This is Tia, a rather good looking dog and is owned by Mr and Mrs Allen. Tia is to be portrayed in a colour pencil pet animal painting for Mr Allen's birthday very shortly. Tia is a mongrel bitch who is obviously very much loved.
This is the first update of Tia, which is earlier than usual to check with her owner Mrs Allen that I have her colouring correct. Tia's photos showed her with turquoise eyes as she is partially sighted but Mrs Allen has informed me her eyes are in fact dark brown.
Mrs Allen has described Tia as shy but loveable and although she sometimes looks a bit sad she is infact a very happy girl. As soon as Mrs Allen is happy with the progress so far I shall continue with Tia's portrait.
Mrs Allen says'I’ve just checked out the progress so far on Tia’s portrait and it is perfect, you have captured her expression, colouring and eye colour just right, can’t wait to see the nextstage.'
Here is the latest update of Tia, most of her head is completed however I am struggling to see her left ear clearly but luckily her owner, Mrs Allen sent several images so I will be able to use those for reference aswell. It is vital to have good clear reference photographs or images, to ensure your images are suitable for a pet portrait artist please visit my pet portraits photography tips page.
To demonstrate how much detail is put into a pencil commission I have added a close up of Tia's eye, you can see there are many pencil strokes used to create the illusion of fur.
Mrs Allen says 'Just took a look at the recent update of Tia's portrait and it is absolutely brilliant, the likeness is excellent, her eyes especially, you've really captured the '"I feel sorry for myself “ look which so often gets her extra treats.'
Work is continuing on Tia. I have yet to investigate her left ear but I have plenty of other work to continue with at present. If you look at her shoulder you can see the under layers of colours I have put down in a pale peach shade and a reddy chestnut colour, I intend to go over these colours with chocolate and dark umber shades, this will create shaded and lighted areas on her fur. Tia's chest has been coloured in with french grey, chinese white and a little chocolate, at present the white areas do not show up but I think this is because I took this shot in poor light (i.e. not in daylight) rather than there being no difference in colour between the chest and background.
Work has continued on Tia's dog portrait, I am now working downwards towards her paws. I have also put down a layer of lime green for the underneath of the grass Tia is to be sat on after consulting her owner. The grass does look very gaudy but will be 'dampened down' with darker shades as the portrait nears it's end. I think I've managed to show Tia's fur as very glossy which is how it appears in her reference photo....and I still have to complete her other ear!!!!
As you can see I have worked further on Tia's tummy, her front legs and I have started filling in the grass. This really does give a more 3d appearance and at long last everything is coming together. See my pencil portraits blog to see where I carried this work out!!! (Sat in the garden at the picnic table - what a studio!?)
Mrs Allen has sent me an email as she has caught up with the latest update ...'Just checked out the latest updates of Tia, I know I keep going on about it but I am really amazed at how well you've captured her, it truly is like looking at her in the flesh and I know my husband Steve is going to love it...'
Tia has now been completed, I have sent a full sized email to her owner Mrs Allen for her to check over to ensure everything is as she would like it. The feedback from clients is invaluable as we all know our own pets back to front, but without having the ability to meet each subject, this way a client should always be satisfied with the end result. And Mrs Allen says....'It's perfect, thank you so much it's just what I wanted'
Pencil Portraits from Photos 
