Commissioning a Portrait
of Your Pet
Whether a cat or dog… bird or reptile… the pets we share our lives with have a remarkable way of claiming a permanent place in our hearts.
This truth is why I work hard to create portraits that are cherished for years to come.
Below you’ll find out how you can get one showcasing your own furry friend, shown in the best light possible.
What To Expect
If you are reading this, then I will assume you are giving serious thought to commissioning me to create a portrait of your cat or dog in the realistic watercolor style that I specialize in.
You may have seen my work on social media, on this website, in the home of a friend… or perhaps you have already commissioned a portrait in the past and are now ready for another.
That being the case, I will not spend your time trying to convince you to move forward. Instead, I will simply explain how the process works… and answer the most common questions about pricing, timelines, and what you can expect along the way.
When you reach the end of this page, you will have everything you need to decide whether I am the right artist to create a portrait of your pet…or not. And if you decide that I am… there will be a simple button at the bottom that says “Let’s Get Going!” Just give it a press... and you’ll be off to the races.
Before we get there thought, let’s talk about some things you may NOT have been thinking about when you showed up here today. Let’s talk about…
Challenges and Solutions
Everyone wants to see their pet portrayed with that unmistakable look… the one that captures personality, presence, and emotional connection. But what exactly is that look? What differentiates a portrait that "just feels right" from one that "feels a bit off"?
These are stylistic questions that need to be addressed. But then there are practical questions too.
What size should the artwork be? Too large… and it can dominate a room. Too small… and it quietly disappears into the background.
Should we have our furry friend shown in an environment that subtly gives extra context - or focus on the face and let everything else fall away?
These are aesthetic concers. But there are also logistical realities. Even when using a modern digital workflow, creating meaningful artwork takes time. Then printing, mounting, framing, and shipping all add additional steps. And additional time.
What if the portrait is intended as a gift for a birthday, anniversary, or holiday? What special measures need to be accounted or in that situation? Obviously, beginning the process early is always the best plan in such situation. Waiting until the last minute may mean it's not possible to complete, ship, and receive on time. But what other obstacles might exist as well that you're not thinking of?
These are only a handful of the things that can stand between you and your goal of having a beautiful portrait on your wall.
My point here is to make you aware that commissioning a portrait of your pet can be more complex than most people expect. In fact, over half of the portraits I create are of pets that have already passed on… and often the available reference photos are less than ideal. How do we deal with that difficulty?
The good news is that planning for those details is not your responsibility. It is mine.
My role is to guide you from where you are… to where you want to be… with as little friction as possible. I have developed a clear step-by-step system to accomplish just that. I call it…
The Process.
Continue reading and you'll fully understand what each step in the process is and how it is designed to solve ALL of these kinds of problems for you in advance... before they even make their presence known.
PHASE 1
THE ORDER FORM
It may seem obvious, but everything begins with you filling out the order form with your name, your pet's name, the size and shape of the piece you want created, and any "setup" requests for the setting or pose of your pet.
This is the starting line. In my mind, as soon as the notification shows up on my end that your request has been submitted... the clock is ticking. My goal? To be sending you a tracking number for the box containing your new pet portrait which I have just shipped out and is now headed your way... all within 30 days of you sending the initial order from my way.
But there is one more thing I need before I can get started. Something I can only get... from you.
PHASE 2
REFERENCE PHOTOS
Ask any animal artist what the most important thing is in regards to making a great pet portrait, and they will invariably reply...
The Reference Photos
Almost all creative professionals working in this field are what I call "reference" artists. That is... they draw or paint what is seen. You send in the photo and what you get back is going to look very similar to the photo itself. Only in the form of a painting. Unfortunately, this reality creates a major problem…
What If You Don't HAVE a Great Reference Photo?
Many people commission portraits of their cat or dog long after it's passed on. They may never have taken great, well-lit, close-up photograph of the animal. In some cases, they may not have a photograph of it... at all.
Others have a whole slew of snapshots, but none that really showcase the pet in a flattering pose or in good lighting. For nearly 100 years portrait artists had a rule of thumb...
A GREAT reference photo will lead to a great painting.
A BAD reference photo...will not.
If at this moment you are thinking, "Oh dear. I only have not-so-good photos of my pet." Rest assured... I have a solution for your problem. Keep reading to find out what that solution is.
But as we proceed, please note that I will need SOME reference photos. Even if they are not ideal.
And keep in mind that as soon as you fill out the order form found on the next page... you will be shown the email address you’ll need to use to submit your pet’s reference photos. Once I have both the form AND the photos we will move on to...
PHASE 3
The Synthograph
It may be the case that having a great reference photo will make or break an artist’s ability to create a world-class pet portrait and it may also be true that you don’t have one on hand. But…
I Have Some Good News!
