About Pet Portraits Artist, Laura Young
Welcome to the section of the website about me, Laura Young.
I am a Pet Portraits artist, living in Wick, Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands.
I have enjoyed drawing from an early age, and pets and wildlife have always been my subject of choice. I am fascinated by the elegance, beauty and strength of wild animals, particularly wolves and big cats and this interest transfers to their domestic cousins we share our lives with.
It was when I got my first Springer Spaniel that I discovered the full amazing range of different dog breeds, and it became a new challenge to capture their unique characteristics. I started off drawing pets belonging to family and friends, they were so pleased with their Pet Portraits I set up this website to share my artisitc ability with others. The nature of the internet is a perfect platform for Pet Portraits, allowing me to communicate with pet owners as far away as New Zealand. Digital cameras have also helped greatly with the quick transfer of digital images, allowing me to draw pets I have never met.
I work most often in Graphite Pencil as I can capture fine details with a hightly sharpened pencil, down to individual strands of hair! I also use Coloured Pencil for those customers that want a coloured Pet Portrait. Coloured pencil can be blended to create an infinite number of colours to imitate the rich tones found in nature.
Creating an original piece of artwork from photographs of customer's beloved pets is always a challenge, though each new commission creates it's own special challenges. The eyes are the hardest part of the portrait and always completed first, however they are also my favourite part to draw. Each pair of eyes is individual, and if the eyes are incorrect, then the portrait will not look like the pet it is supposed to, therefore I spend a lot of time right at the very beginning getting them perfect. The other very important part to get right is the lay of the fur, as it is the direction of the fur and the shadows it's movement creates that makes the pet look real, bringing the portrait to life.
I hope you enjoy your visit to my site, browsing the Work in Progress and Pet Portraits Online Gallery. If you have any questions or comments about commissioning a Pet Portrait ot the site please do not hesitate to contact me. Feedback from my visitors is always most welcome.