Welcome to our latest pet portrait, an oil painting of Paddy, a Maltese. We were so thrilled when Sharon got in touch with us again recently to commission a second portrait. We love working with our clients time and time again. This time it was to be of her beloved dog Paddy. A few years ago, we painted a portrait of her beautiful dog Bobby, which you can see and read about here – Maltese Pet Portrait Oil Painting of Bobby
This new painting of Paddy was to be a companion piece, created in a similar style and size so that both could be displayed together. Sharon told us:
“You did a beautiful portrait of my dog Bobby a couple of years ago. I treasure it. I would like to commission a similar portrait of my other dog Paddy who has recently passed away please. I am really hoping you will be able to do this for me.”
Sharon sent us a lovely selection of photos of Paddy, including one with a pier in the background. Although we tried to incorporate that into the composition, it didn’t quite work visually with the overall balance of the portrait. In the end, we decided to design a scene that mirrored Bobby’s portrait so they could sit beautifully together on the wall. Both with a warm, homely background based on a rug. Sharon agreed that it would be perfect:
“It is a lovely photo of him and it would look lovely on a similar background to Bobby – I think that was based on a rug!”
Nicholas really enjoyed painting Paddy, and when we sent Sharon the final photos, she asked for a couple of small changes. We are always happy to make these, its so important to get the portraits just perfect.
“I would love it if you could take the ring off his collar. On Paddy’s right eye… there is a piece of fur sticking over his eyeball. Is there any way that Nicholas can use his brilliance to make it smaller and intrude on his eyeball less please. Finally, is there anyway that we could show Paddy’s bad teeth less? He suffered with them all his life because of other medical issues and I wouldn’t like him to be remembered in perpetuity for them?
As you can see from the final photo below, Nicholas completed all of the changes and this is the finished portrait. We were so pleased that the final portrait captured Paddy just as she remembered him.
When the painting arrived, Sharon wrote:
“Hi Melanie,
My parcel has just arrived. Thank you so much, the portrait is simply beautiful and captures little Paddy so well (in fact I think it may be bigger than he actually was! 😊). Please pass on my thanks to Nicholas – he has done such a beautiful job – he has such talent. I will take a picture of me and the two paintings a little later when I have someone here to take the photo.
Thanks again Melanie – it’s so lovely to know that my Bobby and Paddy will always be with me.
S x”
Paddy & Bobby’s Oil Paintings
Sharon kindly sent us this wonderful photo of her with the portraits of Bobby and Paddy. It’s so special to see them both together. Bobby’s portrait hanging proudly on the wall and Sharon with Paddy’s newly completed portrait. Thank you so much, Sharon, for allowing us to be part of creating these lasting memories.
Commission A Portrait
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about the Oil Painting of Paddy. Take a look at how we use light and shade to create lifelike pet portraits in this blog post: The Importance of Light and Shade in Pet Portraits And of course, if you’d like a bespoke portrait of your own pet, you can visit our website here – www.pet-portraitartist.com
Are you enjoying our blog? Why not sign up to our Art Blog, which comes right into your inbox each month! You can sign up at the bottom of each blog post. Please don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel too. You are more than welcome to comment below, we love hearing from our readers!