Pet portraits UK - Great Gift Idea For Your Family & Friends
Custom Portrait of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier - Storm
Mark has commissioned the portrait of Storm as a birthday gift for his dad.
Initially, Mark wanted to use this photo as a reference for the painting but there was an issue with using this picture.
I certainly could see why he chose this photo for the portrait because it shows the face of Storm nicely. But with the photos like this, which taken from the top – the angle is not right for the portrait.
If you would imagine the dog’s portrait painting hanging on the wall and usually above your eye level, the dog will be looking at the ceiling.
I have requested more pictures of Storm and one of the pictures did suit perfectly for the custom dog portrait. So, we both agreed to use it as a reference. Mark also mentioned that it would be a good idea to keep the background as it is.
I always ask my customers about the background ideas. There are a few different options for pet portrait commissions backgrounds.
- Smudgy backgrounds – work the best with head and shoulders portraits;
- Original backgrounds – I can keep the background the same as per photo;
- Or I can paint a creative background (the one you would like), in this case, I am happy for you to provide additional images for the background and I will place your lovely pet on it.
The size for this dog portrait commission was 50 x 70 cm, which is one of the biggest sizes for the pet portrait commissions I offer. And it is also a great size for the full-body custom dog painting. I was using Clairefontaine Pastel mat and a mixture of soft pastel, hard pastel and pastel pencils.
The final touch was the name.
All my customers can choose the option of adding a creative name to the portrait. With my every custom pet portrait, I am using a different style of writing for the name. I am trying to connect the name with the pet painting and make it unique.
With the portrait of Storm, I wanted the name to be sturdy and masculine as the dog itself.
Simple style grey frame completed Storm’s custom portrait perfectly and it was posted via special delivery to my customer.
I was very pleased to find out that Mark’s dad and all the family loved the special birthday gift!
It means a world to me to be able to create a special custom pet portrait for my customers.
