New Zazzle pet portrait gift store!

Click to visit the new Zazzle store!

I've created a Pet portrait gift shop on Zazzle, which will sell gift items such as prints, greetings cards and even U.S. Postage with Pencil Pet designs on.
I only use images if the owner gives their consent, or images that are still in my private collection.
I will be adding new products with each new design i create so be sure to check back regularly and browse the store.
If you have already had a portrait drawn then why not get matching notecards to go with it? I can place your drawing on items and send you the link so you can order them yourself. I can even make them private so other visitors can't order them, which would mean you had a truly unique gift.

If you are thinking of commissioning a drawing but perhaps havent got the budget yet, the zazzle notecards and prints make affordable gifts.

If you have any requests of dog types youwould like to see drawn and in the zazzle store, then let me know. I'll still have the drawing, but you'll have a specially designed gift item.

Click here to start shopping!

business card promotion...

hi everyone, just a little post to welcome anyone who is looking at my blog as a result of being given one of my business cards...As you can see below i did make a wide selection of cards as examples of my work and as a kind of mini portfolio. The cards feature fifteen different designs, all previous commissions or gifts.


If you are baffled as to what to do next, its easy, find your favourite picture of your pet, or sneakily find a good picture of the recipients pet, and drop me an email with the details of what you want, with your phone number and i'll call or email and give you a quote. Once thats out of the way you can email the picture to me, or post it snail mail and i'll get cracking.
I send commissions unframed and unmounted in a tube for protection, unless you reqest otherwise.

If you have one of my cards it means you are in the UK and so can ring the mobile number on the card to talk about the commission.

Now...which photo to use? thats the question...

Wet canvas.com...an essential resource...

Wetcanvas.com is a stunning site. It is one one of the 100 biggest online communities with 4000 new posts per day. It has 50000 active members, and it is devoted entirely to art. There are forums for every different type of art imaginable, there are articles and tutorials to teach you techniques, there are thousands of professional artists all giving you encouragement and help. There is a reference image library with thousands of images for inspiration, there are links to tried and tested art supply sites, art courses and artists available for comission. The whole thing is totally free with no catches, no suprises and no hidden clauses.

I would not be doing these drawings as i am today if it hadnt been for Wet canvas rekindling my desire to draw.

If you have even the faintest interest in drawing or creating any kind of art, then Wet canvas is an essential resource.

Double Commission finished...Again!

hello again, i've given the dogs a nice blue background as they looked quite lonely there without one.


Thay really stand out now dont they? now if i had stuck to my plans and done the background first i wouldnt have had to do it so late in the day.

Heigh ho. we live and learn.

Double commission finished....

And here for all to see is the finished portrait. It only took a bit of photo wizardry to glue the pictures together so you get the full effect.

Double Commission WIP second dog...

my husband suggested i do this dog more gradually for you instead of simply scanning it when i finish like the last one....sorry about that.
here's a more in depth view of the second dog taking shape. The colour is awful because of the lack of contrast but it pops into focus more once the darks are in. Makes me think the eye must work the same way, because it looks awful till the last minute.

here's the first bit of yellowy fur...

This is most of the coloured fur done with the base colours. note the very shiny nose of the other dog...as if he cant wait to see it improve either!


Here I have filled in the right ear area and begun modelling the head. I hadnt concentrated so much on the fur direction before on the other dog but here i am trying to make her look really soft and fluffy. I have mostly invented it as the photo was quite small, but i think she looks good.

Now for the fun bit, all the hard work pays off when you put the darks in. This is only some dark browns but it really makes the whole thing jump into focus suddenly. She does look a bit like a zombie dog without any eyes though.


My personal favourite part of a dog is the nose (to draw obviously) and this is no exception. The shape and texture of a dogs nose make it a very pleasantly rubbery thing to draw. I have also done her tongue. This is the first portrait of an open mouthed dog i've done, and i'm happy with how the tongue turned out. I'd love to do a really detailed close shot of a big jowly dog so i could have some more gum and lip practice, but that will have to wait for now.

Now with the tongue done, the blues of the white fur can be put in to make it "Glo-White" sparkly, like getting your dog washed as its drawn! The eyes are put in, and made the same velvety brown as the others eyes, as the black in the photo was probably just the flash. I think this one can be called done.


A couple of tweaks here and there, and the first dog is similarly done!


Hope this giant post has been informative!

Commission WIP stage Three

okay i lied before about doing the background first, because for some reason i just ploughed in and started the right hand dog first. I'm pretty pleased with him so far but i'll add the blackest bits and highlights with watercolour pencil at the end.


The scanner messes with the values and the saturation but hopefully i'll be able to get a decent scan at some point. The white fur has more detailing in real life but its just wiped ut by the scanner. The back of my hand is really hrting now, so i might rest it until tomorrow, and try the other dog then.

Double commission WIP stage two... line drawing

I finally got a chance to do the line drawings for the commission. The picture looks a little odd because i have only got an A4 scanner, so much of the image is cropped off, and i had to raise the contrast to make the lines stand out so theres lots of dark edges. it basically looks nothing like my actual drawing...but bear with me. I'll try taking picutres on my digi camera instead, they'll be less clear but possibly show you more the whole picture.

anyway here it is for now:

And a detail of the left dog, which i scanned more successfully on its own:

next i'm going to try and get the background done first, as it will define the white fur areas and will make the dogs stand out more than a plain white sheet.

Latest commission...work in progress

Hello again, hope everyone survived christmas with their sanity intact. Happy New Year to you all.

i thought it might be interesting to let you in on the process of creating one of my pet portraits, show the various stages it goes through, and the time it takes to do.
This is a double commission, two dogs, heads only, on a sheet of A3 paper. The dogs are a pair of very sweet mongrels, and i have several photos from the owner, which i have scanned in so i can see them better.




After scanning them in i can crop them, change the contrast, blur the background, and whatever else it takes to make the best possible Pet Portrait.
Once i have drawn the rough pencil outlines i will post them before i continue.