Published: July 30, 2019
I made my very first pet portrait in 2016 and it was of my childhood dog, Copper. He was very elderly and I knew in my heart the sad truth that he wouldn't live for much longer. I wanted to paint him before he passed. Up until that point in time, I had only painted landscapes and the like. But, I had recently discovered two other established artists, Jean Haines and Olga Peregood, who paint beautiful animal portraits and they inspired me to try to make my own. I fell in love with their technique and style of painting with watercolours; lose, free, expressive and full of vibrant colour. With their use of abstraction and sometimes unrealistic colours, they [unknowingly] gave me permission to be intuitive with my painting and exaggerate the hues that I saw in reality (or imagine new ones), and I went to town painting! It was a beautiful experience and I had so much fun and absolutely loved the end result! It made me so happy to see my boy appear on the paper and to have an artistic representation of him rather than just that of photos. The colours that I chose went well with his brown coat and made the painting that much more spirited and lively to me. I decided to focus the details to his face and let his fur be more or less abstract... I loved that combination of softness and accurate details.
Sadly, we lost him just a few months later. I have so much love for this painting, and I still regard it as one of my best and favourites and I like to use it as the "face" of my brand.
Not long after I had painted my dog, I decided that I should try to paint my cat as well. She's a darling Tortoiseshell and she is my best pal. I could see hues of blue and violet reflecting in her fur, so I took the creative liberty to paint her purple instead of pure black/brown. It was a fun learning experience. Initially, I wasn't as fond of this painting as my first pet portrait, but now I love it for all that it is. I think that the most important thing is to capture the animal's "life spirit" and emotive quality, and if I can do that, then I feel like I've succeeded in representing them.
Near the end of 2016, I painted my third pet portrait. Titan was one of my Dad's dogs, and he was my Dad's best friend. At the time, my Dad had just lost his father, so I thought making this painting for him would be the best heartfelt and heart-warming gift that I could give.
With my growing ability and love to paint pet portraits, I felt as though I had something valuable that I could share and give to others. By painting something that they love, I could make them smile and touch their heart - I could make them feel happy with my art - and that made me happy in return.
Because I know what it's like to have a painting of a beloved pet, and how when I lost him, that painting became even so much more special. It is like a visual representation that he will always be a part of the family. It's a treasure, and I want to give that to others as well.
Chewy was my fourth pet portrait painting and my first painting that was for a client rather than for myself or family. I was seventeen at the time. I didn't charge anything as I was still very new to painting animals and I had never had a "real" client before. They were happy with the portrait and it was successful endeavour. It was a great experience for me, and it gave me the idea and hope that I could make a business from something that I loved. So since then, I've been working to build my skills and my business. Slow, but steadily.
I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post, email me at artbycheyc@gmail.com or you can contact me on my website here.
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Til next time,
Cheyenne~
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