2 dogs, 3 cats, one bed - a multi-pet commission! Step by step demonstration.

Remember I told you about the baby pitbulls that were rescued by the Savannah Humane Society and they let me use their photo as a reference for a woodcut print? One of those wonderful rescuers, Carol, commissioned a portrait of her five babies. If you look close, you can see 4 of them in this photo.

Carol wanted a photo of all of them on their bed, because this is what she and her hubby get to wake up to every morning!! She wanted the two dogs with the one kitty on a pillow behind them. And then the other two whereever.

I had a few problems with this. First of all, the kitties were so dark. And we were missing one! Carol very patiently lined up her babies and took more shots of them in natural light so I could see them better.

Then, I felt the very bright, contrasting colors of their quilt would make it look like a portrait of a quilt...with some animals on it. So I wanted to simplify it yet still show it as a quilt.

Here's my initial sketch with the basic colors just laid on in a coat of prismacolor. You can see I used a medium/dark blue paper. I moved the dogs to make room for the kitty, but I had trouble with that cat, lol. Next time, I'll tell you more about that! My pet portrait website is http://robinzebley.com and if you've found this demoonstration but would like to read my whole blog, just click on the banner at the top of this post!