I painted a portrait of Doireann with her beloved jack russell terrier dog Bruno in October 2025. Bruno sadly passed away a few weeks before that and his owner Doireann was very close with him.
She was devastated over his loss. This prompted her partner Mark to contact me and commission a painting of her and Bruno as a gift. He wanted me to capture the close bond the two had in a painting. He emailed me two photographs and I thought one of them looking at each other really captures their closeness.
The painting is painted with acrylics on stretched canvas. I worked at 30 x 40 cm. I wanted to preserve the harmony of tone in the painting. There were a lot of muted tones in the decor of my clients’ house and the splashes of colour in Bruno’s dog bandana and the subtle pink tones of Doireann’s skin came into focus.
Mark was delighted with the finished painting:
Hi Ivana! Wow, it looks amazing and Bruno looks so lifelike. That looks great. Thanks so much.
Mark upon receiving a scanned image of the finished painting of his partner and dog, Dublin, September 2025
I worked on the painting in stages, starting with a line sketch as usual, then colour blocking. With this painting, I wanted to have the background almost ready before adding the skin tones and dog’s fur. I wanted to be able to compare the colour temperature as the bedlinen and blinds are quite cool. It was important then to downplay the warmth of Doireann’s skin complexion so it does not appear too red.
The painting was finished without a frame. I added two coats of satin varnish to the surface to protect it from scratches and dust.
Mark sent me a lovely email a few weeks ago after he gifted Doireann with it over Christmas:
Hi Ivana! She LOVED the painting and anyone who has seen it has been hugely impressed with the painting.
Mark emailing me in January about how the painting was received
I am currently working on a painting of two cats cuddling together. There are some interesting shadows coming through on the painting and I am really enjoying capturing the nuances of their fur colour with the light hitting it.
I am accepting commissions for people and pet portraits, landscapes, horse portraits and anything in between. If you have something in mind, why not email me some photos to info@trueimage.ie