The other day I was driving down the street and saw a billboard for a show that had a dark image of an arm coming out of the earth covered in ropey vines. Then the best idea for a pet portrait came into my head. When I started painting, my work primarily consisted of people, which is really easy to find inspiration for settings since many artist paint people and the boundaries have been stretched pretty far to represent the human figure. When I first started painting pet portraits I was a little wary that my individual style might get lost. As time goes by I realize that anything you can do to the human figure you can do to an animal painting. By learning to think this way the paintings have become even more unique since you don’t usually see the household pet in a surreal setting, creating an amusing and interesting composition. So in the future don’t be surprised if you see a pet portrait that might reminds you of that dark image I saw driving down the road.
-Nikky Hughes
Pet Portrait Artist
Los Angeles
For more info, visit my full site at http://www.nikkyhughes.com
I recently wrote about painting a portrait of my cat Art and his ailing health. Well last week the inevitable happened. We made the decision to put him to sleep. I had spoken with the vet and others who had to euthanize their pet about when do you know it’s time. Most said you would know, boy were they right. You love your pet and when they get sick you worry that they are suffering, but you also don’t want to prematurely end their life if it is still fulfilling to them, but when Art got to the point where he was physically having trouble getting up to eat or potty, I new the time had come. It is definitely one of the saddest things I have had to do. This was the first pet that I had gone through this with as an adult. We had pets when I was little but my mom had always hidden all the sad details about a pets passing making it easier for my young mind to handle.
