Selecting the
perfect photo

Tips for great pet portraits:

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• Take the photo in natural light or good lighting. A dimly lit photo will be harder to paint.

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• It looks great if your pet is partially in shadow or has a stronger light on one side of them or part of the them. It also makes your pet look three-dimensional and lifelike.

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• If you have indoor only pets it works to have them sit by a window or near light entering the  room from another room.

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• Take the photo of your pet at eye level. This is because looking down on your pet, or up at them, will create distortion which doesn’t look good in a painting.

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• Be sure that I can see their eyes and nose. Sometimes a painting will work if they’re eyes are closed but I’ve found that if I can’t see their eyes and nose the painting won’t capture your pet as well as I could. And their personality won’t show through as well.

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• Try not to get too close to your pet as it can distort their face.  Take a step back.

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• Include the entire body in the shot.  Make sure you’re not cutting off feet, ends of tails, etc.  If the photo is cropped, and some of your pet isn't in the frame, I can use it for a portrait-style painting since I can’t make up what’s not there.

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• Don’t edit or use a filter on the images.

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• High-resolution photos are best if you have them.

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• We will work together on selecting a photo of your pet and discuss things like background color and other elements to make sure I capture your pet’s personality and create a painting that looks beautiful in your home.

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• I like to use a Google drive for sharing and commenting on images, but we can also use email.

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• I usually paint a neutral and blurry background that compliments your pet and the environment that they're in. We can discuss changing this if you like and to match a wall that it will be on.

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