Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Commissioned Portrait: Brody, a Close-up

pastel portrait of cat
“Brody”, 2005, pastel, 10″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Usually individual cat portraits include the entire cat, but in Brody’s case he was a big cat. His person’s husband had purchased a portrait certificate from me knowing she’d want a portrait of her long-lived cat. She decided she wanted to be able to see all the details in his face and fur so she opted for just the bust view. This is another older portrait before I had the detail photograph down and he’s a little pixelated, but I had great fun messing around in all that fur! Similar to Nick’s portrait I chose a blue background to complement his eyes.

Below is a close-up of just his face with all those wonderful fine markings around his baby blue eyes.

detail of pastel cat portrait
Closeup of Brody’s face.

After all those years she did have a number of photos of him, but few close-ups—they weren’t so easy with those older film cameras, especially for a kitty who didn’t like to be photographed as you can see below by his “demon eyes”. We liked the posture a lot, but needed to do something not only about the red but about the position and expression as well.

pastel portrait of cat
Reference photo for portrait.

I worked on the shape of his eyes and his expression, and while I tried to change the angle of his head so he was looking at us as he is here, there just wasn’t enough detail in this or any other photo to be able to do this convincingly, but we were still pleased.

I was touched by her love of her childhood kitty; the young couple had two children, but her husband knew it was Brody’s portrait she’d want.

Brody’s portait was 10″ x 12″, painted in pastels on Wallis brand sanded pastel paper.


 

Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles here on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Commissioned Cat Portraits

portrait of black cat on wicker chair
Samantha, pastel, 1994 © B.E. Kazmarski
Commissioned Dog Portraits

portrait of two dogs
Sophie and Ellie, pastel, 2009 © B.E. Kazmarski
Portraits of
My Cats

pastel painting of cat on table
After Dinner Nap, pastel, 1996 © B.E. Kazmarski

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.


Download a Brochure

cover of brochure
My Portraits Brochure

My brochure is an 8.5″ x 11″ two-page full-color PDF that half-folds when it’s all printed out, showing examples of portraits with an explanation of my process and basic costs.

 


Purchase a Gift Certificate

sample portrait certificate
Sample Commissioned Portrait Certificate

I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $125.00, which is the basic cost of a portrait; the recipient is responsible for any amount the portrait costs over $125.00.

The certificate itself is 8.5″ x 11″ and features a collage of portrait images with the recipient’s and giver’s names, printed on parchment cover stock. The whole thing is packaged in a pocket folder and includes a brochure, a letter from me to the recipient and several business cards.The certificate package can be easily mailed or wrapped as a gift and shipped directly to your recipient.

I can also make it downloadable if you’re in a hurry.

Portrait certificates are a minimum of $125.00 because that is the minimum cost of a portrait.

Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.

You can purchase gift certificates here or from my Etsy shop if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.

Enter the recipient’s name
Enter shipping address

You only need to enter an address if it is different from the address I’ll receive through PayPal. These are often surprise gifts and need to be shipped away from the home address to make sure they are a surprise.


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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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