If you are thinking about commissioning a pet portrait – it can be very confusing.
There’s a bit of money involved, so where do you start?
You will have an idea of how much you want to spend, then I recommend you find or take the best pictures you can – with a real camera if possible (phone pictures are ok but often not very sharp!).
Choose the ones you like the best, a few of them (say 3 or 4). Ones that look good, and show what your pet is typically like.
The look at the images again – if they are really sharp, go for a painting if you can, it can be kept for generations, a lovely thing to have. If your images are not the clearest (or are old because the pet had passed away), then probably you will need an ink drawing. Click on this one on the left, It’s a great example of what I mean, a lovely picture but too small and unsharp for me to see the detail well enough for a painting.
I will not proceed with a painting if the pictures are not clear enough because you will be disappointed, and I won’t be happy with the work. I have never had a rejection (yet!), so I don’t want to start now. And I want you to love your art as much I loved painting it.