A good photo is crucial for a good painting.
A good photo has:
- Natural lighting (could be near a window doesn’t need to be outside)
- Head and shoulders and/or full body clearly in view
- Nice facial expression
I am happy to help assess any photo options and provide my insight!
If your pet is alive and you aren’t confident about the photos you have, consider pausing and taking a few days or a week to watch for good moments with your pet or stage a photoshoot. The better photo will make the portrait worth the wait!
Good pet photo examples:
All of these are in good natural lighting, and show the head and/or body clearly.
Background objects don’t matter much and can largely be ignored.
Brightness & contrast can be improved; but I can’t redo the lighting direction and its cast.
Photos I would not want to paint from:
Too much of cat body is hidden, face expression not great.
Face not in frame, expression isn’t ideal / downcast.
Full body and in natural lighting, but cat is cast in shadow.
