FIRST OFF

TIME Turn-around time is typically 6 weeks. Oil Paint is slow to dry.

MONEY For various reasons I am no longer able to accept orders through the website. Please submit an inquiry below to begin the process of commissioning a portrait of your pet.

PHOTOS This is the most important part! You provide the photos (sent to me via email). The quality of the photo you provide is directly related to the quality of portrait you receive in return. One high quality digital photo is used to create each portrait. Straight on, eye level shots work best. Shots looking down on the pet do not work well for these portraits. Try getting the dog on a higher level and aiming your camera at their nose. To tell if the clarity o nth photo is good enough, test it by zooming waaaaayyyy in on the dogs eye. Can you still see definition or does it look pixelated?If the answer is blocky pixels, try again. Looking directly at the pet gets a “wallpaper” behind them while photos taken looking down on a pet get a “rug” or “tile” background. While having the highest quality photo possible is ideal, a handful of great portraits have been achieved from pretty lousy photographs (one was even an early 90’s Polaroid!). So don’t let this step deter you - as long as you’re open to artistic interpretation and awareness that photo quality is directly related to the detail of the finished product, I’m open to working with reasonable photos. I understand that when memorializing a pet, current photos are not always an option.

BIO Tell me about your pet: It helps to have background information on your pets history, favorite traits, features, what makes them special to you - anything you’d like to share. I spend a lot of time with these little faces and it is more enjoyable and yields a better product when I form a connection.

WALLPAPER The fun part. Tell me what you have in mind for the background. This can be anything from a specific existing print that is special to you which I will then interpret or a completely original background of my design. When I have an idea of what you are looking for I will research and submit some inspirational findings to you via email. I do ask that you provide me with specific color scheme ideas. At the very least your favorite and least favorite colors. We’ll work together to place your pet on a background that best compliments them as well as your personality.

THEN…

Once all of the above is completed and agreed upon, I will begin work on a sketch of the pet with the correct scale and layout of the background print behind them. This is not a pretty sketch - it is merely a roadmap of how the pet lays out, scaling and placement - so don’t let it scare you when it arrives. I will submit this sketch via email for any input and possible changes. Once you give me the OK, painting will begin.

WRAP UP

Once the portrait is nearing completion, I will email you a photo of the progress. At this point you may request any minor final changes to ensure the pet’s likeness has been captured. Any major changes such as changing or recoloring the background wallpaper, resizing the pet or changing the pet’s placement on the canvas will result in a $100 - $300 up-charge, depending on the time, difficulty and size of the canvas.

Once you approve the final portrait, a coat of varnish will be applied once the paint is dry. Your portrait will be ready to ship one week post varnish.

DID I MISS ANYTHING? WANT TO KNOW WHEN MY NEXT AVAILABLE START DATE IS? ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? I’d be delighted to hear from you. Submit the below form and I’ll respond as soon as possible.