We live in an age of wonders and with the power of AI it is now possible to transform lower quality snapshots of a pet into a "synthograph" (synthetic photograph) of your pet in pretty much any pose, in any setting, and staged with an ideal lighting setup. The ability to use such an image ensures the best possible outcome.
Below is an example of a synthograph of my dog Bentley which was crafted from the three snapshots shown further up the page.
The synthograph has the "Looking out the Window from an AirBnB" kind of feel to it. In my mind, I imagine that my wife and I have taken one of our three-day mini-vacations to the Amish town of Shipshewana and have brought Bentley with us. He's sitting and looking out the window at the horse-and-buggy trotting by outside with keen interest.
When you look at the image below… doesn’t it look like he’s doing that very thing?
I think you would agree that creating a watercolor-style painting based on this Synthograph is a MUCH better plan than trying to do so by making one based on any of the original snapshots of Bentley in my truck. (Though he still does look pretty cute riding around in those pictures too).
So my plan for YOUR pet’s portrait will be similar. Create a synthograph to start from so that the final product has the kind of “look” that we all want in a framed pet portrait. Once armed with the perfect reference image to work from, it will be time to move on to...
Phase 4
Sketch Work
It's time to start putting something down onto the digital canvas. We want to see the general forms and colors take shape and give a rough approximation of what we see in the reference photo. So I use a set of digital colored pencils to achieve this and quickly "scratch in" the blocky volumes and shapes.
At this point, the colors only need to be close in value (value being how light or dark something is) and tone to what we want to achieve since all this pencil work will be covered over later.
The sketch above is what I made based on the synthograph of Bentley. The one you receive of your dog will look similar when you receive it for review...
The sketch work stage may take up to a week depending on my workload. Maybe a few days more if you catch me and my wife in the middle of one of those three-day mini-vacations to Amish Country when you submit your order. But, rest assured, I will email you back after you submit your order to let you know I received it and will then send the sketches your way as soon as I can. From there we'll be on to...
Phase 5
Review & Approval
Before I begin to lay in the main watercolor colors and textures, I do want to make sure that the overall composition is to your liking. So after I email you the pencil sketch of the piece, the project is put on hold until I hear back from you as to whether you like it... or not.
A good 90% of the time I find that my clients are pleased with the weight, balance, lighting, and general feel of the portrait based on the initial sketch. The other 10% of the time they will say it feels... "a bit off". In my experience, people usually can't put into words WHY it feels off. But they try. They might say things like, "The ear is angled this way too much" or "he seems a bit stiff".
Whatever the case may be, I usually find that trying to tweak the current composition is generally not the best use of time. Instead, a better plan is to come up with a new composition completely.
Was the original sketch a close-up portrait? Maybe try the "Looking Through the Window" composition instead. Or maybe your cat is shown lying on the floor in a candid pose that doesn’t seem quite right. Let me know and I’ll sketch up a close-up portrait instead.
If you were building a house and discovered that the foundation was cracked and buckling - would you want to try and fill in the cracks with spackling or just uproot the foundation and pour a new one? Obviously the second choice is best. Too much is riding on the foundation being correct because a bad foundation is inevitablly going to result in the finished house having major problems. The same goes for artwork. A bad composition should be identified early in the sketching stage so major problems can be avoided down the line.
As I said though... there is not that much to worry about. Past experience has shown that there's a 90% chance that the sketch WILL in fact "feel right" and that you'll send me an approval that you want to move forward, at which point we are on to...
Phase 6
The Deposit
Compensation for my work is broken into two payments. The "Creative Fee" (a.k.a. The Deposit) and the second is "The Production Fee" (a.k.a. The Balance).
The Deposit is due once you have approved the sketch and I receive notice that you do in fact want to move forward on the project. I will send you an invoice for 50% of the total price of your commissioned pet portrait via my invoicing system. The email will have a link to a secure page where you can submit your payment online. The Deposit is Non-Refundable.
Once this initial payment is received, I will return to working on your pet’s portrait with the goal of completing it as quickly as can be accomplished without sacrificing quality.
The next time you will hear from me will be when the painting is mostly done.
Phase 7
The Work
Your approval to move forward based on the sketch and the Deposit received, the heavy lifting begins in earnest. Many people want to know a bit more about how I do what I do. While I am not willing to give away the full details of my “secret sauce” to creating pet portraits, a simplified summary that will help you envision the process is shown below:
Step 1
Smudge Painting
I begin by loading the sketch into my digital software and then use a smudge tool to “smush around the color” from the sketch. This creates a kind of etherial underpainting that will work well as a base for all the layers that are to come.
Step 2
Watercolor Base
With the underpainting established I then use watercolor-texture brushes to lay in the modeling layer. This is where the piece starts to come together and I can get a feel as to whether it’s headed in the right direction…or not.
