These two oil portraits show my Cardigan Corgis, Patroclus and Lucius, painted from photographs but not treated as simple copies. Patroclus, three and a half years old, is cheerful, lively, affectionate and slightly shy — the kind of dog who wants closeness, but still carries a soft uncertainty in his expression. In his portrait, sitting on the red armchair in my studio, I wanted to keep that mixture of warmth, playfulness and tenderness. He is full of life, but also a little oppressed by Lucius, the older Corgi who naturally considers himself the main authority in the house.
Lucius is completely different: a serious prima donna, an individualist with distance and very clear opinions. He is jealous, proud, emotionally complicated, and often you have to guess what he wants before he decides to reveal it. But under that dramatic surface he is soft, deeply loving and very attached. In his portrait, I wanted to capture not only the likeness, but also that strange royal seriousness mixed with vulnerability.
Both portraits were shown this year at the post-competition exhibition of the VII Triennale Animalis in Chorzów. For me, they are personal works, but they also show what I look for in custom dog portraits: not only anatomy or markings, but character, mood and presence. A good pet portrait should not feel like a painted ID photo — it should carry something of the animal’s private world.
I also accept custom oil dog portrait commissions from photographs for people who want a hand-painted, lasting image of their own dog.
