Resolution
The photo for your commission should be high resolution. Over 1mb is best. We prefer to work from digital images so that we can zoom in and see the unique details of your animal.

Phone or Camera?
Digital cameras are great but the quality of mobile phones today means that they’re just as good. The vast majority of our source photos were taken on a phone. Make sure you take lots of photos to get the perfect one! (We often take up to 100 and after selecting our favourite, delete the rest).

Clarity
The photo has to be sharply in focus. A good photo equals a terrific portrait! We can only draw and paint what is there to see.

Composition
Limit the background to as little as you can. If your pet fills most of the space it will mean much more detail for us to work on … which is a good thing!

Lighting
Take your photo outside or next to a large window, on a bright but not sunny day. Sunshine will cast dark unhelpful shadows .. and make your pet squint. Make sure you turn off the flash. This will help us to see the exact colour of the animal’s fur .. or feathers! For animals with dark fur try not to take your photo of them against a very light background.

Pose
Take the photo of your pet at their level to avoid distortion and a strange-looking pose. Try to use a pose which is typical of your pet. Take a look at Storm in our gallery .. when he’s waiting for a ball this is his chosen downward dog pose! A handful of treats will often help you to get the best photo.

Props
Collars, leads, balls, toys, favourite blankets .. all great items to include in a pet portrait. They add a pop of colour and texture and bring additional interest to the painting.