The Process and FAQ

WE DO THIS TOGETHER.
Most pet portraits are one thing or the other — a print, or a painting. Mine are both, and that's what makes them different.

Every portrait starts as a digital composition I build from your photos — getting the likeness, the expression, the details exactly right. That foundation gets printed on archival canvas. Then I go in by hand with real oil paint, adding depth, texture, and life to the fur, the face, the highlights that make them them.

The result is something you couldn't get from a printer or a painter working alone. It has the accuracy of a photograph and the soul of a fine art painting. And it's completely original — built for you, from your photos, from scratch.

From photos to portrait—here's how it works:


1. WE TALK
Tell me about them. We'll discuss size, setting, colors, and the feeling you want. If I need more photos, I'll ask.

2. YOU APPROVE THE PROOF
I paint digitally first. You'll see exactly what it will look like. Nothing moves forward until you say, "That's them."

3. I BRING IT TO LIFE
The piece is printed on archival canvas, then I add hand-applied oil paint and texture by hand — creating a mixed-media original. This isn't a print — it's a living work of art.

4. FRAMING (OPTIONAL)
We can talk through framing options. I'm happy to ship it ready to hang or unframed.

5. IT ARRIVES
Within 6–8 weeks, your portrait is delivered. Museum-quality materials built to outlast generations.
This is the piece you'll never take down.


BEGIN YOUR PORTRAIT

READY TO START?

Custom Pet Portrait FAQ | Kathy Morley

Questions & Answers

For discerning pet owners who want more than a novelty print

Everything you need to know about commissioning a custom mixed-media pet portrait — and why it's nothing like what you've seen from an app.

  • AI apps generate novelty images from templates — they don't know your dog. My portraits are completely custom, built around who your pet actually is. After 20+ years as a professional portrait photographer, I know how to listen. Some dogs are ball-obsessed athletes; others are champion couch potatoes. I love placing your pet in an environment that's meaningful to you — the lake where you spend summers, colors that belong in your home.

    My own dog George hangs above our fireplace in a winter scene at our cottage lake, painted in the exact palette of our living room. That's not something an app can do in 30 seconds.
  • Traditional oil painters work from a blank canvas — and occasionally, something just looks a little off. The likeness doesn't quite land, and it doesn't feel like them. My mixed-media process solves that.

    I begin digitally, building the portrait layer by layer from your photos, then print it on canvas and hand-apply oil paint and texture where it matters most — the highlights, the depth, the details that make it breathe. The result: a guaranteed likeness and a finished piece that is genuinely fine art — not a print, not a filter, not a digital file. Both.
  • You're getting 20+ years of taste, vision, and craft — a photographer's eye for light and likeness, combined with a painter's hand. But honestly, clients say it best: a portrait becomes more valuable every year.

    When a pet is living, it captures exactly who they are right now. Once they're gone, it's irreplaceable. It becomes the thing you reach for first.
  • Yes — and it's some of the most meaningful work I do. Many clients come to me after a loss, and I understand how tender that moment is. We move gently, at your pace.

    Once the portrait is finished, the response is always the same: that presence is back in the home. That animal they loved is on the wall again. It's not a replacement — it's a way of keeping them close.
  • Most portraits are completed in 4 to 6 weeks. We begin with a conversation about how you want the portrait to look and feel — the environment, the mood, the colors. Once you provide photos (or I photograph your pet if you're local to Midland), I build the composition and you approve the proof before any final painting begins. No surprises.
  • The better the photo, the better I can nail the likeness — but I work with what you have. For living pets, sharp focus and good natural light are most helpful. For memorial portraits, a close-up of the face and a few different angles of the body give me the most to work with.

    I also offer a free guide on how to take better pet photos — comment PAWS on any Instagram post to have it sent straight to your DMs. And if you're local to Midland, Michigan, I can photograph your pet myself.
  • Yes — portraits are commissioned by clients across the U.S. and internationally. Every piece is carefully packed to arrive exactly the way it left the studio: beautifully.
  • Portraits range from $1,800 to $8,000+, depending on size, complexity, and the detail of the environment. (An open ocean and a meadow of grasses are very different paintings.)

    We'll discuss your vision and I'll give you a clear quote before anything begins. Most clients find the investment easy to understand once they see what they're getting — a one-of-a-kind piece of fine art that means something.
  • Once the portrait is printed on canvas, I add oils and texture by hand — working the highlights, building depth, and bringing forward the details that make it feel alive. Warmth and dimension that a flat print simply cannot replicate.

    You can see where the paint catches the light. You can feel the texture. It's not digital art that happens to live on canvas. It's a painting.
  • Yes — and this is where 20 years of photography experience really shows. Better photos produce the sharpest likeness, but I know how to work with what exists.

    More importantly: you approve the proof before the final painting begins. You'll see the composition, the environment, the colors — and give the green light. There's no risk of ending up with something that doesn't feel right.

Ready when you are

Let's start your portrait

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