Their human dad commissioned this 16×20 colored pencil illustration for their human mom’s birthday! #Relationshipgoals much? These two fluff balls were so much fun to illustrate on colored pencils, especially with my new polychromos Faber Castell pencils. I’ll have to write another blog about what I discovered with these miracle sticks vs. other pencils I’ve used in the past.
From snaggle tooth to adorable curls, I had so, so, so much fun creating this one. It makes me so excited for future colored pencil work!
The hardest part of this was that it was time management since this was a rush order! I wanted to make sure it was done in time and arrived on the date of her birthday, not a day late. My process usually allows me to juggle multiple commissions at once, but since this was time sensitive I had to put a pause on other commissions, with client approval of course. What a great reminder that all the clients I work with have been just incredible human beings with such big, loving hearts. 🙂
Another challenge I had with the actual making of the portrait was curls. Curls on curls on curls! Shag on shag on shaggity shags. I had to do multiple triple checks to make sure these fur babies had the right amount of fluff in the right places. Lesson here is that I’ll be taking more time on the sketching process in the future to make sure I map out a lot more than I did before!!
Those who know me “nose” I am a sucker for the snoot! I LOVE doing these two puppers’ noses! They were so different in that one was big and round with warm tints whereas the other was small and had cool tints. The color mixing in these snoots was SO much fun!
I know this was a challenge, but it was also a favorite part of the process– the fur! Hahahaha. As much grief it might have caused, it also was so rewarding whenever I got it right. 🙂
I finished this piece feeling really proud. As an artist, we’re hardest on ourselves. There’s a million things we want to do better, could have fixed, would have fixed, etc. And though that isn’t different with this piece, I finished it feeling like I did give it my all. The joy it brought to other cafe regulars/strangers/friends/family confirms that this is a fulfilling career. I get to work with people’s love of animals. What. A. Blessing.
Best,
Sheila
Oh wow! You are so very talented! These pet portraits are incredible and the details in each one are truly what makes these special. I need this stat for my dog Juno!
I’m blown away! You’re incredibly talented!! And I love reading about your challenges and how you overcame them for this project.
Your pet portraits are so beautiful! I just commissioned a family watercolor a few months ago, but you are totally on my radar for some pet portraits of my three loves! My dogs all have curly, shaggy hair and I think you did a great job!
WOW You are an amazing artist! I totally agree with that as an artist we are hard on ourself but your work speaks for itself that you have high standards and you prove them very well. Stay Proud!!
You have such an eye and attention to detail! And I am so impressed that it’s only colored pencils. I can imagine this took a while to finish! You are extremely talented!
You are so talented! And this is a great gift idea!
Wow, these portraits are stunning! As someone who owns a Bichon mix, I love all the time you took to get the curls right! And so amazing that you were able to accommodate a rush order! And I agree, those snoots might be the best part!
Your pet portraits are so beautiful! What a lucky pet owner. Thank you for sharing your process as well.
What a lucky lady to have a hubby do something so thoughtful for her birthday! I know she absolutely loved this. I know you said it was a challenges, but you KILLED their curls! Seriously, so much detail that I felt like I could pet the picture and feel the hair. Beautifully done.