Pet Portraits

Learn to paint pet portraits on canvas from your favorite pet photos. It's a great way to honor our furry friends and add to your family portrait wall or gift to your pet-obsessed friends. Make them as realistic or whimsical as you like with some helpful hints even if you don't consider yourself an artist.

PAINTING

5/7/20261 min read

Required Supplies:

  • Photo of Pet

  • Canvas

  • Acrylic Paint

  • Pencil with Eraser

  • Paintbrushes

  • Cup of Water

  • Paper Towels

  • Paint Mixing Palate

  • Projector (optional)

  • Tracing Paper (optional)

Instructions for Creating a Pet Portrait:

  1. On pet photo and canvas, draw a grid of equal number of squares (considering the size of the photo and canvas, calculate the number of squares needed to be equally distributed in the same amount on the photo and canvas).

  2. On the canvas, square by square, and using each square on the photo as a guide, draw a light outline of the pet and block the highlights, low lights and features.

  3. Paint the canvas background, outlining the pet and adding any additional designs as desired.

  4. Begin painting the pet starting with the darkest shades first.

  5. Continue filling in colors, working from darkest to lightest, allowing each color to dry before moving on to the next.

  6. Fill in the remaining details such as highlights on the nose, eyes, etc.

Useful Tips:

  • Cut stencils to use for adding extra background designs. This can be done easily if you have a Cricut machine on hand.

  • If you are uncomfortable creating a grid pattern for creating to guide your outline,, you can opt for tracing your pet using a projector or tracing paper.

  • Make the colors as realistic or vibrant and whimsical as you choose. It doesn't have to be realistic.

Pet Portrait Gallery

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