pet portraits are packed really well so they don’t get damaged in transit.
It’s also important to me that the packaging looks beautiful and matches the high standard and quality of the artwork itself. It depends a bit on the size but usually your picture will come in a quality presentation box along with a certificate of authenticity, and some helpful care and framing information.
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It depends a lot on the size and where it’s being shipped to but it’s usually around £10 to £30. Very large commissions are going to be more though.
I am based in the UK so shipping here will cost slightly less than overseas and be a bit quicker but international post these days is really good too.
When your pet portrait is posted. I will give you a tracking number so you can follow its journey to your door.
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Yes! I’m based in the UK, but I regularly ship commissions all over the world so you don’t need to find a pet portrait artist near you.
I send a lot of pictures to the US and Europe and it’s always really exciting to get a commission from a new country. It’s great to think that a piece of artwork that I have spent many days lovingly creating is hanging in a home somewhere in a completely different part of the world!
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I can send your pet portrait to any address you give me. All my portraits come beautifully packaged, and those smaller than A3, come in presentation boxes making them perfect for a special gift.
Frames
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Currently, only my 4 inch by 4 inch mini portraits come in a frame (while stocks last!).
I may offer framing in the future, but for now, I tend to leave it to my clients to source a suitable frame.
There are so many options to choose from, and sending the portraits out framed would also increase the postage.
That said, I can see the advantage for some in purchasing a frame along with their portrait. I may. therefore, offer a small range of quality frames that I know will work well with my artwork.
For now check out my 10 tips for framing your artwork.
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A good frame will really help show your pet portrait off in the best light. It separates the picture from it’s surroundings, highlighting its significance and value.
Having a mount inside the frame also helps present your picture to best effect. It surrounds the picture with a usually neutral colour and keeps it away from the glass.
For pastel pictures, double mounting is a must as it will hide any coloured dust that falls from the picture over time. A double mount can also give coloured pencil portraits greater impact.
You can choose a pre-made frame from a local store, or buy one online. The other more expensive option is to get a framer to build a bespoke one for you.
Something else to bear in mind is the sort of glass to use. This can be anything from clear polyester to high quality, ultra clear art glass.
My framing advice page gives more information about framing your artwork.
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Unfortunately, I’m not able to recommend framers as you will most likely want to find a local one near you. You will then be able to take your pet portrait to them and work with them to get it framed in the best possible way.
Sophie Ella
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I have a cat myself, so really enjoy drawing them, but I love drawing all sorts of animals and enjoy the variety of different types and breeds.
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I’ve always loved making and creating things, and have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I started drawing animals without any training, but found that YouTube videos helped me refine my techniques.
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I mainly draw pets, but I do love to draw all sorts of other animals as well. Occasionally, someone will commission me to draw their favourite animal, or I will draw one just for my own enjoyment.
I do also create non-animal artwork from time to time.
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Before I do any colouring or shading, I mark out a really accurate outline of your pet in order to make sure the proportions are exactly right.
I can do it by eye, and have done in the past, but like many pet portrait artists, I find the most effective way to do it, is to print out a full sized mock-up and use it to trace out the outline and main features of the subject.
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I remember speaking to a professional artist when I was 15 and asking what A-levels I should take. They advised me that a good combination was Art, English, and something like Philosophy.
Well, I took their advice and recently completed my A-levels with an A* in Art, an A* in English and a B in Philosophy.
I have since spoken to others, including a very successful artist, about whether to go to Art College. There are lots of pros and cons to it of course, but the advice has been to step out now, start my own art business, and learn and develop my skills on the job.
I can always go to college some time in the future if and when I have a focused goal in mind that I think it will help me achieve. For now, I’m loving the freedom to focus full-time on drawing pets and animals. Not to mention the steep learning curve of starting my own business. If you are interested in how it’s going, you can follow my progress in my blog.
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I have benefited in the past from watching other artists’ drawing and painting tutorials online, and now sometimes get asked myself if I have made any tutorials.
While it’s not something I have had time to do quite yet, I would love to do so in the future. I feel like I have learned so much, especially about drawing fur, and I’d love to find ways to pass that on and help other artists.
In the meantime, I sometimes produce short time lapse videos which might give you some idea about how I draw my pet portraits. You can see some of them on my Instagram account.
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My dad is very creative so I remember when I was younger doing lots of arty projects, and then as I got older I began to do pencil drawings of animals. I also enjoyed creating nail art designs which you can still see on my nail art Instagram account.