Dalmatian 'Alfred' Pet Portrait
Dog Portrait Paintings in Acrylic on Canvas
Alfred's portrait was commissioned by his owners as he passed away a few months ago. He was with his family for nearly fourteen years and he was very much loved. The clients wanted to have a memory of Alfred in a form of a pet portrait to display in their home. They live in the beautiful county Wicklow and have taken lots of hikes through the mountains with Alfred. They wanted to have his favourite walking spot captured in the portrait and so they opted for a full landscape background with Alfred sitting happily in the foreground. I had lots of reference photographs and I prepared a few different composites for the clients to choose from. They decided for the composition below and I think it created a really lovely portrait.
The painting was larger in size 40 x 50cm - 16 x 20inches - and was painted with acrylic paints on stretched canvas.
Alfred's Pet Portrait with Detail
The final scan of the finished painting is shown below with a detailed image. The detailed image is approximately actual painting size. I scan all artwork myself and match it to the original using Photoshop. This way I have a good image on file in case clients decide to order prints or cards of their portrait in the future.
If you would like to commission your own pet portrait, you can contact me anytime to discuss your ideas and pictures. Composites are prepared for you free of charge before any work begins.
Reference Photograph
I used three photographs to create the pet portrait above. One photo was of Alfred sitting in grass. I used another photo for the background and one for his paws so that they don't look 'cut off' in the painting. I just love the colours in the landscape photo, they are so rich.
Alfred's Pet Portrait in Progress
This painting took approximately 35 hours to complete and I started with a sketch with raw umber. This is to establish likeness and to draw in the main features of the landscape. In the next stage I blocked in the basic colour scheme to the background mountains and grass. The first two stages of the painting process are very quick and full of expression - my favourite part. Then it was down to lots of layers and details in the landscape and Alfred himself. The individual stages were posted in my Art in Progress Blog as an update for the client.
I also took some photos of the finished painting and you can see them by scrolling down on the page.
Client Feedback
"Hi Ivana, that's fantastic, it was his 14th birthday yesterday. The first sketch looks amazing, unfortunately has made us a wee bit emotional...
You have really captured Alfred in the painting, it is so like him and it seems to give him more substance and life already than a photograph if that makes sense?
We are really delighted, Alfred was very special to us & the painting is just perfect, it is going to be a fantastic centrepiece in our house...
The portrait of Alfred has surpassed our expectations in terms of the detail & how true to life he is. We really liked your other portraits, but having seen the completed work we are so happy that we decided to get you to do the painting of Alfred. The landscape part of the painting showing Mullaghacleevaun Mountain from Kanturk in the Wicklow Mountains is amazing too & all the little features are captured perfectly. We now have a painting which will remind us of one of ours & Alfred's favourite places in the hills where we live & where we spent many happy times hiking together. Thank you so much!"
David, Claire & Rian, County Wicklow, Ireland
