Shiloh,  My First Horse Portrait

This portrait marks a handful of firsts: my very first blog post, the first painting I completed this year, and, most importantly, my very first commissioned horse portrait.

Lisa, Shiloh’s person, is a close family friend. She and my mom are next-door neighbors in my hometown in Ohio, and it was through that connection that this painting came to be. Shiloh lived just a few doors down from Lisa at a little stable tucked away almost in the middle of the neighborhood. Unless you knew it was there, you’d never guess a horse pasture was hidden behind all those houses.

On a trip back home to visit family, my husband and I met up with Lisa to photograph Shiloh. With their help, I captured the reference images I needed to bring this portrait to life.

Although I’d painted plenty of portraits of people and I’ve painted several animals before as personal work, this was my first time taking on a commissioned pet portrait. I grew up around horses (we had five when I was a kid!), but somehow I had never painted one until now. Spending so many hours with Shiloh’s likeness in my studio reminded me how much I love painting animals, and it’s opening a new door for my work.

The finished painting was carefully varnished, framed, and then shipped to Ohio.

I’m deeply grateful to Lisa for trusting me to capture her very special friend. I’m also thankful for her unknowingly nudging me onto the path of pet portraiture.

You can see more recent examples of my work in the Pet Portrait Gallery.