Portraits of Woman’s Best Friend
This is my second painting of Penny. I made my first portrait of her titled, “Woman’s Best Friend”, for my series Monthly Miniature, Into the country a few years ago (pictured below). She’s was my mother in law’s best friend. Penny posed for me, as many of her barnyard friends had done before her. The first painting sold while on exhibit, but Margot’s partner, Tony, though she should have a portrait of Penny of her very own. He commissioned the portrait for her in secret.
Two Sides of Penny
It’s interesting to see the two painting together. She almost looks like a different dog because her coloring is a little different on her right and left size. This influenced the colors I choose for the background. I like using a contrasting green tone when painting animals with orange/brown fur. Even though Penny only had a little orange spot on her cheek and in her eyes the color combination gives a nice warmth and depth.
The other side of Penny’s face is almost entirely black and white with some soft hints of brown. For my first painting of Penny, I kept this background in the grey tones and wanted to reinforce her stoic profile pose. I also kept more texture in the background to help lead the viewers eye around to her textured curly fur on her chest. Though they both portray the same dog, you can see how these little details make such a big difference.
From Margot:
OMG. I’m in tears.. every freckle on her nose, her ruffly fur, her sweet eyes!! You, my darling Rebecca, are truly amazing!
Please go to my commissions page to learn more about my process, pricing and schedule. And contact me if you’re interested in having a custom portrait made of your very own.
My paintings are created with a traditional 
Photographing your cat from a their eye level tends to make the image feel more intimate and it shows your cat without distortion. Cat’s do like to climb so you don’t always have to get down on the ground to achieve this.
Natural light is ideal and its best if the day is slightly overcast. Cats are usually indoor creatures, but steering them towards a window will achieve the desired effect. Not only does natural overcast light help avoid harsh shadows, it gives me a more accurate representation of color for the fur and eyes. Try to pose them so that they get the light to twinkle in their eyes for a lifelike appearance.
Hi resolution images are a must but if most of the picture is just background, I’m not going to get any detail (unless the landscape will be a part of the painting!). Never compress images before sending them and fill the frame with your cat as much as possible for the most detail. Getting the correct texture of your cats fur and the subtle color changes in the eyes is impossible if the image is blurry. Filling the frame with your cat gives me all of the details that are so fun to paint and to look at. Use the zoom feature on your camera to help you get close without attracting too much attention.
My mock-up’s are constructed digitally and they help give a sense of what the painting will look like. This mock-up was submitted with the note that the color and fine details would be taken form another image (the one used to demonstrate “natural light” above).
