My latest commissioned pet portrait is complete. This is Pepper! As with all my portraits i used the lovely Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils on a smooth paper with white gel pen as highlights on the whiskers.

If you would like your own portrait like this one or of a person you can find the price list on my Pet & Horse Portrait Page.

For years i have been avoiding the dreaded portrait!  They need to be so precise, so accurate and well executed in order to be truly accepted as a representation of that person.  Well i had conflicting feelings when the January challenge was announced by Colored Pencil Magazine and that challenge was to be a portrait!  I fancied the challenge, to really push myself and to see where i could take my art.  Could i take it into the unknown, way out of my comfort zone and produce the elusive portrait?  Well i just had to find out!  


I had to approach this one in a completely different way by using a grid to accurately sketch the face first, this was the daunting bit, even planning out the grid was a challenge in itself never mind sketching as accurately as i possibly could!  One line slightly out of place could jeopardise the whole thing and it was a nervy, tentative start for me!  The rest of it just seemed to come together naturally, i was used to the shading part and everything was in it's place from the sketch!  It was very strange once the eyes were in, i was being observed from the paper itself!


Today i finished my Snow Baby portrait, and i must say i am very pleased with myself!  Maybe i won't be so frightened of the portrait from now on, who knows maybe i'll even do one of myself!