Custom pet portraits, hand made cake toppers

Monday, July 11, 2011

Custom portrait of Lino…a very lively and playful dog !

W
hen the owner of Lino commissioned me his portrait, he told me what was happened to his dog, a Jack Terrier of 5 years.
They live in the country, so he left his dog roam free because he always came back home.
A day he saw him come home in very bad conditions, limping.
He immediately took to the vet and discovered that someone had poisoned him, fortunately he was able to save him, now Lino is happy and perfectly healthy!


Lino is a very lively and playful dog and he deserves to be able to ride safely in a world where there aren’t criminals who thrown poisoned meatballs in its path, it's a shame!! I have no words to describe this absurd cruelty!!

Lino playing with his ball...
Today his owner keeps him in house or in a protected courtyard and to celebrate his return home safe and sound, he has decided to commission a  portrait of his friend Lino.
He was very satisfied of the result, he chose a very important frame to decorate the portrait.




Sunday, July 10, 2011

Custom portrait of a black and white cat

T
he owner of this beautiful black and white cat have commissioned me her portrait because, for him and his wife, this cat is like a daughter.

Cat portrait
Customer chose a gold and auburn frame:


The portrait with the cat’s photo:


This cat has beautiful blue eyes!


I painted this portrait on canvas with acrylics.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Custom dog portrait of Ricky

T
his portrait was commissioned me by the owners of Ricky, husband and wife, it was a memorial portrait, they desired it to celebrate their loved dog, to remember him forever and preserve his memory in time.


The lady wanted me to use this photo for the portrait of Ricky because she is particularly fond of it. She had taken it on a balcony of a hotel in the mountains, where they were for summer holidays.
It was difficult to take the photo because Ricky behaved like a spiteful child, and he did not want to sit still! He was very funny!


I painted it on canvas (12”x16”) with acrylics.
They have a very elegant and classic house with antique furniture so they chose a dark brown frame with two golden lines handmade with gold leaf.

Yorkshire portrait

They chose a white background to highlight only the dog, I added a gold plate with dog’s name.



Friday, July 8, 2011

Custom dog portrait of Pelo…a white maltese

T
he portrait of Pelo,lively maltese dog, was commissioned by a client who contacted me after seeing some of my dog portraits that I had exposed.
Pelo is customer sister's dog, he is much loved and pampered, she chose this name beause he is a cloud of white fur!!! (Pelo is an italian word that means fur in English).

Maltese portrait

Customer gave me so many photos of their beloved Pelo, I chose to concentrate my attention on these three: 

My favourite is this one:


It shows a ball of white fur with cunning eyes
Adorable!!
Maltese is a proud and elegant dog, in the past a mouse hunter on ships, and now a lively and happy companion dog.



I painted Pelo on canvas (12”x16”) with acrylics, customer chose a gradient background that fits in with the colors of her sister’s house and a gold frame.
I added also a gold plate with dog’s name to customize even more the portrait.


The client made ​​me many compliments (thaks!!), I was very happy, because it was challenging to make to make the effect of all that white fur on the canvas, the portrait was a very appreciated gift for her sister.




Thursday, July 7, 2011

Alice in daisies…custom dog portrait

T
his portrait was commissioned to me by a client who wanted to make an original gift to her husband, what gift is more original and unique than a portrait?

So she gave me the photo of their beloved Alice, and told me that her husband is in love with
Alice‘s sympathy and vivacity. 

The photo that most represents Alice is this:

In a field of daisies with his trusty ball, in a break between a game and a race…
Of course, the client explained to me what are the real colors of the coat of Alice!!
In this photo are not very understandable ...
She is a grey and black Cocker.

 This is the portrait I made of her:


It was a very welcome birthday present, the whole family was enthusiastic!


I painted this portrait on canvas (12”x16”) with acrylics, client chose a gold frame  to which I attacked a gold plate with the name of the dog.

A portrait of your pet is a very special and unique birthday gift, in my experience as a portrait artist I've always noticed that it was most welcome and valued.



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tom's portrait

T
he portrait of Tom represents a very emotional moment for me, I remember when his owner came to my studio here in Italy to bring me his photo, and she told me, through tears, that her beloved Tom was no longer alive, after many years toghether.


She said that now her house was empty and sad, because Tom was a loving dog, sweet and playful.
She wanted a portrait that forever remember her great friend, to keep at home and watch so that the memories become less painful over time and sweeter.
The sweetness was the main feature of Tom and I tried to stop it on the canvas with all my endeavors.
I knew I had succeeded when, in delivering to the customer, I saw her moved.


When our pets leave us, remains a great void and sadness, they gave us so much love asking little in return, they have filled the days of joy, were close to us, have filled our lives.
Much remains of the great love that they gave us, nothing is lost, their memory is within us, will always be part of our lives.
The task of the painter is to make this memory eternal stopping forever in canvas their portraits.

I painted Tom's portrait on canvas (12"x16") with acrylics, customer also decided for a wooden gold frame, I added also a gold plate with dog's name painted on it.

Sweet Tom









Monday, July 4, 2011

Custom portrait of 2 hunting dogs…in a rural landscape!

The photos of these beautiful hunting dogs, show them in the rooms of a lovely house but the owner wanted them portraited on a rural landscape background.



The owner showed me a canvas with a painted landscape and she asked me to paint a similar landscape as a background for her dogs.
It was very fun for me to paint these wonderful dogs in their natural environment and the customer was very satisfied and happy.


I paint this portrait on a canvas 19.7”x 23.6” (50x60cm) with acrylics.
Framing the portrait was done by the client.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Custom Labrador portrait….Pegghy!


H
ello everyone, today is a beautiful summer day, my favorite time of the year, so I want to tell you a story that had, fortunately, a beautiful happy ending, something that happened exactly one year ago in this same period of the year.


When a dear friend of mine asked me to do a portrait of her Labrador retriever, Pegghy, as requested by her son, in my mind passed , like a flash, a wave of deep sorrow, fortunately already passed.
A few months before his eight year old son had a serious accident. He remained in a coma for several weeks and she had been afraid of losing him. When his son came home brought with him nightmares and night terrors.
It is at this point that Pegghy arrived, and with her contagious joy has become for him a true friend and dismissed his sadness and fears.



This is the photo, my friend showed me, of little Pegghy, in the farm where they have adopted her, she is the first from the left, is not just adorable?!



And all the other puppies ... I would adopt them all!
My friend told me that between the puppy Pegghy and his son was love at first sight, they have been immediately understood to belong to each other. With Pegghy in his life, he has overcome his fears and nightmares.



I painted Pegghy’s portrait on canvas (12”x16”) with acrylics.
The portrait was intended for her son's room, which is furnished with the colors blue and yellow, so I built a custom frame that fits perfectly to the style of the room ... modern and colorful!

Labrador portrait

It was not easy to create this frame but the end result in his room is perfect!
I added a shaped bone plate to the frame with dog’s name.




This event has strengthened my conviction that every child should grow up with a pet that teaches the true friendship that is always unselfish and loving
And this story of life with happy ending continues…:-)

If you also have a good story of friendship to tell and you love animals like me ,I would be delighted if you'd like to share it with me, thanks for your visit and for your comments!