Pet Portrait Commission of Bandit

This pet portrait commission of Bandit, a pug (I think) was one of two dog paintings ordered by the same customer as Christmas gifts. Created as digital art, the final paintings were delivered to the customer on stretched canvas, ready-to-hang.

Many thanks again to John at WilderWealthyWise for sending so many Christmas commissions my way.

Originally I created the portrait as a tight-in image, cropping the feet and most of the legs. My thinking is that the face is the most important part of a portrait, but the customer wanted to see the whole dog.

That's the great thing about digital art; instead of starting completely from scratch, I was able to scale down the art and add the rest of Bandit's body. The reference photo didn't have a very interesting background as I recall, so I added a bold red backdrop and increased the depth by adding shadows, to visually bring Bandit forward in the portrait.

Pet portrait commission of Bandit (16x16 digital art)

Both this and the companion portrait came out very well, which made for a good holiday for my customer.

I should mention that after Christmas, pet portrait commission orders fall to next to nothing. At this time, I'm mostly sitting around anxiously hoping for a few orders to fill out my month. To help make that happen, I'm offering a special $20 discount on all portrait orders during March. If you order a pet portrait, use the Discount Code MARCH2021 on the order form and $20 will magically disappear from your order total.

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About the Author

topdog

Topdog is Steve Merryman, a graphic designer (retired), and illustrator. Living in the woods, Steve can often be found working on portrait commissions. In his spare time he paints, writes, shoots guns, cuts trees, hikes with his dogs, savors a beer or two, and searches for the perfect cheeseburger. He studiously avoids social media and is occasionally without pants.

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