My art studio. Pet portrait and wildlife art brand photoshoot

Last week I met with photographer Pennie Withers to do a brand photoshoot in my studio in Reading, Berkshire. This was my first experience of a professional photoshoot, we discussed how best to show my brand values of high quality animal artwork with an underlying focus on charity and conservation efforts to save endangered animals.

My cozy art studio in Reading, Berkshire. Here is where I work every day on my custom pet portrait commissions and wildlife artworks.

Pet portrait drawings

A focal point of my business is completing custom pet portrait drawings. Although I draw pets of all sorts, from rabbits, horses, hamsters, (even a spider eek), I mostly receive requests for dog and cat portraits. I specialise in dog portraits as I have drawn so many wonderful dog breeds from Labradors (in every colour), to Golden Retrievers, Spaniels, Collies, Jack Russell, to rarer dog breeds such as Scottish Deerhounds. Please check out my pet portrait gallery if you’re interested in seeing examples.

I complete my pet portraits from photos, which allows me to take on commissions worldwide. I’m aiming to achieve a life-like representation of your pet, this is not photo-realism, as I like to show my unique artist mark through individual pencil stroke textures. Of course, your portrait doesn’t have to be exactly like the photo, alongside a description of your pet’s personality, I aim to capture the essence of your pet. Everything is customisable, if you wish for me to emphasise a certain feature, a particular background or use a different style, such as pet portraits on canvas.

I often get asked if my drawings are actually hand-drawn, the answer is yes! Hundreds of pencil strokes go into each drawing to achieve a high level of life-like detail. This is the reason I provide my clients with a timelapse video, so they can watch their pet come to life on paper from start to finish.

Art supplies

I pride myself in using the highest-quality art supplies. From my paper, which is acid-free, to my mounts which are conservation-grade. It’s important to me that the coloured pencils I use are also lightfast, this ensures that, with proper care, the drawing will last a lifetime. In my studio I have a lovely colourful feature wall, filled with glass jars that I store my coloured pencils in.

I do try to arrange my pencils in colour order but in the midst of drawing they do get muddled up!

Sustainable packaging

Within life I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible as I love nature. These values filter into my business as I utilise sustainable practises. You can read more about my sustainability values here.

The experience of unveiling the finished portrait is important to me, so my pet portraits come gift wrapped in a presentation box with ribbon and tissue paper. Not forgetting extra keepsake goodies such as a thank you card, colour palette, care guide and certificate of authenticity. In line with my values of shopping small and locally, I source my sustainable packaging from a female-founded independent business.

My clients often commission a pet portrait to be given as a gift to a loved one, but I also encourage my clients to treat themselves…what can be a more perfect present to yourself than celebrating your pet with a bespoke artwork to cherish.

Endangered animals art

Aside from pet portrait drawings, a second part of my business is wildlife artwork. I enjoy creating artwork of the huge array of wild animals, in particular endangered animals. I feel a particular connection to great apes and monkey…this is actually how my conservation work began, as I first entered the ‘sketch for survival’ in 2022, an initiative aimed at raising awareness and funds for animals. I came as a finalist in the competition, resulting in my orangutan drawing titled ‘hope’ being auctioned, raising hundreds of pounds for charity. I also particularly enjoy depicting big cats as I consider lions to be my spirt animal.
Check out more of my wildlife artwork by clicking here.

I use acrylic paint on premium linen canvas, which is highly effective at achieving all these gorgeous textures and gestural marks.

Lion artwork

During the photoshoot I unveiled my brand new 5ft pink lion canvas painting! This was a challenge as on the easel it’s nearly as high as my studio ceiling! This powerful lion will bring fun and colour to its new home, please contact me to enquire about owning the original.
To check out more of my available original wildlife wall art please explore my shop by clicking here.

This creative headshot is one of my favourite shots from the photoshoot.

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at my brand photoshoot. thank you for following my art journey! Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to hear about my latest studio updates and gain pre-access to new artworks.

Behind the scenes shot of Pennie working her photography magic!

I welcome your thoughts and feelings, please leave me a comment below if you feel inspired to do so.