The goal of Pix of the Litter is to create art that captures not just the physical likeness of an animal, but his or her
personality as well. After consulting with you about your pet's personality and habits, and using photos of your pet
for reference, I create a one-of-a-kind work of art that reflects your friend's individuality and character.
My client wanted a portrait of her cat and dog, but had no photos of them together. I used various elements of the client's
photos to design a new composition that reflected their friendship.
In this case the client's photos failed to reveal her horse's playful, enthusiastic personality. I used a photo of his head
to make sure I caught his expression, but the rest of the composition is based on my client's description of her horse's habits and
demeanor.
When I started doing animal portraits in 2002 I worked directly from photos that my clients had taken of their pets. However
I found that in many cases the photos did not reflect the animal's personality that they had described to me. I decided
to draw on my 30 years experience as an artist and illustrator, using the photos as only a reference rather than reproducing
them in the final composition.
Pix of the Litter portraits are created entirely on my computer, but the results look like images
done in traditional media such as watercolor, pastels or oils. The choice is up to you! Using a graphics tablet and stylus
I "paint" each portrait just as if I were using a brush, building up layers of color and texture. When I started working with
CGI (Computer Generated Images) I thought the technique would allow me to work more quickly than I could with traditional materials
like watercolor or oil paints. I quickly learned that I was wrong! CGI allows me to work in far greater detail than what
I can achieve with a brush, and actually takes longer. A typical composition is made up of as many as 70 layers which are merged
to make the final image. On average I spend 60 to 100 hours creating a portrait.
Fees for portraits range from
$300 to $800. Cost is determined by the number of subjects and the complexity of the final composition. The portrait is
then printed on professional-grade photo paper. The finished portrait can be any size up to 12"x18".
Please contact
me at artinthestyx@earthlink.net for your free estimate.
Full-sized detail
As you can see the photographic references for this piece were quite limited, but nevertheless I managed to create a portrait that
reflected the special relationship between these beautiful friends.
Your Pet is a Work of Art
© Copyright Michelle Guillot 2004 to 2008. Reproduction of images for commercial use prohibited without express written permission
from the author.
