These two portraits feature two cute tricolor rat terrier dogs named Misty and Luna. The customer requested two almost identical portraits of the dogs, since they are gifts for family members. They wanted one portrait with natural colors on a rainbow confetti background, and the other to be vibrant colors on the same background. These were both painted with acrylic paints on 16″ x 20″ stretched canvas at the end of September and early October 2022.
Larger views of these paintings can be seen in my portfolio. Here is the Natural Version, and the Colorful Version.
It was a pleasant experience doing two identical portraits in two very different styles. For me, it allows me to use my skills to the max. I was able to color match their rat terrier fur colors and get their markings as accurate as possible, while also creating a vibrant rainbow version with the same attributes. For customers, it allows them to compare and contrast my two main styles (natural and colorful) in a way that is easier to digest. They can clearly envision what their portrait will look like in each style side by side. The background is the exact same in both paintings, so the only difference is the style of the dogs themselves.
Rainbow Confetti Background
For these paintings, the customer chose my “rainbow confetti” background style. For this background option, I do a full rainbow gradient and cover it with broad square brushstrokes and spots of yellow, blue, and hot pink. This gives the painting a fun party-like quality that is dynamic yet not too distracting from the main subject. I chose a diagonal gradient for the rainbow, starting at the bottom left corner with yellow, and going to the right and up with orange, red, magenta, purple, violet, blue, teal, green, and finally yellow again at the upper right corner.
I did this for two reasons. The first is that, in the colorful version the dog on the left will have primarily a lot of blue in the fur on her back, so warm colors like yellow, orange, and red will contrast nicely. The dog on the right has a lot of white, so any color behind that would work. The second reason is that I feel a diagonal gradient is more pleasing to the eye than a horizontal or vertical one. It also allows me to choose a dominant color which will be the largest “band” across the longest diagonal of the canvas. In this case, that is blue.
Getting Your Own Portrait
If you like these portraits of Misty and Luna, and want one of your own pet, please contact me. I have lots of information on the process and my price list on my Pet Portraits page here. I work with acrylics on stretched canvas, and can do portraits as small as 5″ x 7″ or as large as 30″ x 40″. I use a lot of color in my works. However, I have two main styles: natural colors and vibrant colors, as can be illustrated nicely in this post. Natural colors are what it sounds like, the natural colors of your pet. Vibrant colors will take your pet’s natural colors and markings and make them bright and rainbow colored. I have many different background styles to choose from as well. To see examples of my previous work, please visit my entire pet portrait portfolio on my site. I can paint any breed or species of animal. I have many portraits of dogs and cats, but also birds, reptiles, rodents, and farm animals. I can even paint wildlife species of your choice. Additionally, I paint portraits on ceramic ornaments as well. Please contact me for more details.