Pet Portraits Artwork to Photo Comparison Gallery

Welcome to our pet portraits Artwork to Photo Comparison Gallery. Our aim as pet portrait artists is to capture 'your pet'....not just any pet. So how do you know we can do that for you? Here we show that each commission takes a huge amount of time, work and effort to capture 'your' pet.

Please bear in mind our paintings and drawings are not exact replicas of the chosen photo, and should be judged accordingly. We work closely with our clients to fine tune the photo, so they are often an amalgamation of many photos, using some for colour and detail. We are also trying to go further to achieve a timeless piece of artwork, which does justice to 'your' pet. We have done our job if you say...that's my pet!

Jessican with Logan

The oil painting of Jessica with her horse Logan was a very special portrait. The basis of the photo was perfect. Great interaction between Jessica and Logan, all in focus and a lovely composition. By adding the top of the ear and more sky we were able to finish off Logan's head and allow the painting to breathe. The areas we did want to amend were things that weren't needed within the scene. For instance, the dark wood fencing would have made it too busy behind the subjects and the removal allowed the background to recede into the distance. Nicholas also wanted to allow the trees behind to still be a beautiful rich warm colour, however to slightly lessen their vibrancy a little, and paint them slightly out of focus. The line of trees still looks like a happy line of trees in the distance, but now they compliment the scene and don't take too much away from Jessica and Logan.

Briony's Horse and Foal

The oil painting of Brionys horse and foal was quite an unusual commission. The photo Nicholas was working from was taken by a professional photographer and was stunning in itself. We wanted the painting to stand apart from the original photo. We have the option to change or enhance areas - as long as it still maintains the overall feeling of the time and day the photo was taken. Nicholas felt the sky in the photo was a little ominous and also the way the clouds were patterned they were quite horizontal, splitting the composition into stripes. Nicholas decided to create a softer but slightly more dynamic sky, which works well with the horses and their composition. Nicholas spent many hours looking at sky reference photos, taking his own photos whenever he saw interesting skys and used his sketchbook to design clouds and colours suited to the composion. We wanted there to be space between the mothers head and the right side of the painting to allow the area to breathe. It was a large painting so we had plenty of leeway for bold strokes and soft clouds.

Wilson

Sometimes photos are perfect, but other times our favourite photos are just quick snapshots in time, loved and cherished by the owners. If this is the case for you, we can do quite a lot to finish off the compostion. We can often add ears and chests, particularly if you have other photos to go along side your favourite photos. This is what happened here with Wilson and the portrait turned out beautifully. We feel it is so serene, he is gazing out of the canvas, overseeing what is going on around him. The painting was an 12 x 10 oil on linen canvas and resides here in the UK.

Elmo

The photo of Elmo was a scanned photo. It had a yellow cast, however we were given plenty of photos of Elmo for reference. Our clients opted for a neutral background, which we felt allowed all the focus to be on Elmo. We have two very happy clients and Elmo has been immortalized in oils forever.

Tiddles

The painting of Tiddles was a 20 x 16 oil on linen canvas and similar to the portrait of Wilson above, the photo was cropped. Thankfully we had a large range of photos to work from. It enabled us to work out what was happening below the chest and add slightly more of Tiddles for the portrait. Another a very happy returning cleint.

Padfoot

Another cropped in photo of a gorgeous dog called Padfoot, however it is absolutely possible to make a truly lovely portrait from it. All it need was the back of the head and some chest. This was a lovely portrait to create for a returning client. The pencil drawing was a 12 x 10 which is the perfect size for a head study like this.

Agarn

We are often commissioned by clients who know we are able to create scenes and full backgrounds for portraits and amalgamate a photos together. In this portrait our clients had a favourite photo of their dog Agarn with his ball, laying on his favourite rug in their living room. When Agarn passed away they knew they wanted to recreate this scene in a painting. So we gathered a number of photos and worked out the perfect scene which was exactly how they remembered Agarn. Nicholas moved the tennis ball, the colour of which was changed to reflect the general scene, so it balanced within the composition and allowed full focus on Agarn. He painted the rug the correct tones of blue and also lit the fire within the scene. A perfect setting for a happy dog.

Lucy

Sometimes you receive photos where you can actually paint from them and not stray too far away. All this photo needed was a background removal. Nicholas spent many hours painting Lucy and her Sombrero with the colourful pompoms. This pet portrait was for a returning customer and Nicholas loved every minute of painting Lucy.

Mitzy

The photo Helen took of Mitzy was a complete snapshot in time, a fluke as she was laying on their table tennis table. The top of Mitzy's ear was chopped out of the picture, but that wasn't a problem. We added the top of the ear, a little more of their beautifully mint coloured ceiling and created a pastel coloured background with net included. We felt that the name on the net would draw the eye away from Mitzy so we omitted this. All in all, the painting created a lovely composition and a wonderful memory for Helen and her family.

Beano

The this was a perfect photo to work from, we are on Beano's eye level and the sun was shining, giving some good light and shade from the left side. It made for a perfect portrait.

Rob

Nicholas removed Rob's collar and lead and painted Rob on a Grey-ish neutral background as requested by our client. We feel the portrait now really focuses in on Rob's face which is perfect.

Lottie

Nicholas added Lottie's favorite red blanket within the foreground of the scene and intensified her smooth shiny coat.

Monty

We, along with the owner, decided the back legs added confusion to the scene and simply weren't needed. Nicholas simplified the background and grass to allow Monty to stand out.

Betty

Very little was changed on Betty's pencil drawing, although giving her more space to breathe around the edge, opposed to where the photo was cropped was key.

Elly

For this elegant painting of Elly, Nicholas used multiple photos for inspiration and obviously removed the halter from the main reference photograph.

Patton

In this regal painting of Patton, Nicholas has transported him from the car to a much more serene setting with a tonal background. Nicholas was asked to remove his high vis jacket and he used additional reference photographs to fill in the blanks, including the addition of the tops of his ears.

Freya

As you can see small snap taken of Freya with her owner, a lovely head portrait can be drawn, as long as there is enough detail within the photo to work from. It's then about deciding how to finish the neck to blend it into the background. I made the decision to have it slightly lighter along with the reigns, to allow the full focus to be on Freya's face.

Toby

Nicholas simplified and softened the background to allow Toby to be the focus of the scene. He also opened Toby's eyes a little so that he is not squinting. Nicholas also added some warmer tones into the water behind Toby and some richer colours to the foreground stones.

We have been doing this for over 25 years and have honed our skills in that time to distill down exactly what's needed to create a pet portrait that you will love. We hope you can see from this page, that you can be confident that we can provide a pet portrait and level of service both you and your pet deserve.