I’m excited to introduce my latest self-initiated creative project: custom painted pet portraits! The last time I felt this invigorated about launching a new thing of mine was probably when I launched my beach plastic greeting cards.. so it has been awhile. Years, as a matter of fact. It feels good to feel like I’m finally finding that good creative energy again. I’ve missed it.
I’ve used the word “harrowing” to describe the last five years to many people - because that’s truly how it’s felt. I won’t get into all the details of that right now, but I also know I’m not the only one who has felt this way. There’s been a lot of grief, loss, change, mental health struggles, and so much more. But it wasn’t all bad. In the midst of everything, I adopted two rescue dogs: Stewie in 2019 and Sparkle in 2023 - and they are the absolute light (and sparkle 😉) of my life and two of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
In January, I took a tufting workshop with a couple friends to celebrate my birthday - and I feel like since then, I’ve been diving face first into all sorts of creative endeavors. I’ve been calling it my “creative curiosity era” - which is like the ideal sweet spot that any creative person wants to be in. Of course, it’s not realistic to expect to be in it all the time - so I’m trying to savor it while it’s here.
Last month, I decided to try painting a portrait of Stewie and Sparkle. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I finally just went for it. I ended up really enjoying the process and really loving how it turned out. I’ve been exploring more “offline” creative mediums lately - not wanting to spend more time in front of a digital screen than I need to. Painting has been one of those mediums. It really feels like some sort of brain massage.
These are the two reference photos I mainly worked off of for Stewie and Sparkle. If you commission a portrait with me, you will need to provide at least one front facing well lit photo (of each pet). Below are some quick work in progress photos I took on my phone of my painting process.
Probably like most artists that get into pet portraits - after starting with your own pet(s), you attempt to create portraits of your friends’ pets. I decided to surprise a couple friends by secretly working on portraits of their fur babies alongside the one I was making of my own. It was a self inflicted challenge to see if I could enjoy painting pets that weren’t mine - as well as a way to expand this body of work and see if it was something I wanted to continue doing.
Thank you to Sara and Rebecca for accepting my surprise unsolicited paintings of your pets (😅) and for generally just being supportive during this new endeavor. 💖
If you would like to commission a portrait of your pet(s) with me, you can do so HERE.
Spots are limited, so reserve your spot soon. Once they are booked up, I will close commissions (temporarily) until I am able to accept more.
If you have any questions - you can of course email me at amychendesign@gmail.com.