“Bean” Acrylic painting on 11×14 inch canvas, finished June 30, 2025. A portrait of a long-haired lynx point Siamese cat named Bean in bright rainbow colors. The style for this painting is called ‘colorful realism’ and it uses the pet’s own natural colors and markings as a guide for which colors I choose. Basically, taking the pet’s fur color and ramping up the saturation and chroma until it is as vibrant as possible. More on that in a bit.
The background style is something I invented a few years ago called ‘rainbow confetti. The basis for the background style is a rainbow gradient, and depending on the main colors of the animal I will start the rainbow at a different point on the canvas but make sure to include the entire spectrum across the background. Usually I start with magenta at the top, then cycle through red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, violet, purple and magenta again at the bottom. But sometimes it will be reversed, on a diagonal, or start with a different color at the top to end with it at the bottom. The edges of the gradient are left loose and rough, rather than a smooth blend, to give the background some texture. On top of this, I apply thick brushstrokes of light yellow, hot pink, and light blue, along with some small specks of the same color, to break up the gradient and make it more interesting. This can make the background look very busy but it works really well if the pet also has a rainbow of colors in their fur.
Bean is a long haired lynx point Siamese (or Siamese mix). The majority of his body color is a creamy off white, and the paws, ears, tail, and face are darker with tabby markings, which is especially apparent on the legs and face. Since his body fur color is warm tones, I painted it with a base layer of pale yellow and added brush strokes of mostly light blue and fluorescent pink to add shading and fur details. The pointed areas were painted with purples, blues, and greens with some magenta and hot pink as well. The markings around his mouth, around his eyes, and on his forehead were very pale, almost white, so I made those white. Lastly, the spot on the bridge of his nose was also a yellowish color, so I added that at the end. His eyes were a vivid blue, so that is his natural eye color, with some saturation enhanced.
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If you like this portrait of Bean and want a painting of your own pet, please visit my Pet Portraits page to get more information. I have two styles: colorful and natural, and work from your provided photographs to capture your pet’s spirit in a style and color scheme that matches your tastes. I work with acrylic paints on canvas, and you have the option of either rectangular or square canvas in a wide variety of size options. I have been painting pet portraits professionally since 2017, and have over 150 pets in my portfolio, including cats, dogs, farm animals, birds, rodents, and reptiles. Please note I tend to book out about 2-3 months in advance, so please reserve your spot on my schedule early.
