Hey guys! Your dog is pretty cute, right? Your cat too? He’s pretty awesome. Do you just love looking at their sweet, sweet faces? Do you wanna do something special for them and for yourself? Maybe you should have their portrait painted! I totally paint portraits of pets! It’s super fun!
Here is how it works:
- First step is to send me an email [morbidmerrygoround@gmail.com] telling me all about your pet. This is when we brainstorm to come up with a way to visually represent how awesome and special your buddy is. I like to do really unique themes and motifs for each piece. It can be subtle or not so subtle, but including little visual hints about your pets personality makes the painting more personal and interesting. Does your cat fantasize about being a mermaid? Does she have a passion for roller derby? Was your dog the leader of a vast and powerful empire in a past life? Does he read too many cheesy vampire novels? Lets get weird.
- I’ll need some pictures of your pet, the more the better. The vast majority of the pictures we have of our pets are taken from above because the pet is on the ground and the camera is at human face level. If that style of photo is the only one you have that’s ok, but I always prefer to work from a picture taken at the dog/cat/lizard’s eye level. Either sit down on the ground or boost the pet onto a table or counter. It makes for a much more personal portrait.
- This is also the time we talk about the specifics of the piece like price and size. A handy price chart is available below. Most custom pieces are painted in acrylic on canvas with [three quarter] inch thick bars. If you’d prefer a different medium (oil paint, graphite, watercolor) or a heftier canvas, let me know. The price may be a little different depending on the cost of the materials. I’ll ask you where you are located so we can work out how much shipping will cost. If you are in the Portland area, I can most likely deliver the painting to you myself.
- After we talk it over and get some ideas going, I will send your some rough digital sketches. This will give you an idea of the direction I’m headed. We can talk them over and make as many changes you’d like.
- The first half of the money is due up front. This helps me buy the canvas and other painting supplies. The easiest way to make a payment is through Paypal. I’ll ask for the email address associated with your Paypal account and send you an invoice for the initial amount due. [If you don’t use Paypal, we can work something else out.]
- The next step is painting! It’s my favorite step! Please allow approximately three weeks for this part of the process (a little more if the painting is super huge). I will send you pictures of the piece along the way as it progresses.
- Once I believe the painting to be complete, I will email a picture of it to you for your approval. If there is anything you’d like tweaked, please let me know and I can make adjustments. If it is exactly what you were looking for, I will send you a second invoice for the remaining fee and ship the painting off to you. You and your pet and your painting will live happily ever after.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send me a note. Also, if you just want to talk about cats send me a note. I could go on for ages about cats. Caaaaaaaaaaats.
