Custom Pet Portrait Progression: Grendel

On September 24, 2019 by Tamara With 0 Comments - Custom Pet Portrait

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!

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custom dog portrait, custom pet portrait, Grendel, papillon dog, torn paper collage, work in progress

Custom Pet Portrait Progression: Master of Mystery

On September 17, 2019 by Tamara With 0 Comments - Custom Pet Portrait

Several weeks ago, I wrote about my portrait of Harry, here, though this portrait is actually titled “Master of Mystery.” Like with my portrait of Hope, 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 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!

I remembered to take a photo of just the drawing before I started working on the collage! Some pieces require a more detailed drawing; others need less. It’s mostly about blocking in the shapes and colors and getting the proportions right.

I find that I don’t really start in the same spot for my collages. For Harry, I started with his nose and face.

Then I added in the eyes and started on his legs. The reference photo I was using didn’t show his feet, but the portrait worked better with them visible, so I had to use a different photo to get the feet!

Working on the black part of his body. Both black and white animals are never really just solid black or solid white. There are subtle color variations that often need to be emphasized a little more in a portrait to give a sense of depth and three-dimensionality.

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 his chest, I went back and worked on his head.

Now it’s actually starting to look like Harry!

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.

Now to add in the whiskers. Whiskers are tricky to make out of torn paper! They can be too overpowering for some pieces and I often leave them out unless they’re a necessary part of the animal’s ‘look.’ In Harry’s case (and with most cats, really), they’re definitely necessary.