Pick the perfect photo for pet or people portraits

Meet Ezra, my year-old West Highland terrier. He’s a typical Westie: cute, intelligent, playful, stubborn, opinionated, and has got the entire family wrapped round the canine equivalent of his little finger!

I did this pastel portrait to mark the first anniversary of his arrival and it is actually his third portrait in less than a year! As puppies grow so quickly and change in size and shape, it’s just too tempting to keep doing more and more portraits to mark those milestones.

His first portrait was done within weeks of his arrival so he was only 3 months and, as with most Westies, he looked more like a pair of gigantic ears with a puppy attached!

I love this photo of him showing that not only have I captured his cute qualities in his portrait, but he had learned “sit” and could pose next to it and look just as cute.

If you are an animal-lover like me you will no doubt have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of your beloved pets taken in all sorts of situations throughout the years you are fortunate enough to share with them.

Ezra has only been here a year and already I have hundreds of photos of him, so how do I then choose which ones to turn into an artwork pastel portrait of him?

That’s a question I am frequently asked, and it is sooooooo important if you are going to commission me to do a portrait for you.

Thus I thought I would tell you about my latest portrait of Ezra and then show you how to select the best photographs of pets – or your loved ones – to send me to turn them into perfect portraits of precious pets and people.

I wanted this 3rd portrait to show the handsome young chap that Ezra’s turning into, so I was looking for photos that spoke of a maturity and smartness that his other two portraits were not focusing on.

As you’ve seen, his first portrait was the adorable baby puppy with the gigantic pair of ears, which led to the picture’s title of: “I will grow into my ears eventually, I promise”.

He has now lost the soft fluffy puppy fur and is starting to get his Westie face ruff which also helps to create the illusion of shorter ears. Flicking through my photos of him the obvious ones came from when he had his first haircut and was looking super-cool and very smart, so this was the one I mainly used for his latest portrait.

This 3rd portrait was also a great contrast with his second one which was done when he was aged 6 months. At that point he was an ever-growing fluffball of playful mischief whose nose was stuck straight into the middle of everything!

So that I could work and still keep an eye on what the little pup was doing, I put a dogbed on one of the arms of my L-shaped desk in my studio/office. It’s still there now and he’s always thought that it’s a fabulous vantage point from which to see exactly what I’m doing and how he can reach over and grab paintbrushes, pens, pencils, pastels, etc, off my desk.

I have got so used to working with him in his deskbed and looking up to see this cheeky face, full of mischief and curiosity, leaning over to see just what I’m doing so that was the story that I wanted to illustrate with his second portrait. As I had taken numerous photos of him in his deskbed, I went through them to select the most appropriate ones and this was the result.

So how do you choose a photo to turn into a pet or person portrait?

Please note that although I’m going to do the next section on choosing photos for portraits using pets as subjects, the same questions and considerations relate to people portraits.

We take photos of our pets at various times and try to get the best poses even though they are mostly spontaneous or even stills lifted off videos. If I sorted back through photos I have of various pets and only kept the ones that I might put in a frame, I would ditch 98% of them. But I don’t want to lose them because they trigger memories of the event and, unless they are totally out of focus, they still tell me something about the character of the pet and our relationship.

That is the first thing that you want to do in your search for the best photo of your pet to turn into a pet portrait. It needs to tell me as much as possible about the personality of your pet. Just look at these two portraits and see the totally different personalities on show.

If you are having a joint person and pet portrait, then it also needs to show something about the relationship you have. My classic example of a portrait that shows that relationship is my first – and probably last – self-portrait alongside my darling mare, Chaz.

It came from a photo taken by my sister, Caro, one day at the stables. I was leaning over the door chatting to Caro and Chaz was joining in as usual. There are so many things about the image that made it perfect for a pet and person portrait: it shows the relaxed relationship between us, the wonderful sense of strength and gentleness in Chaz’s eyes, and it often surprises people when they see just how much bigger the horse’s head is compared to a human’s.

I don’t usually add in external things like the stables door in this one, but it had to be included for me to be leaning on the top of the door and it does set the scene for the drawing.

Often people give me photos of horses in bridles or halters but ask for them to be removed, or there’s something in the background that they want removing.

One thing that all the examples I have shown you have in common, is that they are from close-up photos. If I don’t know the pet or people who you want portraits of, then your photos have to show me as much detail as possible. Just look at these examples. Which one can I get sufficient details from for a clear portrait?

When it comes to doing triple portraits, you don’t have to try and photoshop the three images into one photograph, you simply place them so that they are still three portraits but they unite into one.

Practical considerations about the photos

The other critical element that has to be in the photos is the correct colour of hair or fur . . . I have had an example where someone gave me 4 photos of the same dog and each one showed it in totally different colours because they were photographed in different lighting conditions.

After that you just need to decide on
- the size of the portrait,
- the medium: whether it is drawn in soft pastels or painted in acrylics on canvas, and
- the background. With pastel portraits, you choose a single colour paper – these are usually pet portraits so depends on the fur colour.

Most people portraits are done in acrylics so it can be a background relating to their career or interests, such as the books behind the Professor in his portrait or the scenery in the lady’s portrait.

In conclusion, if you give me a close-up of your beloved pet/s and/or person/people with expressions that are as typical of how you think of them as possible, in accurate colours, then I can create a portrait to treasure forever.

If you want to commission a unique pet or people portrait, then message me for a chat. If you want it for a Christmas present, then you need to get in touch as soon as possible. Just use the "Get in touch" form below this