This painting of Katy and Hank was commissioned a few months ago and travelled with Katy all the way to the US. It was commissioned as a birthday present to her from her partner Conor. The painting is 40 x 40 cm in size painted with acrylics on stretched canvas.
I had one photograph to work from so I was not completely sure I captured both likenesses when I was finished. But the client was really delighted and Katy was too when she received it. The client collected the painting during the ‘lock-down’ as he was local and emailed me then when he gave it to Katy:
Dear Ivana! Wow – It is absolutely brilliant, I love it! … I’m sure she will be delighted and once she has seen it, I will certainly let you know. I was delighted to find someone local that could do it and I am really happy with how it turned out, so it’s all good. … Just to let you know that Katy was absolutely thrilled with the painting of her and Hank – She loves it! She couldn’t get over how you were able to capture him so perfectly! So thanks so much once again!
Conor, Ireland
I am quite happy with the finished painting too. I was please with the final colours. I suggested to Conor to remove some of the lines from the top of the photo and keep the background very simple as there was a lot happening with Katy embracing Hank. I wanted the two main subjects to be the focus of the portrait. I took some photographs of the painting as it was in progress.
Reference photo for the painting 
Initial sketch for a dog and owner portrait 
Colour blocking the painting 
Adding detail to the painting
I started work with a sketch of yellow ochre, carried on with some basic colour blocking and then worked in thin washes of paint to achieve a good level of detail. Once I was happy with the likeness, I scanned the painting in four pieces, stitched it together in Photoshop and emailed it to the client.
I took some photographs of the painting in my studio and hanging on the wall. I work on stretched canvas and I leave the framing choice to the client. I think the paintings work very well unframed, although it depends on the client’s taste and interior whether they prefer framing or not. Here is a photograph of the canvas side:
