"Pop Art Pet Portrait" How to get a really great photo of your pet.

What does it take to get a great Pop Art Pet Portrait?

It all comes down to the photograph!
This is what happens... 
Your picture turns into the portrait!!!!

So, double check that you LOVE the picture you send me.
You know your pet better an anyone else, a great picture is one that communicates your pets
personality. Whether it's yawning, panting or sticking it's tongue out!

Here are 10 easy tips to help you get that amazing picture of your pet.

1.  Relax and be patient. 
     Taking photo's when your in a rush will only leave you and your pet  frustrated. It takes     about 15 minutes for you and your pet to relax (but, each pet has their own rhythm), go to them. Hang out on there favorite chair, bed or lie on your belly or where ever your pet feels comfortable.

2. Get Close-up. 
    When you see your pet doing something super cute, and you start to take pictures, move in closer!!! Think of this picture as a passport photo of your pet!! 
This way you can capture all the goofy detail or the pets beautiful expression.

3. Photograph your pet from their eye level.

4.  You know the saying...."The Eyes are the window to the soul". 
     Make certain that the eyes of your pet are in focus. This makes the pet portrait extremely expressive.

5. A High Resolution photo is a must. This enables me to see details of your pet (color of eyes, whiskers).
    
6. Good Lighting. Using natural lighting is the best. 
    If your using your camera phone to take pictures, do a test run. Check the lighting both during the day and night. 

Detail and great resolution

7. Don't obscure your pet with your legs, arms or clothing. 

8. When your pet isn't the main focus of your picture. 
    This means that your picture is to small to use, and it will be hard to the details of your pet.

9. Test run. 
     Whistling, surprising your pet, try photographing your pet  from the side or shoot from different angles. Just click click click.

10. Delete. 
      Don't for get you can always delete a photo and take others. It's not serious!

Relax and enjoy! it's just a photo!!

                                                                                               

I'm leaving...

More photo's!

Look how many photo's I had to take before I got a cute shot of my cat Tiger!





Still have questions, leave me a comment and I'll answer them all!

I'm so handsome!

Pop Art Pet Portraits - "Bob Marley" or "Marley's" Story

 Meet "Bob Marley" or "Marley" for short, he's a beautiful, sweet laid back Black Lab that lives in the Florida Keys.

I was hired by my girlfriend and her husband, to paint a Pop Art Pet Portrait of Marley as Christmas gift. 

Here's what they had to say about Marley:

     My husband and I spend as much time in the Florida Keys as we can and for the past few years have been staying at the same place.  The gentleman that runs the establishment has a beautiful black lab named Marley who is just the sweetest, most laid back dog you could hope to meet.  Marley spends his days keeping his eyes on the guests, the birds off the docks and napping in the shade….he is living the life of Riley on the water in the Keys and his demeanor certainly reflects that.  

     We wanted to give his owner a little gift this past Christmas and decided  to give him a PopArtPetPortrait of Marley. So, when we were there in September, I took some pictures of Marley.

When we went back in December, I delivered the portrait. 

His owner was speechless and couldn’t get over how much the portrait looked exactly like Marley. (In fact, he thought at first she had put the picture onto the canvas and then realized that it was a one-of-a-kind, original painting!)  Marjorie did an amazing job capturing the essence of Marley in her portrait – you can see his carefree, laid back attitude, his sweetness and his intelligence in those soulful brown eyes.  The bright blue background we chose reminded us of the blue waters that surround his home and beautifully sets off his shiny black fur. Anyone who’s ever met Marley would recognize him in his portrait immediately!

PopArtPetPortraits are a wonderful and lasting gift for any animal lover and in fact, I will be commissioning two more for Marjorie to paint for me in the very near future.

Thank you Marjorie for such a beautiful gift that will be treasured by Marley’s owner for years to come.

This is why I LOVE to paint, it brings such happiness and joy, for people that LOVE there pets!

Thank you for your kind words my amazing Girlfriend!

 Marley Pet Portrait

Photo I used for Pet portrait

Used this photo for collar detail

Used this photo for eye detail

Just a side note....It's always about the high resolution photo I receive (the more pictures the merrier) , and I love knowing about the the pet I'm painting. It helps me paint that into the painting.

    

Pop Art Pet Portrait Memorial - Dozer

     I wanted to share this heart felt e-mail I received from a client, she was devastated for her friend, who recently had to put his sweetheart dog Dozer to sleep that morning after being together for over 15+ years. 
The one thing she said that helped her to over come this painful loss, was to have an artist paint a picture of her dog. She told me, every day when she passes the painted picture of her dog it brings a smile to her face. So, she wanted this comfort for her friend.
Here's my conversation with her plus, the picture of Dozer (she sent me) and my "Pop Art Pet Portrait" I painted of him. 
May Dozer Rest in Peace, he was a Handsome, gentle soul and a loving companion to his owner...

Client: 
Hi!
I just stumbled upon your store within etsy Pop Art Pet Portraits and I love, love, love the way you capture the faces of the animals that you paint. I would love for you to paint a picture of a friend's dog as a memory, as he had to put him to sleep this morning, but I literally just have one picture of Dozer (see attached - I zoomed in on the image, so I've sent you that photo as well). 

Client:
When my dog passed away I had an artist paint a picture of her that makes me smile every day. I'm uber-confident this painting will do the same for my friend.
You're wonderful, Marjorie. Thank you for sharing your talent with us!

