Tag: custom pet portraits

December 20, 2009

What's on BZTAT's Easel? Tiger Lilly and Tink!

: Artwork by BZTAT

About this time last year, I completed my first commissioned pet portrait painting of a dog named Harvey. It is only fitting that I would complete the painting of his housemates, Tiger Lilly and Tink at the same time this year!

Like Harvey, I actually had the opportunity to meet my subjects for this portrait. I went to see Tiger Lilly and Tink at their home and snapped a bunch of photos.

Tink was quite the ham.

Tiger Lilly, on the other hand, was a bit more reclusive.

Both were very sweet and fun and lovable. They did show some disdain for their housemate Harvey, however.

Although I took several photos, I ended up using one submitted by their person for the basic structure of the painting.

I was really struck by the poses in this photo. It was not an easy picture to work from, because the cats are behind a window screen. The other photos helped me with details.

The First step in creating the painting was to develop a reference image from the photo using Photoshop filters, which I then traced onto a black canvas using a projector. I then started blocking in shapes with color.

Using my usual layering technique, I refined the colors and shapes, building up color by painting many layers of varied colors on top of each other. Each layer shows some trace of the underneath layers.

I tend to paint grayish cats in blue tones; striped cats with very simplified implications of stripes. My colors are what are distinctive about my paintings, so grays do not tend to go onto my palette.

As long as the character of the animal is portrayed, my patrons tend to enjoy the color absraction and the simplification of shapes and patterns.

The background of this portrait was designed to coordinate with the background in Harvey’s painiting.

Harvey

Tiger Lilly and Tink were so much fun to paint, as was Harvey! I am so grateful to them and their family for getting me started on this journey of painting the portraits of beloved pets. It has been such a great year with each portrait being a grand adventure!

If you are interested in a pet portrait of your animal, info about the process can be found here.

Happy Holidays! may the season be filled with love, light and peace, and ADVENTURE!

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

December 12, 2009

What's on BZTAT's Easel? A Pet Portrait of Sadie Shih Tzu!

Artwork by BZTAT

Every pet portrait that I make is special.

I love animals. I love people who love animals. I love the process of making an animal that is special to someone come alive in a painting.

That said, there are certain portraits that are really special to me. This portrait of Sadie Shih Tzu is one of those.

Sadie’s “person”, Liz Hover did a HUGE favor for me by helping me create this website in exchange for the portrait. I cannot thank her enough!

I think the fact that it was so special to me made it more difficult to make. Sometimes, when you are too emotionally attached to the outcome of a painting, you end up forcing it and not allowing yourself to let the process flow.

It seemed to start out well. Liz had asked that I do the portrait in a semi-abstract and whimsical style. I used a textured board to add to the style.

As I always do, my first step was to paint the background black and then block in colors and shapes.

I layered more colors on to refine the colors and shapes. At this point, I posted images on Twitter and Facebook so that my followers could watch the development of the painting.

Sadie and Liz were so thrilled with it at this stage, Sadie changed her twitter profile picture to the unfinished painting!

But something was not working right. I am not sure what it was, but the face just wouldn’t work right from this point forward.

I struggled and fussed with it, and I even set it aside for awhile, trying to find that magical moment where the painting would just WORK. That moment never came.

I finally did something that I RARELY do. I started the whole thing over again.

I realized the problem was in the original drawing that I started with. Although the image seems very simple, there is a directionality to the face that is quite difficult to capture. The second effort captured it much more effectively.

Using my usual layering technique, I refined the colors and shapes, building up color by painting many layers of varied colors on top of each other.

Each layer reveals some trace of the underneath layers.

The finished piece finally captured the sweet mischievous quality of Sadie that was so important to me to show in the painting.

I will be sending Sadie her portrait in the mail this week. I hope that she enjoys it!

Thanks again to Liz for all her spectacular work in making BZTAT.com come alive!

BTW–If you are wondering about the background in some of the photos here, they were taken at Canine Action Sports, where I paint on location during obedience classes on Thursday evenings. Come visit if you are ever in the neighborhood!

Follow Sadie on Twitter: @sadieshihtzu

Follow Liz Hover on Twitter: @lizhover

Follow BZTAT on Twitter: @BZTAT

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

October 23, 2009

What's on BZTAT's Easel? Pet Portrait of Lucy the Cat!

Artwork by BZTAT

Many of my commissioned pet portraits come from places far away from me, which is fun and exciting.

Local commissions, however, offer me the chance to actually meet the pets I am to paint. Lucy is a cat in Canton, and I was so thrilled to meet her! She is quite the snuggler, and I got to pet and scritch her ears to my heart’s content. I enjoyed meeting her person, as well.

Calico cats are a challenge to paint, as their markings always fall into interesting patterns that can be hard to abstract into simple shapes. Luckily, I have a calico of my own, Slick, so I am familiar with these challenges.

Lucy actually looks a lot like my Slick, so their images look similar. Lucy’s eyes are much more serious looking, and her markings fall into different shapes, but overall, the process of painting the two different cats was similar.

My first step was to paint the background black and then block in colors and shapes.

Using my usual layering technique, I refined the colors and shapes, building up color by painting many layers of varied colors on top of each other.

Each layer reveals some trace of the underneath layers.

I really liked how these initial phases were going, except for one thing. The shape of the head really was not Lucy’s shape.

Although I am not one to stick to strict details for an animal’s likeness, it is important to get the essentials correctly depicted to give the viewer an accurate reflection of the animal’s character.  I made some adjustments.

The background of Lucy’s painting reflects the paneling on the wall of her home, since she is an indoor cat.

I really enjoyed meeting and painting Lucy! Here is a photo of her person as she picked the painting up from my studio. She seems pretty happy with it, dont’ you think?

If you are interested in a pet portrait of your animal, info about the process can be found here. Please email BZTAT to make an order or to get further information about getting a custom portrait of your pet.