Commissioned Portrait Trio: Lucy, Ethel and Bubba
Meet Lucy, Ethel and…Bubba! Yes, that’s right. I just finished this trio of portraits of three rescued shelter cats adopted from the Petco adoption area where their human volunteered. Lucy and Ethel are 17 years old, but Bubba is only 2. The girls were adults and bonded and just weren’t adopted by anyone from the public so their human took them home. Bubba needed more enrichment than living in a cage, and he had had an infected eye at one time that left some scarring and reduced vision. People can be very particular and he was always overlooked, so his human took him home too.
My customer had an idea what she wanted—three individual portraits for the cats’ individual personalities—and where in the house they would go. The living room had a space just right for three portraits in a grouping. From the beginning they would be a set, same frames and double mats, but different background colors.
I got to meet all three so that I could get a realistic idea of their personality and the best way to pose them in their portraits. Lucy sleeps on the couch much of the time, but she was so sweet and social she rolled over and gave me this lovely pose.
Ethel loves her bed so we included it, and she is a real observer so that’s what she’s doing.
Bubba is a lanky and energetic boy. Often he hides from visitors but after a few moments under a table he was right there, checking out my feet, then walking about slowly but purposefully. I love his slender look with the raised tail and wanted to capture him walking. When I returned they all acted as if I was an old friend and Bubba was on the table checking out the portraits.
I hadn’t realized how accurate my portrait choices had been until I saw them again, and I swear they each liked their portraits too. Their human did as well and remarked how pleased they were I was there, actually reaching for me to pet them.
It was such a pleasure to meet these three rescued cats. They live in a lovely home, but their person doesn’t hesitate to feed them on the couch if that’s as far as they can go today, or to add a litterbox in the living room so Lucy and Ethel don’t have to go so far when they have to go.
All three portraits are 8″ x 11″ in pastel on two-ply illustration board. I’ll be framing them later this week and can’t wait to see them all finished up. And just in case you remember seeing this last week…
“Mimi says she fits in my work area just fine. What is my problem?”
I am honored
These portraits were awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Fine Art by the Cat Writers’ Association in the 2019 Communications Contest. Click here to read more about the CWA, the contest and the awards.
25% Off Portrait Special
Most of the portraits you see featured here are fairly realistic and scenic, but a custom portrait can take many forms and styles. Don’t forget about my 25% discount on commissioned portraits for Mother’s and Father’s Day through June 30, 2019.
Read about other current Commissioned Portraits and Featured Artwork
I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.
Take a look at other portraits and read other stories
Read articles on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.
Read about how I create commissioned portraits.
| Commissioned Cat Portraits
|
Commissioned Dog Portraits
|
Portraits of My Cats
|
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
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
I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $50.00, which is the basic cost of a small monochromatic portrait.
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.
Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.
You can purchase gift certificates here or from Portraits of Animals if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.
I prefer to look over the work and price the portrait according to how much work will go into it, as described above, but you can either set a budget or get started by purchasing a certificate for yourself or as a gift.
How to Order
- “Certificate A” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 black and white or monochromatic portrait with one subject.
- “Certificate B” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 color portrait with one subject.
- Choose “A” or “B” depending on whether your portrait is black and white or color.
- If your portrait will be larger or have more subjects, add $50 or $100 or more to your certificate value with the drop-down below.
CERTIFICATE A $50.00
- Size: 8 x 10
- Subjects: One
- Color: black and white media such as charcoal, pencil, ink, or monochromatic media such as one color of pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
- Background or objects: none but shading or colored paper
CERTIFICATE B $100.00
- Size: 8 x 10
- Subjects: One
- Color: full color media such as pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
- Background or objects: none but a color or colored paper
Add to your certificate purchase
You can use the second drop down to add $50.00 or $100.00. For amounts over this we’d probably have a conversation and I can set up a custom certificate for your purchase.
You only need to enter an address if it is different from the address I’ll receive when you order. These are often surprise gifts and need to be shipped away from the home address to make sure they are a surprise.
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork
Great Rescues Day Book:
Portraits, Rescue Stories, Holidays and Events, Essential Feline Information, All in One Book
Each month features one of my commissioned portraits of a feline or felines and their rescue story along with a kitty quote on the left page, and on the right page the month name with enough lines for all possible dates, with standard holidays and animal-themed observances and events. Great Rescues also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my drawings including information on finding strays or orphaned kittens, adopting for the first time or caring for a geriatric cat, a list of household toxins and toxic plants, or helping stray and feral cats and beginning with TNR.
Each book includes also 10 sheets of my “22 Cats” decorative notepaper with a collage of all the portraits in black and white so you can make your own notes or write special notes to friends.
The portraits in this book, collected as a series, won both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest, as well as the 22 Cats Notepaper mentioned below.
Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals 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.
Subscribe to my e-newsletter
Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.
© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
Pingback: Muse Medallions in CWA 2019 Communications Contest ~ The Creative Cat
Such beautiful kitties. And you did an excellent job painting them.
Thank you, Ellen! They were such nice kitties and I tried to capture that.
Excellent portraits! You’ve captured their emotions in their eyes, and their body language! Terrific!
Thanks, Vicky! I was so happy when even their person agreed with that. She knows them well and I had only just met them, but they were friendly. I love Bubba walking, and his shadow.