Painting pet portraits is a great way to honor and memorialize lost animals – or to celebrate living ones. It’s also an opportunity to incorporate a little artistic license into the furry friends’ personalities into your artwork for a fun, quirky touch.

The first step is to select a good reference photo and transfer it onto watercolor pets . After that, you can begin to paint. Deb shows you how to create value sketches and lay down the first wash that will help establish depth and luminosity in your portrait. She then explains how to fix color blooms and use a fan brush to get crisp details. Plus, she reveals how to paint different ear shapes for both dogs and cats. Finally, she tackles the tricky subject of dog and cat coats. Deb demonstrates how to create short, directional strokes that mimic the natural shape of a cat’s whiskers and helps you achieve a realistic look with your colors. She also explains how to take artistic license with the tail and ears, as well as some other painterly tricks for conveying fur texture at a distance.

The Essence of Fido: How to Create Stunning Watercolor Portraits of Dogs

Pets are so special, and it’s always a wonderful feeling to be able to capture their beauty in a work of art. By following a few simple strategies, you can make commissioned pet portraits a fun and profitable part of your business.