I take special care to get this phase right because the later “detail phases” take up a lot more of my time and if the “core look and feel” of the painting established here is not on-point… the rest of the piece is going to struggle.
Step 3
Pre-Detailing
Once I know that everything is on track I begin to add in more marks which plot where the details are going to go. The image above of my Bently is shown at this checkpoint.
I estimate that about 70% of the creation process is done once we reach this level of completion. The remaining creative work amounts to adding in all the details and then the subsequent tasks necessary for final production.
It’s here that I hit the “pause button” one more time to email over this Pre-Detail image for final approval. You will be able to discern the overall look and feel of your pet’s portrait and will be albe to rest easy that once the piece is completed and in your home, it really will look like your pet.
Once you reply and notifiy me that you are satisfied with the progress of the piece, we move on to…
Phase 8
Squaring Up
Once you receive the email from me showing how the “Pre-Detail Stage” looks, you can review and decide if you feel that the piece is coming along the way you hoped.
If so, you will email me back final approval that you are satisfied and whish to move forward to completion.
I will then will send you a second invoice requesting that you square up on The Balance. Once that has been taken care of, I will begin the process of putting in the details and making it ready for final production.
(Note: if you live in the State of Michigan or outside the United States, you can expect the invoice for The Balance to be sent to you via my Etsy Shop. This is because Etsy handles the task of collecting Michigan sales tax and submitting it to the state. They also do the same for my international clients in regards to duties, tariffs, VAT, and any of the other wide variety of fees that different nations charge to have custom artwork imported into their countires. In this case I will create a custom listing for the portrait on Etsy and send you a link to it. You can then complete the purchase through Etsy and we will move forward as expected.)
With the Balance settled, we move forward to…
Phase 8
Final Production
It’s time to finish up the piece. I will apply the final details and make any other tweaks and adjustments. Fur and texture is the main elements that need to be done at this point, but global adjustments to tone, levels, saturation, vitnette, and texture are evaluated and addressed in an effort to create a finished piece that is as close to perfect as possible.
I then upload the digital file to my printing partner who will proceed to use an archival inkjet printer to create a Giclée print of the artwork on acid-free watercolor paper in your chosen size. The print is then shipped to my studio in a rigid tube for final preparation.
Once the watercolor print shows up at my front door, I will custom trim and then permanently afix it to a cradeled wood panel. Next, I hand-sign the work on the front using an ink that is barely visible unless viewed up close. This choice is made because when the signature is applied in ‘stealth mode’… then it does not become a visual distraction from the overall composition when looking at it in person.
From here a certication label is afixed to the back of the panel and a matching Certificate of Authenticity is created for the piece.
The artwork and it’s certificate of authenticity will be securely packed in a padded, puncture-proof box specifically designed for shipping artwork. I will then ship your pet portrait to you and provide a tracking number so you can follow it on each step of its voyage from my post office… all the way to your home.
Phase 9
The Delivery
Somewhere around 30 to 45 days after you first submitted your order, the the postman will show up at your home with the box containing the ready-to-hang portrait of your pet. Once installed in a special place in your home, I’m sure it will bring you much joy for years to come.
If I have done my job well, then when you look at the piece from across the room you’ll get the initial impression that you’re looking at a photograph. This is because our eyes are drawn to faces and the face of your pet will be painted with the most detail.
From there though, as your eye moves through the piece you will realize that it’s not a photograph at all. The fur of the body looks a little more…abstract. Move your gaze further towards the edges and you’ll notice the watercolor-wash I use to compose the background and give it that “painterly” look that I really strive to achieve.
Ultimately, your pets portrait will have a sense of whimsy and warmth that transcend what even great studio photographs provide.
I sure do love the portrait of Bentley and I predict that when looking at the similar one I have made of YOUR pet… be it the first time or the hundredth time… you’ll love yours as well.
Pricing
“How much does a pet portrait cost?”
Pricing for my work is listed by size below. The figures include the all-in fee for the creation, mounting, framing, packing and shipping. The only additional fees that might arise are Duties/Tariffs/VAT for international collectors and sales tax for U.S. residents living in the state of Michigan.
Note: the most popular sizes are outlined in the boxes below.
As mentioned previously, this prices is split into two parts the first being the “Createive Fee” (a.k.a. The Deposit) which is collected upon approval of the initial sketch and and the Production Fee (a.k.a. The Balance) which is collected when the piece is mostly complete.
LET’S GET STARTED
So now you know what to expect when expecting to have Brian Kurtz create a portrait of your pet. I hope that I have answered all your major questions in advance. If not, you can send me a few more via my Contact Page.
If you’re ready to move forward…just click the button below and fill out the order form to get the ball rolling.