Colour in Pet Portraits
I’ve painted hundreds of paintings of pets over the years, but until I introduced brightly coloured backgrounds, almost everything I painted was a shade of brown.
And while these muted portraits look great in some rooms, what about when you want your custom painting to provide a splash of colour to your decor?
One option is to make the subject colourful. I see that a lot online, and for some people it works. But I’m a huge realism fan. And I love the natural colours of dogs and cats!
Fortunately, backgrounds offer lots of room to play with colour. Below, I’ll show you how to make a colourful pet portrait—without breaking out of realism.
And if you’re interested in getting your own custom portrait made, check out my main pet portrait site!
Colourful Pet Portrait Speed Painting
First off, let’s take a look at how adding colour changes the feel of a painting. This client, fir example, decided partway through that she wanted something brighter. Maybe something blue!
On the one hand, it was quick to brighten up the piece. But on the other, (of course being oil paint) the painting took a lot longer to dry.
More Colourful Pet Portraits
White and black pets look particularly good with coloured backgrounds. For example, these rich greens and blues bring the outside, inside.
And for this kitty, pale green brings out her eyes.
As you can see from many of these cat portrait paintings, a cat’s eyes are often the most colourful thing in a portrait!
Pastel Colours in Pet Portraits
Depending on your decor, maybe a lighter colour would work better. Light backgrounds work with most pets, even light coloured ones!
Pinks and warm browns often find harmony with the fleshy tones in ears and around the muzzle.
Colour in Representative Painting Backgrounds
Another way to add colour is to put the pet portrait subject in a colourful place, like water, snow, grass, bushes or even bright sand. To see how these backgrounds compare to the more neutral ones, check out my Pet Portrait Gallery.
Get Creative!
Do you have a pet portrait idea that makes use of colour? I’d love to hear about it. If you’re interested in getting a portrait of your own pet, check out my Pet Portrait Gallery for more art, or the Commissions and Pricing Page for more infomation.
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Thanks for stopping by,
Zann
