Posts Tagged: papillon dog
Custom Pet Portrait Progression: Grendel
I thought it might be interesting to put together a series of images to show the progression of my recent portrait of my Papillon, Grendel, so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating a custom pet portrait.
This post is a little on the long side, but don’t worry–it’s mostly pictures!
This is the reference photo I as working from.
And here’s the initial drawing, all ready to go.
I started with Grendel’s tail and worked up his back toward his head, so I could work with the way the fur overlaps.
Then I worked on the white part of his face and filled in his eyes and nose.
I didn’t like how the darker area under his nose looked, so I lightened it up then moved on to the mouth.
Working on the ears. This little guy has a lot of ear!
Filling in the brown areas of his face. Now it’s really looking like Grendel!
He’s almost done. Now it’s time to start on the background.
Building up the background. I find green and blue make good background colors for many of my portraits. They provide a nice color contrast that allows the pet to show up well and look natural.
I didn’t like the unevenness in the background color between the left and right side, so I tweaked it. One of the great things about this medium is that you can always add another layer on top.
All done, and it looks fantastic!
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!)
New Artwork: “Grendel” Custom Dog Portrait
I took advantage of having a bit of time in my schedule to make a custom portrait of my own dog! Generally, I spend my working on artwork for other people but I decided that I wanted a portrait for myself too!
This piece is actually considerably larger than the portraits I usually make—it’s 17”x14”—so it took quite a bit longer to complete! The nice thing about the larger size is that it makes it easier to get finer detail than in the smaller sizes.
I’m really pleased with how it turned out—it really captures the energy and enthusiasm that Grendel gives to everything!
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!)
Grendel: Custom Papillon Dog Pet Portrait
This is a custom pet portrait I created of a Papillon dog. Grendel is actually my dog, but the portrait was for my sister, who was his breeder and hand-raised him as a puppy (Grendel’s mother was…not very maternal so he had to be bottle-fed).
This portrait was intended to go with a pair of pet portraits I previously made of my sister’s two Papillons, Emmie and Windi. The intent was to create a piece that visually went well with the other two portraits while still expressing Grendel’s unique personality. I enjoyed the challenge of creating a piece that felt harmonious when paired with two other pieces that were created several years earlier.
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!)
Throw Back Thursday: “Windi” custom pet portrait
This is “Windi,” a companion piece to “Emmie,” who I introduced to you earlier, here.
Windi is another Papillon who lives with her ‘sister’ Emmie, so these two portraits were created and intended to be hung as a pair. The challenge here was to create two separate pieces that each expressed the personality of the specific dog (and they have Very different personalities!) while still visually fitting together well. I tried to keep the backgrounds similar in color while still allowing for variation to express Windi’s more exuberant personality.
Have you ever created multiple pieces of art that were intended to be displayed together? Diptychs, triptychs, or just companion pieces, like these two pet portraits? What do you like about creating related pieces? What do you find challenging?
Interested in getting a custom portrait made of your pet? Contact me by email or fill out the request form here for more information. I’d be delighted to help!
Throw Back Thursday: “Emmie” custom pet portrait
This is “Emmie” and it’s one of my earlier custom pet portraits. I actually know Emmie personally and she’s an absolute sweetheart. I do a fair number of dog portraits. They’re easier to get good photos of than cats, certainly. And I always work from photos with my pet portraits. For one, it’s difficult to get an animal to pose for any length of time! Also, it allows me to create portraits of animals I’ve never met, though I do like to be able to get a feel for the personality of the animal.
My style has changed slightly since I created “Emmie,” becoming even more realistic-looking, with finer detail. But even in these earlier pieces, capturing the personality of animal is just as important as rendering the physical likeness. Some pieces are more successful at that than others, and yes, I’ve had to completely start over on occasion when something just wasn’t working right. Fortunately, that’s not something that happens too often—there’s a lot that can be done to ‘rescue’ a piece before it gets to that point. In a collage, you can always add a layer on top of what is already there!
Have you noticed your style changing over time? Is it subtle or a dramatic difference?
Are you interested in getting a custom portrait made of your pet? Contact me by email or fill out the request form here for more information. I’d be delighted to help!