Commissions

I create fine art portraits of a wide range of animals and wildlife in a variety of styles and sizes. Using coloured pencils, each piece is painstakingly developed to get the best representation I can.

All artwork is painted on the finest quality archival papers and can be presented either unmounted or framed. Sizes vary from small A4 studies up to 180cm larger works, this depends on the subject and budget.

I aim to create an illustration that you are thrilled with and love getting to know about my customers and their animals. This is such a personal undertaking and I will do my utmost to deliver.

I am using only the best quality Faber Castell Pit Pastel Pencils, Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils. Pan Pastels, Schmincke Soft Pastels. For paper/s, boards I use Clairefontaine Pastelmat, all perfect for drawing animals.

For drawings with more than two pets, please drop me an e-mail on the ‘Contact’ page and I will be happy to respond with a more accurate quote. Please also note that, while my portraits are usually from the neck up/upper body, I am able to accommodate full-body portraits. Again, feel free to contact me about this if you need a more accurate quote.

PHOTOS:

Your pet portraits are hand-drawn from the reference/s given, so the general rule is, the better the photo, the better the drawing! Below are some tips on how to get the best photos you can of your furry friends:

• CLEAR PHOTOS: The higher the resolution and sharper your image, the better of a reference I have of your beloved pet. Blurry photos are hard to work details from since it’s not in focus, so the portrait would come out vague or muddy.

• LIGHTING: The best photos are taken in natural light, preferably outside on a cloudy or regular sunny day. Artificial lights (such as the flash from your camera or a torch) or very strong sunshine often result in harsh shadows and highlights, which don't translate well onto paper.

• PERSPECTIVE: If you take photos of your pets at their height it’ll be a more realistic, flattering view of them. Avoid taking photos too low/high above your pet and be sure to make sure there are no filters on your camera settings that could distort/discolour the photo.

Following these guidelines will enable me to work to the best of my ability, to create the perfect pet portrait, but I am aware that in the case of memorial portraits, where the pet has sadly passed away, photo options are limited. In those cases, I am more than happy to work with the photos you have, and will do my best to do your pet justice in the drawing!

Example pictures

Here you can see examples of good and bad pictures of my beloved cat – the bad one is taken with a mobile phone with no natural light and is quite blurry.

On the other example, you can see a perfect picture – taken with a DSLR camera under natural daylight and the help of a flash gun, however, it's not necessary.