'Celebrate your furry friend with a custom pet portrait'

Photographs taken outside without flash or by a large window are the best to avoid red eye (Please don’t use flash). Face the pet at the window so you can see more reflection and light in the eyes- super important. This will also help to get a nice lighting for the coat - (NOT the window behind the pet- it must be facing out at the window for this to work)! If you can’t however go outside please just make sure that if your having a colour portrait, the photo is colour accurate! Katie can only replicate what she sees so it must be the right colour. Choose your photos accordingly and tell her of any changes that need to be made please. - Try to avoid really sunny days as the sun will cast dark shadows on your pet (especially dark eyes), likewise avoid a really dull overcast day. However don’t over stress as some slight changes can be made to make it more accurate (as long as she's told).  - Ideally, take your photographs with your back to the sun, but try to make sure your pet isn’t squinting. The eyes need to have colour and NOT be black, to make sure they look alive on paper. The more reflection in the eye the better. Please make sure the eyes are clear and crisp where possible so they can be depicted the same in your portrait.  - Take your pets photograph at their level rather than looking down to avoid any distortion or an unnatural pose. Make sure the whole of your pet is in the photo with no missing parts (half a nose, ear etc). Preferably that also the pet is not directly facing forward but slightly to the side. (If a pet is facing forward it can make the nose look too enlarged and less realistic when drawn). - Try to get as close to your pet as possible whilst staying in focus as this will give the maximum amount of detail and make drawing the portrait easier and more accurate. If you zoom in and it’s blurry Katie won’t be able to use that reference photo. When you zoom in you should be able to clearly see the direction of the hairs or even better the hairs themselves. Photos must be head to shoulders (as close as possible) for reference to work from when doing a head to neck portrait. Same applies for full body.  - The photographs that Katie is to work from must be clear. It is helpful if you can send a selection of photos to choose from (between 4 and 6 photos minimum is preferred however the more photos the better if possible). She is happy to look through 100+ if it helps! This gives her a better idea of what your pet looks like. The better the photos, the better your finished portrait will be. Please no low resolution blurry photos. - Katie also knows that a memorial portrait can be harder to do especially if the reference photos are limited however she will do her very best to work with the photos that are given. She is also very understanding of the emotional impact that this type of portrait might have. ​ - Please let her know if there is one particular pose preferred too with the selection of photos. As where possible she will use that for the main pose.