Pet Portraits by Laura Young

Original Art for sale

2009-06-29T15:10:00.002+01:00

I have just listed an original Coloured Pencil painting of a Yorkshire Terrier For Sale on ebay. It is a 5" x 7" painting that I did a couple of years ago as a sample for a project that never happened, so I thought I may as well sell it as it wasn't doing anything just sitting around! Here it is

The auction is here: Yorkshire Terrier Painting on Ebay

I have also just recently started on a new graphite pencil pet portrait, this time of a pony. It is a surprise gift, however so I can't show the progress on here. I will be able to show you in August.

I also have some reference photographs ready for some ACEOs, so there should be some more art to show you soon.

Something a bit different

2009-05-25T11:44:00.005+01:00

I have just wrapped up my latest Pet Portrait for taking to the Post Office and I now don't have any commissions to do. This is a very strange feeling as I have had at least one on the waiting list for the last few years now. But i'm all up to date. I have also added Pickles, Pebbles and Arillus to the Group Portraits Gallery.

However, I don't rely on the portraits for my income as I also work part time in a 'proper job', so it is actually quite nice to be able to work on some of my own artwork. I have plans for some ACEOs and OSWOA (more about them in another post), as well as some larger pastel dog paintings.

I have also been working on something a bit different - making Jewellery. I love crafting and have wanted to try jewellery making for a long time now, so have been practising over the last few months and have made a couple of pieces to sell. I have plans for making my own web shop but currently have them for sale on Etsy, which is a website for the sale of all craft and vintage items. The craft items are going to be for sale under the banner Northern Dawn. My etsy shop is at Northern Dawn. Please note all the prices are in US dollars as it is an American site.

Some photographs of some of my Jewellery:

Cascade necklace and earring set, with pink woven beads & glass fuschia, teal & blue beads.
FOR SALE - $30.00 (approx £19.00)

Cascade necklace containing purple glass foil beads and amber glass discs.
FOR SALE - $21.00 (approx £13.00)

Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus

2009-05-20T17:43:00.002+01:00

Arillus has had another update on my latest coloured pencil pet portrait. I have added some of his chest fur to bring him in line with Pebbles & Pickles. Here is the portrait currently:

Arillus:

Pickles:

Pebbles:

Pet Portrait changes

2009-05-16T14:29:00.002+01:00

I was asked to change Arillus a little on my most recent pet portrait to make the fur around his face fuller. I have been working on it today. Here are the changes:

Before:

After:

And all together:

Pet Portrait completed - Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus

2009-05-08T18:05:00.002+01:00

I have finally completed the coloured pencil pet portrait of Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus. It is 12" x 16" and was quite a challenge, particularly Arillus. He was the first white dog i've ever drawn in coloured pencil and on white paper! Here it is:

A close up of the finished Arillus, completed today

And all together, (L-R) Pebbles, Arillus & Pickles.

Website updates

2009-05-03T21:05:00.002+01:00

Again, I realised I hadn't been adding any of my new portraits to the galleries after completing them for the last few months, so have amended that this evening and have new portraits added to the Coloured Pencil Dogs and Graphite Pencil Dogs galleries.

I have also removed two sections completely from the website. One is the pets section which I simply never got round to doing anything with and the other is the shop. I did have one or two sales from the shop, but it wasn't really working as it was and I have a few ideas relating to the shop which I want to explore differently. As well as my art I also make cards and have recently begun to make jewellery so am thinking of setting up a shop to sell a combination of these items as well as original art and prints and keep Laura's Pet Portraits purely for the pet portraits.

I gave it a bit of a tidy up behind the scenes too and moved all the files i don't currently use off of my webspace to free up some space and also updated the copyright notice to say 2009, as it still said 2006!! So, all in all I have had a website spring clean and will be back to drawing tomorrow.

Pet Portrait changes

2009-04-21T10:27:00.002+01:00

The main reason I put the work in progress of my portraits up on my blog is so my clients can watch how their pet portrait is progressing and so they can ask for any changes as early on in the portrait's development as possible. This is because it is easier to make changes at the earlier stages.

The owner of Pickles, the Boxer I am currently painting in coloured pencil asked me to change one of her eyes to make it brighter. I thought I would put up the before and after photographs of the changes.

