In every portrait I make, my ultimate aim is to present you with a painting that not only looks like your animal friend, but feels like them too. Choosing the correct reference image is the most important step in the whole commission process. You might already have your favourite photos of your pet, but sometimes those images might not translate into the best paintings.
Some of the key prerequisites for good reference images include:
Being able to clearly see all areas of your pet that you want painted. If you're ordering a head portrait, please don't send me images with half of their ears out of frame, or if you're wanting a full body, please don't send me photos where they're in very long grass and I can't see their legs!
Good lighting. Taking their picture outdoors on a slightly overcast days the perfect lighting. If you have a bight, airy home and you've taken some photos during daylight hours, this can work fine, but please avoid photos taken at night with low lighting. The shadows created here will look harsh and unnatural.
Photos taken at the same eye-level as your pet. There can be exceptions to this rule, but I try to avoid painting portraits where the camera is pointing downwards and your pet is having to look up.
Photos taken from a sensible distance. If you send me a photo of your dog that's on the other side of a field, I won't be able to see important details!
Below I've included some examples of Great reference pictures, Workable reference pictures and Poor reference pictures.
Great Reference Images
Even though this has been taken indoors, it was taken in a bright room with large windows during the day. All details of the face are visible and in-focus, there are no harsh shadows or overly strong light reflections and the way the fur is lying is very clear, and isn't being disrupted by anything that would need painting in to provide context.
Taken outdoors, in soft overcast light. Her colours are clearly visible and her slightly wonky ears are demonstrating a perfect aspect of her character
A harness can be easily omitted if not too large. It's clear to see how her neck and chest fur behaves. The lighting is soft, her expression is clear and the 3/4 face angle makes for a classic composition.
Workable Reference Images
At first glance, this looks like it would make a lovely reference photo, but because the camera was positioned higher than the dogs' head, she is having to look up. This means that the nose will look larger than it really is - a clear understanding of what's happening is easy to see in the photo, but when translated into a painting, it can look unnatural. This head angle also obscures much of the neck, so here the chest fur looks as if it's growing out of her chin!
This photo was taken at sunset. Whilst this lighting can look pretty, please ensure no strong shadows are interrupting your pets' natural facial shadows. A tree branch got in the way of this lovely portrait, and casts a big blue-ish shadow right over the middle of her face.
If you would like to commission a full-body painting, this is ideal but not so much for a facial portrait. The way her head is lying on her paw means the skin around her face is slightly distorted, and without including her mat, her head wouldn't look connected to her body.
Poor Reference Images
This photo was taken indoors, at night with unnatural lighting. Her fur colours look almost greenish in this light - not how her natural fur appears at all.
Adorable for me to look at as a nice photo on my phone, but this would not make a good reference picture. A lot of her face and surrounding body is obscured by objects that would need to be included for the painting to make any sense. She is missing most of her ears in this image, and unless you really want a painting of your dog asleep, I can't see her eyes here!
This has been taken from too far away. Even with a good phone camera, zooming in doesn't provide enough detail to make the best pet portrait painting I possibly can
If you are at all uncertain about which reference images would be best, I'm always happy to take a look at the ones you have and discuss my professional opinion with you! I love animals, so getting to look at all of your photos of your cherished animal friends is a massive perk of my job!