So it is not just the normal dog portraits, cat portraits and horse portraits I get to paint. I recently completed a very exciting commission of a cow! A gorgeous heifer! She really is stunning. If you have seen some of my Jolly Splashes work you will know I have done a few cows and how much I love them as a subject, so you can imagine my delight when I was contacted to paint this gorgeous lady!
My client wanted something very specific in this commission. It is for his wife’s birthday and he wanted their farmhouse in the background. They are based in Northern Ireland so I had to work closely with them to help get the right photos so I could produce the portrait they wanted. They got some fabuous shots, bith of the background and the cow. They were even careful to make sure they got the correct light in each photo so they could be easily matched up, which was great.
From these a mock up of the portrait was created and when my client was happy we settled on a size and frame. It was one of my larger portraits at 14×18 inches which was a great size to make sure justice was done and the detail of the farm could be put in the background. Much smaller and it would have been tricky to do and make it recognisable.
It was so much fun to do, the fields and the farm houses and barns. Making sure I got all the trees in place and so on. It was like a jigsaw! The making sure I hadn’t eft anything out. The best idea my client had was to include the date of birth of his wife on the cows tag, so that was added also. A delightful touch I thought.
It was a good week in the studio from getting the portrait mapped out to all the tiny details in to framing the piece. My client chose a lovely frame to match the cow and it looked wonderful framed.
It is now residing in Northern Ireland, waiting for the big birthday on Saturday when I will be delighted to share, but until then, this girl is staying underwraps until then.
Other Unusual Pet Portraits
The heifer isn’t the only cow I have been commissioned to paint. I have had a couple before and I also have painted three sheep too! I love painting livestock. It makes a wonderful change to the traditional pet portraits.
Later this month I have two donkeys to paint, that definitely is a first and I also have another sheep commission for later on in the year. I have had a chicken and a Harris Hawk. I will have to have a trawl through and see if I can find these to show you! I have never been great at backing things up until the last few years so sadly I don’t think I have copies of them now, but you never know!
I hope I get more commissions like this in the future!
Other News
So some exciting plans are a foot at Sarah’s Pet Portraits. I am in the process of having my website redesigned. I have been slipping down the google rankings over the last few months and I have realised it has been a good 10 or 12 years I have had this design. My website has done me well and I have had many a successful year with it, but it is time to tidy it up and makes sure it works on all the different devices we have these days.
It has been mobile optimised but even since then, so much has changed. I have had a very eciting call with my webdesign company and I am excited to get things underway now. Hopefully I should have a better idea of the plan and proposal very soon. Much of the content won’t be changed but it will have lovely fresh new look! I can’t wait.