Several weeks ago, I wrote about my custom pet portrait of Hope, here. I thought it might be interesting to put together a series of images to show the progression of the piece, so you can get a feel for how a portrait evolves as I work on it.

This post is a little on the long side, but don’t worry–it’s mostly pictures!

I didn’t remember to take a photo of just the drawing before I started working on the collage. I guess I was too excited to get started!

I find that I don’t really start in the same spot for my collages. For Hope, I actually started with her Service Dog vest.

I then worked on her face and started on the chest.

It’s helpful to work on areas in the order of how the fur lies so that the pieces overlap in a way that looks more realistic and fur-like.

After I finished her chest, I went back and worked on her head.

Filling in the rest of the body.

Starting in on the background.

I find it helpful to take progress photos because it makes it easier to spot areas that don’t look quite right. I decided that didn’t like the darker blue flecks here so I covered them up.

Then I decided I didn’t like the contrast between the dark and light blue. Sometimes the background is the hardest part of the piece!

All done, and it looks fantastic!

And finally, here’s Hope posing with her portrait.

Would you like a custom portrait of your own pet? You can check out the process here or email me at tamara@tamarajaeger.com with any questions!

Want to keep updated and see more of what I’m working on? Sign up for my mailing list here and get a totally FREE digital download of a tiger linocut print. (I promise not to be spammy with my emails—I hate that too!)