Pet Portraits Progress

Things seem to be off to a pretty good start with the Pet Portraits.

The first painting, Elmer, is hanging on my girlfriend's wall.

The second, Delilah Jo Bear, is photographed and just waiting on shipping supplies.

I've started on the third, Jasper, and it already has a good amount of paint on it. I should be able to do just do some highlights and some O.C.D. touch-ups here and there and it should be good to go!

And today I posted on twitter that the first person who replied to me with #catportrait would get 50% off of their cat's portrait! AND I got a RESPONSE to it! So that ROCKS! I'm VERY excited about this! I really wanted to try out a cat portrait so that the cat people could see what that would look like as well, and here we go!

I was actually thinking about posting for the contest last night, but was really nervous about it. I mean, what if there was NO response AT ALL?! That's just embarrassing right there! But within a few minutes, there it was! This is a great day!

Elmer Painting / Commissions

"Elmer" - April 2010
11" x 14" Gallery Wrapped Canvas
Black & White Acrylic

My girlfriend and I have just celebrated our One Year Anniversary!

Without her, or anybody else, having any idea, I recently completed a painting of her dog, Elmer (Elmer passed away some months back and she is GREATLY remembered and missed). This past weekend I gave Toni the painting for our Anniversary. She absolutely LOVED it! I was so happy she loved the painting so much. It's now hung up and everything.

It has been an all over great experience painting this piece. I'm really happy with how every step of it went.

Of course I took some pictures of "Elmer" and I posted them online and texted them to friends and family. The feedback I've been getting is just AMAZING! Everybody seems to love it.

It really is great hearing such positive feedback about this painting, especially with how important it is and also with how nervous I always am about my artwork. I never know what's working, what's not working, what parts people really are drawn towards, or what they really just don't care for...and honestly, for the most part, I basically figure people mostly take the position of "Oh, that's nice. (Wouldn't want it, but look at what you're so proud of.)" What I'm hearing from friends, family, and even other Artists, really feels like genuine interest and congratulations on this piece. It's a pretty nice feeling. AND, some people have even asked about commissioning me to do a portrait of THEIR pet for them! How cool is THAT!?! I can't WAIT to get started on those! Of course I'm VERY nervous about it, but also SO excited!

It's definitely going to be a journey starting out on these commissions. It's also definitely one that NEEDS TO be done. I plan on taking a slow start, working mostly with people I know would be forgiving of any stumbles and hiccups along the way. And there are a TON of things that can go wrong on any one commission - the image the Client has in mind versus what the Artist understands is desired, pricing, timeframe, shipping, payment...anything could go wrong. But knowing that somebody actually wants ME to paint something for THEM...that's just an incredible feeling. So I'm looking forward to it!

Elmer Painting

"Elmer" - April 2010
11" x 14" Gallery Wrapped Canvas
Black & White Acrylic

Elmer is the first of a series of Pet Portraits by Artist Anthony Trott.

Painted only a few months after the passing of his girlfriend's dog (of whom is the subject of the portrait), Anthony presented this painting to her in hopes it would help to ease her pain over the loss of her Elmer and maybe someday provide her with some level of peace and closure.

Since then, Anthony has started painting his style of Pet Portraits for others, either in memoriam or in honor of a loved animal.

Anthony's thought on the Pet Portraits is "Anyone can take a picture and keep it and look at it, but there is something uniquely special that comes with a portrait created by hand of that someone so special. A part of their spirit is captured within it...and lives on forever with you."

Anthony's Pet Portraits, as well as many of his other works, can be found at: http://anthonytrott.com/