Oil Portrait Paintings from photos of Pets & People
oils on quality linen canvas
“The impressive medium which achieves great realism and gives a feeling of luxury"
Like all my artwork, the oil portraits I create are traditionally hand painted by myself. The paintings are created with oil paint and brushes on high quality linen canvas. See my gallery with pet oil paintings and portraits of people from previous commissions along with comments from clients and photos of the portraits which were framed before shipped.
Find out more about how to commission your oil portrait in my How it works section. Click on each thumbnail to see the portrait information with a large sized picture, detail and reference photo view.
My Oil Painting Techniques
My pet paintings from photos are detailed and very realistic with a warm and soft entirety. They are painted with techniques and colors which were employed by the old masters, but with my own style and finish. I even use the same hues and a limited set of oil paints like they did, but i don't paint the entire subject in black and white before I start to add color, that to me looks a bit artificial. I like to paint my subjects and backgrounds alive and three dimensional with great depth.
I'm working many hours behind the easel in order to create each oil portrait. To be able to paint the characteristics of an individual, I put down my entire soul and heart every time. I also study the subject before and as I'm painting it. The oil colors I use are from Winsor & Newton and Rembrandt, traditional oil colors of highest quality. I mix my colors with linseed oil for faster drying and to make the paint 'buttery' at the same time as it gets thinner, perfect for fine details. Turpentine is also used for thinner paints and to wash my brushes. I set several thin layers of oil colors in order to create a realistic oil portrait, so my paintings are created in layers and needs to dry between them.
Coming soon...High Quality Linen Canvas
My oil portraits are painted on highest quality linen canvas, stretched to a frame made of wooden mouldings. The stretched canvases are now also gallery wrapped, painted on the edges. This way an oil portrait can hang nicely on the wall without being framed. I stretch the canvas myself because I prefer to use my favourite canvas and I want to be able to offer any size and dimension you can think of. Even though the canvas is already primed once or twice, I like to prime it one more time with white gesso. That is a great under-work for an oil painting and it makes a really nice and smooth surface to paint on.
About Pet Oil Paintings
Pet oil paintings are great in big sizes and also beautiful in smaller ones, that depends on what you would like to have in your home. Oil portraits are solid, lasts for generations, are easy to maintain and usually becomes the most important part of a room. They are very impressive and gives the ultimate feeling of luxury, no other medium is of higher value then an oil painting.
Your Photos
As you probably already know, I always work from one main photograph for composition and use rest of your provided photos for details and colors which I'm perhaps unable to see on the main photograph. It's important that you send big and sharp photos for me to see detail, texture and correct coloring. As I only have you and the photo to guide me, the photo is the most important part of the entire portrait process. Read about photos in the Photo Tips section to find out more.
Work In Progress
Follow your oil portrait by each step in my Work In Progress blog! I take a photo of the pet painting between each stage in the painting progress and upload the photo there. I usually also write down a little something, many times about the portrait I'm painting or something else that's in my mind at the time. You will not only be able to follow the development, but also make comments which I just love to get. You will just love to follow your oil portrait over there, trust me on this one! I have been documenting the progress of my work for many years and it has proven to be the most popular part of my website for both clients and other visitors.
Framing Your Oil Portrait
An oil painting doesn't need to be framed under glass, it's even preferable without any glass at all, since the oil paintings look it's best being framed like most traditional pet oil paintings are. Since the oil paintings are solid and easy to maintain, there is really no need to frame them under glass. If you still want to frame your pet portrait under glass, please do let me know and I will arrange that for you. If you prefer to get your oil painting framed by your local framer, there is absolutely no problem to send it your way without a frame.
