How It Works – Commissioning a Pencil Pet Portrait

1. Take and Send Photos

The first step is to take and send photos of your pets to me. Photos are Key! Why not take a look at my Pencil Portraits Photography Tips page as it gives plenty of information about how to take the perfect photo for your portrait. It really will be worth all of the effort as this stage is the most important. Treats always come in handy! If your pet has sadly passed, try to gather all of the photos you have of them so that we have plenty of choice when it comes to deciding which photo would be the most suitable. Bear in minds that although I usually work from one main photo for the pose, others can come in very handy. For instance, I can often add a different head onto a different neck or body, add in tails, ears, paws etc. It's ideal also at this stage to think about the size of portrait and let me know your ideas.

2. Contact Me

Once you have gathered all of your photos send them all to me via via my contact page. I will then create you a mock-up of how your portrait might look. Using your photos I can erase the background and turn it into black and white to show you how, for instance, a head study using that photo might look. This helps us both to visualize what the end result might look like. This is really helpful if you have two or more pets within the scene and or background etc.

3. Place a Deposit

When the design of the portrait has been agreed, the next stage is for you to place a deposit and for me to add you to my commissions list. My commissions list is a private page only for my clients to view and you can watch your portrait rise in the list over the coming weeks. My preferred method of payment for my UK clients is bank transfer, although i do accept online payments. Overseas cleints can pay via credit or debit card / apple pay etc. All overseas clients will receive an invoice with an integral payment button, completely safe and secure. Deposits for detailed drawings are £400. Deposits for sketches are £100.

4. The Portrait is Started!

Once the final payment has been made, usually in the same way as you placed the deposit, I will then start your drawing. Once the pencil drawing is complete I email you a range of photos for your approval. I like to take photos from different angles so that you can really get a feel for what the drawing is like. If there is anything you would like tweaked or changed, things can be slightly altered at this point. From the feedback I receive from clients they always say the drawings are better in the flesh than the photos - which is wonderful news!

5. Pack Your Portrait

Once everything is complete my pencil pet portraits are packed securely. They travel far and wide, so they need to be packed extremely well for their journey. I always start by wrapping them in cellophane and tissue paper. As you can see in the photos they are beautifully presented, which is perfect if you are commissioning a portrait as a gift. The portraits are placed into a specialist photography box and tied in ribbon. This is all wrapped in foam wrap and placed in a double walled cardboard box. I then book the portrait in with the courier on an expedited tracked service.

As soon as your portrait arrives and you give it to that someone special, I would dearly love to see photos. It really makes my day to be part of your special day by seeing photos. The photos below were taken by my client Daisy of her parents when they were opening their portrait of Kegan. Tears were just about to fall in the second photo. I hope that you are able to let me be part of your special day when you open your portrait, or you gift it to a loved one, just like Daisy did.