Dog Memorial Portrait


My dog has died and I only have poor photos. Can you create a memorial portrait from this? And do you return the photos?


General Guidelines

Generally, it's a good idea to have the best possible photo's of your dog. However, I'm also aware that this is not always possible. Perhaps your dog has recently died and you only have a few poor photographs. Or maybe it's a surprise present and you're limited in the photo's you can obtain of the subject. In these circumstances I advise that you send the photo's first before ordering. I'll then take a look at them and advise you if it's possible to do a memorial portrait from them. I always return any photo's that are sent to me. I am happy to send the photographs back by special delivery on request.


Portrait from poor quality photos

"Ben" (pastels, 2006)


To give you an idea, here's an example of a commission I undertook where there was only poor photo's available because the dog had recently passed away. I was able to complete the portrait by combining two shots of the dog - a blurred one which I used for the pose and a more in focus one for gathering detail.


Here's the feedback I received when I sent the portrait out:

I have just this minute looked at Ben's Portrait, it is FANTASTIC, thankyou so so much, I am DELIGHTED, its just like looking at him, you have done a wonderful job, ...I will recommend you to my friends and definitely have my cats portrait done in the future, Thankyou from the bottom of my heart.

Linda Reilly



Photos Used for the Portrait

Blurred example of a photo for a portrait


This was a very poor quality photo. However, I was able to use this as main reference for the pose.



Example of a photo for a portrait


Here the pose is not ideal, but it was useful for referencing details in the dog's face.