How I Create Realistic Pet Portraits from Photos

Drawing Bodie - my Coloured Pencil Process

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I love drawing animals — both wildlife and pets. Most of us have a phone full of photos of our furry companions, which is why creating realistic pet portraits from photos works so well. It means I can capture a pet’s personality using images their owners already have and love.

I’ve been drawing pets from photos for many years, but it was only last year that I decided to create a portrait of my own dog, Bodie. Bodie is our White Swiss Shepherd, and drawing all that white floof was always going to be a challenge! He’s a typical shepherd — he loves cheese and playing ball and absolutely hates the postman.

Why Photos Matter for Realistic Pet Portraits

You don’t need an expensive digital camera to take a good reference photo for a pet portrait. Clear focus and decent lighting are important, but what matters most is capturing the character and personality of the dog or cat.

Bodie doing his best pose - white fur is hard to photograph, and to draw!

Bodie isn’t the easiest dog to photograph — posing is definitely not his strong point! His white fur is also tricky, as details can easily be lost. In this case, I did use a digital camera so I could adjust the photo slightly and make it easier to draw from. It took a lot of shots to capture his cheeky expression. I could have bribed him with treats, but that would have resulted in far too much drool for a portrait!

From Photo to Finished Portrait: My Coloured Pencil Process

When planning any drawing, I spend time experimenting with composition in Photoshop. For Bodie’s portrait, I chose to crop in quite closely, so the focus stayed on his face and expression.

The surface I used was Clairefontaine Pastelmat, which I find ideal for drawing furry animals. It allows me to build up many layers of coloured pencil, creating depth and texture — especially important when drawing white fur, where changes in tone are very subtle.

It takes LOTS of layers of coloured pencils to draw realistic fur, you'd be surprised how many colours there are in white fur!

Using a wide range of whites, creams, browns, greys, and even hints of blue, I was able to create a more believable and realistic coat. Working slowly and carefully observing the reference photo helped me capture the life in Bodie’s eyes — and, of course, his big, characterful smile.

Why I Chose a Violet Background

Whenever possible, I like to add bold, dramatic backgrounds to my coloured pencil pet portraits. They help enhance the character of the pet and often reflect the owner’s personal taste.

For Bodie, I tested several PanPastel colours before settling on a rich, deep violet. The contrast works beautifully with his white fur and dark brown eyes, helping him stand out — and I’ll admit, I also love purple

These are the colours I tested for Bodie's background - which would you choose?

(You can read more about how I choose background colours for my artwork in a previous blog post here.)

The Finished Portrait

The finished portrait of my dog Bodie - I hope you like him!

I’m really pleased with how Bodie’s portrait turned out, and I feel it captures both his appearance and his personality.

If you’re thinking about commissioning a realistic pet portrait from photos, I’m always happy to chat about what might work best for you and your pet. You can find more information on my website.