Pet portraits. The creative process of a portrait.

The Process

When you commission a custom pet portrait from Martindale Artworks, you can be assured that your painting has been created with only the highest quality materials.

Only the finest materials gathered from around the world are used in creating my custom pet portraits, and there are many careful steps in the portrait creation process.

Each painting begins with a high quality pastel board from Ampersand. Using this type of surface gives the portrait a hard, solid foundation as opposed to using paper which is flimsy and will yellow and/or fade over time.  By using this quality board it also helps strengthen the entire portrait and accessories for shipping.

Next, the basic drawing is done by hand using a thin stick of vine charcoal.  Vine charcoal is literally vines and willow twigs heated and fired until all organic matter is gone, leaving the carbon that becomes the charcoal.  It has been a favorite tool used by artists for centuries.  At this point, a great deal of time is spent examining what the foundational drawing looks like.  I use photos for reference, sometimes recreating the exact pose, sometimes not.  It is at this time that I want a true likeness of my subject.  This may take a day, it may take three days.

Color is derived from pastel chalk made in Holland, England, and the United States. Various types of chalk I use are carefully made and rolled by hand.  The finer pastel pencils, from Germany, are extremely fragile because they are the top of the line quality and these pencils help me produce the finest of details in each portrait. 

Your custom pet portrait price may include 2 off white mat boards that are archival, acid free mats with a neutral ph.  This is vitally important for the care and lasting endurance of your pastel portrait because the neutral ph reduces the chance of anything such as binders or pigments from slowly bleeding into the painting, causing discoloration.  The mats are professionally measured and cut by hand.

Solid hardwood frames manufactured by a variety of top quality framers from around the world, are the choice of Martindale Artworks as they compliment pet portraits very nicely and they are sturdy, attractive and they are finished and assembled by professional framers.

Shipping custom pet portraits, with careful consideration of all shipping aspects, has been one of my top priorities over the years.  Many hours of deliberating and shopping for high quality and the most appropriate materials have produced the end results of the type of shipping I chose to use for portraits.    

The cardboard boxes used to ship my created portraits are produced specifically for the shipment of artwork by a company called Airfloat. They are lined and padded with three layers of corrugated foam.

The portrait actually "floats" during shipping and never touches the sides of the box. This is achieved by placing the portrait in the center of the foam inside the oversized cardboard box.   Each box contains reinforced hard board inside the large flat sides of the box and this is a safety measure to prevent punctures, scratches, dents and other damage that could potentially happen during shipping.

Over the years I have experimented with a wide variety of products, from painting material to shipping packages and my experience has helped me to choose the best products, full of true, rich color, with the best longevity for each portrait. 

Please keep in mind while you decide where to hang your portrait that it is best to hang it in a place that does not receive direct sunlight.  Even the most lightfast products will start to fade over time if hung in direct sunlight.