Commissioned Portrait: Zach and Alex, Two Spoiled Abys

I’ve had a few portraits that started out with one pose we absolutely positively loved after much work in choosing from photos and designing a composition only to be forgotten in a moment when a chance photo was taken that was absolutely purrfect.

Zach and Alex’s guys were referred to me by another portrait customer. The cats were half brothers, born from the same parents but two different litters; they had adopted one, then realized he desperately needed a buddy or they’d never get any sleep. I don’t remember which one was older, but it was by less than a year. They wanted me to get meet the boys, and weren’t sure they had good detail photos though they had plenty of the postures they loved best about the two long-legged graceful and highly energetic Abyssinian cats, so they invited me to their home. As I walked to the front door I saw a little sign that read, “Two spoiled cats live here,” hence the title.

We had fun playing with the cats all over the house. I showed them the photos I’d gotten and we pulled all the ones we liked from both their photos and mine to put together a few composites. They loved the legend of the breed as the “temple guards”, especially with one paw raised, which their owners told me was a signature stance, but they also wanted to capture their silly and fun character, and they they also wanted their cuddly character. Below is a gallery of potential portrait compositions.

I’d emailed the composites to them and we pretty much decided on the pose of the two of them standing facing each other but looking at the viewer; that one still strikes me to this day. I knew I’d need more photos of their legs so I went out for another visit. Then they booted up a computer and this photo was the screensaver.

And I knew that as much as we all liked the pose we’d chosen this photo, with some modifications, was “it”. They were together, they were natural, the photo was clear. We’d have to modify their faces so they would be looking at us, and to show their spectacular green eyes. Also, as much as they looked nice by the window, they didn’t want any background features, preferring the abstract background where I arranged the lighting to complement the cats as well as the background color, and often worked in a number of colors that worked well with the feel of the home.

I didn’t have my good scanner then, nor even a high-quality digital camera, and I used that digital to take photos of my portraits for a year or two. They looked okay until I learned a little more about digital photos and realized how little information they recorded. Enlargements don’t work terribly well so the details in their faces are a little blurred, but you get the idea.

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I remained friends with the guys and when each of the cats developed renal failure I helped to coach them along, and sad though it may be they shared each cat’s passing with me. After they had lost one of the boys they started volunteering with a cat rescue and then began fostering, and then adopted several rescues. It’s wonderful to see people embrace rescues as well as purebred cats. It’s understandable to love an aby’s looks and adopt because that’s what you know, but it’s especially nice to find what you love about all cats in rescues.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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Give the gift of art, and a portrait of a beloved pet

Is there an animal lover on your list who has every cat or dog-themed t-shirt and handbag, and even their pets have every toy they can use for the rest of their natural lives? Consider a Commissioned Portrait Gift Certificate. Whether it’s for someone else or yourself, a custom portrait is different from a professional photograph because we can create the scene that you remember even if you never had the chance to photograph it. Your household of animal companions can be grouped in a natural setting even if their lives didn’t overlap. Purchase a certificate here or on Portraits of Animals.

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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.

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© 2009-2025 | 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!

 

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