Animal
Spirit
Updated 31st Aug 2010
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Photo-to-Portrait Examples
How a portrait is created
Remove large name tag
Correct milky eyes, take emphasis away from paw
A bit more involved
Remove hand
Remove left hand and reposition right hand, correct “red eye”
Combining photos
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“Your portrait of George has made them so very happy and has helped
ease the pain of losing him. I cannot find the words to
describe how thankful we all are.”
Bridgette Farrow, Essex
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 removed in 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.
Composition from three old photos, balancing the different colours and lighting and making small corrections. My objective was to show the three dogs as a group rather than three “floating” heads. Changes to the eyes to have them all looking in the same direction help to achieve this effect.