First Pet Portrait Drawing

This was my first commissioned portrait.  The photograph made the background too dark so the background is much lighter than what it appears.  This sold for $400 and was 24 x 36.  To achieve the personalities of the painting, I requested several pictures of each pet.  I then discussed the personality of each pet to choose the best picture.  This was a portrait of pets my client had over the past 30 years.  I asked which pets lived at the same time and how they interacted.  They also expressed their favorites be made larger.    The top two dogs where like mother and daughter, the top shepherd was a show dog.  The left, main horse was their favorite and quite tame but alert. Their favorite dog was a hunting dog and very intense.  The two shepherds below were like husband and wife.  The wife being very regal and the husband being always the silly, playful one. The white horse was very energetic and lively.  My client was very pleased.  He lived in Florida so we made an extra trip to deliver it in person when we visited our friends there.