Three Minute Pet Portraits

What started as painting warmup exercise evolved into one of my favorite activities. I started doing these quick pet portrait popups with my first one at Celine Waldmann’s shop in Seattle, painting both from life and from photos that people brought. After pre-painting background colors, I give myself three minutes for each portrait which means I get to meet so many pets during every event! It’s such a blast to try to capture personality in these little gestural paintings.

Quick illustration of a black cat playing with a string of lights on a blue background
Illustration of a dog facing forward on a yellow background.
Illustration of a cat with an open mouth on a yellow background.
Illustration of a small dog with a yellow ball in his mouth. Lines around his tail indicate that it's wagging happily.

The best part of getting to do this live is getting the approval of the models!

A small black dog sniffs the freshly-drawn illustration of itself.
A pug sits on a black folding chair while someone holds up an illustration of it next to the dog.
Twelve different pet illustrations on a variety of colored backgrounds. There are cats and dogs in various poses.

Interested in hosting a pet portrait popup at your location? Email me and we’ll set something up!

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Written on the Land