I’ve been painting custom pet portraits since 2005. Painting is like anything: the more you do it, the more you learn! Over the past 16 years, I’ve solidified my technique and the materials that work best for me, and I want to share what I’ve learned.
Fine acrylic painted portraits of beloved pets on archival-quality canvas.
Fine acrylic painted portraits of beloved pets on archival-quality canvas. Fine acrylic painted portraits of beloved pets on archival-quality canvas. Fine acrylic painted portraits of beloved pets on archival-quality canvas.
My Story
My Passion
My Passion
As a professional artist who specializes in acrylic paintings, I’ve created painted portraits of dogs, cats and horses that live or have lived throughout the United States, as well as in
Austria, England and Germany.
No matter where they live, there are beautiful pets everywhere that I honor by painting their portraits.
My Passion
My Passion
My Passion
My artistic goal is to create treasured heirlooms; highly detailed, heartfelt and realistic portrayals of beloved pets, including those who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
I fall in love with every pet I paint, whether they are alive or have passed. I ask numerous questions to learn all about each pet’s unique personality and traits, and
My artistic goal is to create treasured heirlooms; highly detailed, heartfelt and realistic portrayals of beloved pets, including those who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
I fall in love with every pet I paint, whether they are alive or have passed. I ask numerous questions to learn all about each pet’s unique personality and traits, and I connect to each one as the portrait emerges from the blank canvas.
I paint the eyes of the pet first. That’s because they’re the window to the soul. Once I’ve painted the eyes (and nose), I truly feel like the pet is communicating with me.
For those pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I can blend his or her ashes or hair into the paint to truly personalize the painting –
there’s no additional charge for this special service that really honors the spirit
of your beloved furbaby.
I hand-draw, then hand-paint with professional-grade acrylic paint on 1-1/2″ thick archival quality, gallery-wrapped canvas. I work from provided photographs and talk extensively with my clients to learn about the pet’s unique personality, quirks and behavior, and translate that playful gleam in her eye or his calm and quiet demeanor into my painting.
I love adding signature accents like painting all four edges to continue to painting (and often the animal), using metallic paints, creating personalized nametags on collars and matching the background colors and patterns with clients’ home or office decor.
I only paint one portrait at a time, so I can totally immerse myself in the personality and spirit of that pet.
Clients enjoy working with me during the whole process, and I so enjoy becoming friends with my clients! In fact, I’ve had numerous second and third commissions.
My Medium
My Passion
My Medium
What do I love about acrylic paint? Let me count the ways. Apart from permanence and strength, there’s flexibility, controllable opacity, colorfastness, resistance to pollutants, opportunity for a variety of creative methodology, adaptability to mixed media, as well as speedy drying and cleanup. There’s less toxicity with acrylic compar
What do I love about acrylic paint? Let me count the ways. Apart from permanence and strength, there’s flexibility, controllable opacity, colorfastness, resistance to pollutants, opportunity for a variety of creative methodology, adaptability to mixed media, as well as speedy drying and cleanup. There’s less toxicity with acrylic compared
My portraits benefit from glazing, a traditional and time-consuming painting technique of applying colors separately in successive glazes of thin, almost transparent paint. Each layer of paint must dry before the next is applied, and each application modifies the color beneath, like sheets of colored glass laid one over another. Acrylic paints are well suited to glazing because the layers of transparent washes dry more quickly than is possible with traditional oil paints.
I build up layers of animals’ fur in the paintings so that it appears three dimensional and very lifelike. The next time you see a black cat or dog, notice that there are numerous other colors in the coat that enrich the black (blue, purple, grey, red and white are some of those colors).
I use only professional-grade acrylic paints, glazes and varnishes. I favor products made by Golden and Liquitex.
I paint only on archival-quality, museum-level canvas made of 100% cotton linen. I apply several coats of gesso and lightly sand between each coat, before I start drawing/painting, so the canvas is smooth.
The canvas is stretched on a solid hardwood frame with no visible staples. It looks beautiful on the back as well as the front! That also means that I can extend the portrait on all four 1.5” edges, to make it even more three-dimensional.
Please contact me with any questions.
Golden and Liquitex are brand names of their respective manufacturers, and I am not associated with those companies in any way.
It’s all about acrylics
The medium I use to create custom pet portraits is acrylic paint on pre-stretched canvas. I use acrylics because they are water-based paints that look similar to oil, but without the smell and the mess.
Here are just a few of the other things I love about acrylic paint:
- Easy cleanup. With acrylics, I can clean up quickly and easily, and my studio doesn’t asphyxiate me (or my family) with paint fumes. And as any parent knows, the less messy paint you have in your home, the safer you are from unexpected “artwork.”
- Dries quickly. Because acrylic paint dries very quickly, it’s easy to layer color without the portrait getting muddy.
- Archival. Acrylic paint is expected to stand the test of time better than oil—though it hasn’t been around as long, so the jury is still officially out. It’s also resistant to UV light damage, so my portraits look just as good after years of hanging on a wall as they do right after I’ve painted them.
The power of pre-stretched canvas
The other half of my painting material power couple is pre-stretched canvas—because who’s got time to stretch their own?
And the benefits go beyond time savings. I can easily buy standard off-the-rack frame sizes, making my portraits easy to hang and frame without the need for expensive custom framing. Pre-stretched canvas sizes are great for that, with no muss or fuss.
The canvas I use is ¾ to ⅞ inch deep. It looks great on the wall with or without a frame. (Just don’t frame your pet’s portrait under glass—click here for some tips on framing.)
Pro tip: If your budget only allows for a smaller-sized portrait, buy an oversized frame! It will take up more space on your wall, and the portrait will pop.
From my home to yours
The final thing I love about acrylic paint on canvas is that it dries quickly, so I can ship your portrait lickety-split!
Commissioning custom artwork isn’t something you do every day. It’s a special gift, whether it’s destined for your wall or someone else’s, so it’s important to send these portraits to their forever homes as soon as possible.
That’s why I’ve designed a process that minimizes your wait and maximizes the time you’ll spend enjoying the custom, hand-painted portrait of your beloved family member.
Bring your pet to life on canvas today! Order here.
