I have mentioned before how certain breeds I won’t get to paint for ages and then suddenly I get a few in one hit. CKS I have had quite a few of, but I haven’t had any since the beginning of last year and then suddenly towards the end of last year I got three for Chirstmas and this commission for the New Year. I also never seem to get many dachshund commissions but I had one last year and two this year. One is the be on a large canvas, in my watercolours and the other is a pastel portrait.
Anyway I have digressed.. These two gorgeous dogs were sketched out yesterday as you can see below.
I have started blocking in the base colours and the highlights and shadows. From here I will build up the details slowly. I am using a combination of all my brands of pastels for this piece. The two dogs are on a wooden floor but I think I may suggest to my client that we replace that with grass. The floor is a very similar colour to the dogs and I don’t want them to get lost in the background.
Quite a bit more done on the cheeky duo. I am hoping to get their portrait finished tomorrow. I spoke to my client and she is happy for me to put them on grass which I think will look great when done and really compliment their tan and ochre fur colours. The dogs are pretty much 80% done so I am concentrating on the background and I will then finish up the dogs and bring the whole portrait together. Then it will be ready for scanning.
I have put a blog post up of my latest wildlife piece which I am still stuck on a title for! I hate titling pieces. Anyway you can read about it here.
In the meantime you can see the progress I have made.
The next one will probably be the final scan!
Finally finished these gorgeous couple. The grass took a lot longer than I thought and I took most of the day yesterday. I am yet to scan it, but you can see a phone snap below to see the final piece before I scan. My client is happy so I have the go ahead to frame. Ahhh the joys of framing! It’s not an easy job. It’s fiddly and of course with all of my pet portraits and stages of them I want to get it right for my clients. As soon as it has been done I will get a photo for you. My client has chosen a nice brushed pewter style frame for the portrait. I think it will look smashing when framed.
I managed to get the portrait framed and sent out yesterday and my client received it today. I got the loveliest email from him that really made my day!
Hi Sarah, You have been dealing with my daughter Susan on the portrait of Lexi and Sid for my wife’s birthday present. Received the portrait today and would just like to say thank you, it is absolutely awesome, I have given my wife the portrait already and she is really really happy, it might even keep me out of the dog house for a day or two. I looked at a few Pet artists and now know that I chose the best.
It truly means so much to me to get emails like this, to know how much my pet portraits mean to my clients an the happiness they will bring their recipients in the future.
I was delighted to receive another lovely email from my clients daughter about the portrait. It really has made my weekend to hear that everyone is delighted with it. I feel so lucky to be a pet portrait artist and ultimately such a rewarding job.
Hi Sarah
Thank you so much for the beautiful painting of Lexi and Sid that you did for my mums birthday.
She is over the moon with her present. My dad is so impressed with the painting.
Your a very talented lady, thank you again for making both of my parents happy.
You can read about latest pet portrait here