Client Received Pet Portrait I got this e-mail....
Oh. My. Goodness. 
Marjorie, I have no words. Dozer arrived today, all protected in his box, little bag and bubble wrap...he obviously had a good trip. :)

I purposely opened it upside-down so I had to flip it over to look at and it took my breath away - honest. It is an amazing painting based on the image I sent you and looks EXACTLY like him. Exactly. It made me cry...happy tears this time though. You definitely have a gift.

Give me a day or so to stare at him and I'm sure I'll flood you with more compliments, but for now, just know you are incredible. I thank you over and over for sharing your talent with me (us). You have created a lasting piece of artwork that will keep Dozer alive forever...

Still in awe-

Hi Marjorie, 
I just wanted you to know that I gave Dozer to his owner over the weekend who reiterated the same comments I had made...he's perfect. We couldn't get over how exactly the same it looks to the picture...exactly the same! Definitely brought smiles. :) You're awesome!

Thanks again.


Receiving these e-mails made me cry with joy, I felt her joy and pain @ the same time. I recently had to put my dog to sleep so, I new the respect, love and sheer abundance of love sweeping over her.
This was such a heart felt gift, and a thoughtful gift idea for anyone who has had the unfortunate task of losing a loved and cherished pet.

Dozer - Cropped

Dozer - Full Photo

Dozer "Pop Art Pet Portrait"

All the art work and photo's on this blog are Copyrighted for reproduction ONLY by Pop Art Pet Portraits and belong ONLY to ©popartpetportraits.

My first pop art pet portrait!

     When I decided to paint my first pop art pet portrait I had 4 animals, 3 cats and one dog. So, how do you choose which one of your sweeties to paint? You must consider that all of them are precious to me, so, consequently I left it up to my instincts. I perused through all my children's photographs, letting intuition tell me which one to pick. 
     
     My eyes locked in on my beloved boy Kozmo, he was the eldest of my cat's (or animals) of my house of pets. I prepared my first 5x5 canvas and started drawing free hand with my pencil ever so lightly. I went back and forth looking from my painting to his picture on my phone...
(and I pads were not out yet LOL) checking on my progress. Next, I started to paint his background color. This again was all though intuition, I  determined a mixed shade of the color orange would be perfect. 
     
     A while later, I filled in the colors of Kozmo on my canvas. Once that was complete and drying, I looked at my pop art pet portrait of Kozmo on my canvas and determined that it was complete just the way it was. 
     If you look ever so closely at the portrait  you can still see the pencil marks that I left, and area's that are still to this day yet unpainted. I find this completely perfect as it is.
I know when every one of my portraits is finished, instinctually it's a sensation that I evoke. When this happens I throw my paint brush down, put my hands in the air and smile.


Another pet portrait made with love....

Lola the french bulldog...My latest pop art pet portrait!

This week I want to introduce you to my most recent pop art pet portrait her name is Lola, she's a cute french bulldog who's madly in love with her daddy. Lola's mommy hired me to capture the essence of her signature style! By the way...Lola can't wait to finish having her picture taken so she can get back to her daddy's lap!

        










Want to see YOUR pet immortalized in paint?
"Check out my shop today for more information on how to order your custom pet portrait of YOUR pet today". Visit: my shop on etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/PopArtPetPortraits

Pop Art Pet Portraits "ONCE" in a LIFETIME giveaway!!

Do you feel lucky?? 
Lucky enough to win a  5x5 pop art pet portrait? 
This is a once in a LIFETIME occurrence worth $65.00 dollars!! 
WOW, I need to get my head examined....I've NEVER done this before! What has gotten into me? Do you think I'm crazy for doing this? 


O.K. so what do you have to do?? Go to this blog: 
nashpop.blogspot.com/

Up for grabs this week is a custom 5"x5" portrait of the pet of your choice! I will PERSONALLY work with you. You provide the pictures, decide on a color background and then I handpaint a custom portrait for you that you will be sure to treasure for years to come! All my pop art pet portraits are made with 100% LOVE and CARE!!

**Please note that due to shipping costs, this giveaway is only open to folks in the US or Canada.  

This is How to enter:

Be a follower of this blog, and like Pop Art Portraits on Facebook. Leave a comment on this post saying you did that, include your email address, and you have officially entered the giveaway.

Contest ends Thursday, June 7th at midnight EST - a winner will be chosen randomly (using a random number generator) & will be announced the next day at the end of our next Friday giveaway post.

Bonus Entries:

Increase your chances of winning by nine! If you do (or have already done) any of the following, please let us know by leaving a separate comment for each action. If you do not leave a separate comment, your bonus entries will not be counted. 

1. Follow Pop Art Portraits' blog

2. Follow nashpop on twitter 

3. Favorite Pop Art Portraits on Etsy

4. Become a fan of nashpop on Facebook

5. Favorite nashpop on Etsy

6. Tweet about this giveaway (include a link in your tweet)

7. Share this blog post on Facebook

8. Follow nashpop's boards on Pinterest

9. Follow Pop Art Portraits on twitter  

Pop Art Pet Cats!!

One of my newest 8x8's. This is Boots aka. Bella! She's a beautiful Siamese. Bella is such a sweetheart and quite the talker!! Plus, I'm in the process of documenting how I paint Pop Art Pet Portraits!!! Cool right?!