These pet portraits were all painted for the same customer, and requested at the same time. In the photo above, from left to right, is Reinhardt, Marion, and Gus-Gus. All three are terrier mixed breed dogs, and all were painted with bright colors in my signature ‘colorful realism’ style per owner request. All three were each painted on a 8×10 inch canvas with acrylic paints, and were finished by November 9, 2025.

The above portrait is Reinhardt, a wire haired terrier mix. He has one ear that flops over and one that stays upright, and the owner wanted that in the painting. In his reference photo, he was mostly black, with tan markings on his face around his eyes and on his muzzle that had faded to a pale color, and appeared white in some of his more recent photos. The owner wanted a bright pink background for his portrait. This pink on the bottom of the canvas was not straight out of the tube, but is a unique mixture of Rose Pink and Fluorescent Pink in equal measures. It blends into a gradient of increasing amounts of purple as it progresses to the top of the canvas. I did this because otherwise it looked flat.

Since his coloring is mostly black, I used a base layer of dioxazine purple mixed with cerulean blue and violet blue, and added many layers of various colors, including cerulean blue, light blue permanent, pale yellow, fluorescent pink, and quinacridone magenta. The whitish areas above his eyes and on his muzzle had a base layer of a blend of pale yellow, titanium white, and hot pink, and I added many layers of other colors on top, including pure white. The inside of the ear and the tongue was painted with the same bright pink as the background, with some pure rose pink mixed in to tone it down. His eyes are their natural brown color, using layers of raw umber and ivory black.

The second portrait is Marion. She is a mixed breed dog with pointed ears, and a grey coat with pale agouti/ticking markings and yellow/cream colored points (the markings above and below her eyes, on her cheeks, and chest). Her portrait was a challenge to paint because of her unusual coloration and markings. I chose a lavender-purple color for the base layer of her grey areas, and layered light blue, pale yellow, and hot pink on the top. The yellow areas were mostly left pale yellow, with some hot pink around the margins to blend them into her coat. Her eyes were also left their natural brown color. The background is a smooth gradient of green, teal and blue, per the owner request.

The last of this trio is Gus-Gus. He is a tricolor terrier, probably a rat terrier or a mix. He has an underbite and the teeth of his lower jaw often catch on his upper lip, a trait that the owner wanted me to include in his portrait. He also has an intense wide-eyed stare, which is also one of his characteristics. The owner wanted me to paint his background a rainbow gradient, which complemented the rainbow of colors in his fur. The ‘black’ and ‘white’ areas were painted with various blues and purples, while the orange/tan areas were painted with oranges, yellows, hot pink, and red. The margins where the black areas met the tan areas were highlighted in fluorescent pink.

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I hope you enjoy these beautiful and expressive paintings! If you want one of your own pet, please click on the Pet Portraits tab above. I have been working as a full time pet portrait artist since 2017 and have painted over 150 portraits of all kinds of pets, including dogs, cats, sheep, lizards, birds, rodents, and many more. I offer two color schemes: natural realistic colors, and bright rainbow colors (seen here) depending on your taste and style.

I create my portraits with high quality archival acrylic paints on stretched canvas, ranging in size from 5×7 inches to 48×60 inches for rectangular shapes, and from 6×6 inches to 30×30 inches for square shapes. I work from your photos, and communicate the entire process via regular email updates. I typically book out 2-3 months in advance, so if you want a portrait for a gift, please contact me in advance to reserve your spot on my calendar.