Pickles' eyes before:

And after I lightened up her left eye (as we look at it):

And an overall shot of her whole portrait:

Pet Portrait update

2009-04-16T15:53:00.002+01:00

Today, I have been working on my current coloured pencil pet portrait of Pickles, Pebbles and Arillus. Pickles is now finished:

And I have done some more on Arillus:

Ben - with whiskers

2009-04-16T15:38:00.004+01:00

I was wrapping up my latest completed pet portrait of Ben, the Collie, when I realised that I'd missed his whiskers! So, here he is with his whiskers:

Pet Portrait completed - Ben

2009-04-07T21:25:00.003+01:00

I have now finished Ben's pet portrait. It is an 8" x 10" graphite portrait. Here it is finished:

Pet Portrait update

2009-04-05T16:04:00.002+01:00

Here is the latest update on Ben the Collie's pet portrait. It is developing quite quickly and will be finished by the end of the week.

Pet Portrait Update - Ben

2009-04-03T21:36:00.003+01:00

I spent a little bit of time on Ben's portrait today. I have started on one of his eyes and worked my way out from there. Here is the most recent photograph:

And here is a close up of the eye area:

New Pet Portrait started

2009-04-02T13:35:00.002+01:00

I have started a new pet portrait today. It is an 8" x 10" graphite pet portrait and was donated as the best in show prize for a dog show held at the pet shop where I work part time. It is of a very handsome collie named Ben. So far, I have just done the outline:

Pet portrait update

2009-04-02T13:28:00.001+01:00

I have done some more work on my ongoing coloured pencil portrait of Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus. I have been working on Pickles today, she is now nearly finished:

Pet Portrait finished - Guiness

2009-03-30T08:47:00.002+01:00

Here is the completed Pet Portrait of black and white Springer Spaniel, Guiness. It is a 10" x 12" graphite portrait.

Pet Portrait update

2009-03-28T21:00:00.002Z

I have completed the pet portrait of Guiness today, however, it was too late to get a decent photograph of it finished, so here is the latest photograph I took of it and I will add the finished pet portrait photograph tomorrow.

Pet Portrait update - Guiness

2009-03-24T14:22:00.002Z

Here is another update on my current pet portrait of Guiness:

Portrait update

2009-03-18T17:00:00.002Z

Here is an update on my current graphite pet portrait of a black and white Springer Spaniel called Guiness:

New pet portrait started

2009-02-21T17:32:00.002Z

Here is the first scan from the latest pet portrait I've started. It's a graphite pencil 8" x 10" portrait of a black and white Springer.

Portrait update

2009-02-18T17:37:00.002Z

I have been working some more on my group pencil pet portrait today, as well as a new graphite portrait. Here are some photos from the group portrait of Pickles, Pebbles and Arillus. I have finished Pebbles off today. I love it how a portrait comes alive when I add the eyes and Pebbles' portrait did that today!!

Finished Pebbles:
The group:

And Arillus close up:

Pet Portrait update - Arillus started

2009-02-02T15:06:00.003Z

I have started on Arillus today, the Westie in the coloured pencil portrait with the two Boxers. I have done his eyes and a quick start on some of his fur, just to create a base to work on showing the general highlights and shadows in the fur. Here it is so far:

A close up of Arillus:

Pet Portrait update

2009-02-01T16:20:00.004Z

Today I have some updates on Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus' coloured pencil pet portrait, as promised yesterday. Pebbles is nearly completed now and Pickles is also coming on well. Here it is so far:

A close up of Pebbles:

A close up of Pebbles:

Back online

2009-01-31T16:02:00.002Z

Well i'm eventually back online. I was very pleased to discover we could get broadband out here as it's in the countryside a bit, so I thought we might be restricted to dial - up. I think I would have gone raving mad putting up with that after years of broadband!! We are sort of settled in the new house, just the usual sort of teething troubles with buying an old house that's been empty for over a year! It's also smaller than the last one so finding room for everything has been fun.

But i'm officially back to work tomorrow with Pebbles' and co's portrait to complete and a graphite Springer Spaniel to start and complete by the end of the month. I will have some updates on Pebbles, Pickles and Arillus tomorrow.

I think i've finally changed my address details and telephone number on everything, including the website, which I did today. I'm having fun with my printer at the moment. It is printing, but very very slowly and the computer is telling me the document hasn't printed when it is actually printing. Hopefully it will survive for a bit longer and not pack up completely!

I am feeling very motivated at the moment, so my year is officially starting in February, not January like everyone elses! 2009 is going to be a year of artwork.

Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus - update

2009-01-14T17:06:00.002Z

Here is another update on Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus. This portrait is taking longer than I thought it would due to the detail required with the coloured pencils. I was hoping to have it completed before we moved but obviously this isn't going to happen, but it will be completed by the end of January. Here it is so far:

And a close up of Pebbles:

Pet Portrait Update

2009-01-11T16:51:00.002Z

Here is the latest update from my pet portrait of Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus. I have done some more work on Pickles and started on Pebbles' portrait. Here it is so far:

A close up of Pickles:

And a close up of Pebbles: