Updated 25th Jan 2012

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Photo-to-Portrait Examples

How a portrait is created

The large name tag has been edited out

Milky eyes have been corrected and emphasis taken away from the paw

Hands and people can be edited out and it is often a good idea to hold your pet for the photo

The poor lighting has been corrected, using other photographs for colour reference

Combining photos

© Copyright Georgina Gibbons 2012. The images and text on this website may not be copied nor reproduced in any format .

Enhancing your photos

It is always better to work from clear photographs with good detail, but when painting your portrait I can combine photos and also make corrections or alterations. Some examples are shown below. Never worry about holding your pet to take a photograph as hands, people and backgrounds will all be edited out of the final portrait.

Simple changes

Original photo. Part of Archie’s face is concealed, so that needs to be addressed, and I also want to move his right paw to a better position without drawing attention to it.

A line drawing is created and the first layer of colour, highlighting and shadow is added. This very soft smudging technique also works well as a finished painting style.

Gradually, more layers of colour and shading build up the final portrait. Fine detail, such as individual

hairs, is added last.

Composition from three separate photos, balancing the different colours and lighting and ensuring correct relative size.

This composition is made up from three photos. My objective was to show the three dogs as a group rather than three “floating heads”.

Strong sun light is often a problem so here the lighting has been evened out and the distracting collar removed

“You have captured Ollie completely and

I will treasure this for ever. I even had to get the tissues out I was so overwhelmed!”

Julia Tibbs, Taunton

This composition is made up from three photos. My objective was to bring out the individual characteristics of each dog, while correcting and balancing the colours”.