Show me your pictures!
“Bella” Portrait
Bella’s ” The One”, reference photo
Most pet portrait artists work primarily from photographs; this is our main source of reference for insuring an accurate portrayal of your animal. So having the best possible photos is extremely important. The following information will help you take, or choose from an existing album, the best reference material for me to use in a painting or drawing of your pet.
The most important goal in photographing your animal is to get a picture, for me to use to paint or draw from, that accurately shows the true characteristics of his or her personality.
THE “ONE”
I like to have at least 2 or 3 different pictures to work with. One of these has to be the EXACT pose or likeness that you want me to portray as your pet portrait, (“The One”). The other photos are useful to show further eye, snout and coat detail. Clarity of detail, true eye and coat color are of the utmost importance.
LIGHTING
It would be best to photograph your animal outside in morning light with a bit of overcast or cloud cover. If it is a sunny day, photograph with the sun behind you and shining onto your animals face and coat. Natural lighting is best; mainly try not to use a flash as this can change the color of things on the animal. These are optimum conditions that of course can’t always be met, so that is why we need a few different shots to work from. A flash going off in the face of an unsuspecting animal is not good either so if you have to use a flash, be cognizant of this and don’t take too many shots of them looking directly at the camera.
CLARITY and COMPLETENESS
It is very important that the photos are clear, especially the eyes, snout and coat texture. Always check your shots for clarity. Make sure as well that you get the entire animal in the photo, at least everything that you want painted or drawn! If nothing else take some extra shots of body parts which may have been left out of the “One” photo. Also along those lines, make sure any characteristic marks that are unique to your animal can be clearly seen in the pictures.
Please go to my pricing and ordering page and order your pet portrait. I will be happy to discuss with you any of the above information at length, so that we get the proper reference material for a portrait you will love!!
Have Fun with your animals!!
Cy
