Latest News for the UK Artist Karen M Berisford - Pets, Portraits & Wildlife Art

A customer testimonial - Red Fox Labrador called Dougal

29/5/2022

It is always lovely to receive feedback from clients. Every single one of my commissions are created with care and you do get attached to the pet. You know you're unlikely to ever meet them in the flesh, but could pick them out in a crowd, having spent so many hours staring at and creating, their beautiful faces with all their tiny markings and (im)perfections.

Framed drawing of a Red Fox Labrador called Dougal. Completed as a commission by Northumberland artist Karen M Berisford

A thank you from a happy customer is a celebratory one. The fact that someone takes the time to send an email and to tell me how well the portrait was received, always brings a great sigh of relief knowing that they appreciated the time spent on the portrait. I thought I would share it here.
Here is the framed portrait of Dougal, a Red Fox Labrador completed in coloured pencils. What a beautiful dog he is.

If you want to see more of my coloured pencil art (including Rua, Dougal's sister), click here.

If you are thinking of booking your own bespoke commission, find out more here.

A BIG THANK YOU to Karen for her fantastic piece of work to complete
the portrait of Dougal.

This was a gift for my cousin and he loved it! It's got pride of place on his wall!

Karen has managed to capture Dougal exactly with the exquisite colour and
detail and professional finish.

I couldn't recommend Karen's service enough, she has been proactive in communication and I felt part of the commission throughout the process.

Thank you again, Mike

A coloured pencil drawing of a Red Fox Labrador bespoke pet commission

Tweaking the final detail.

VIEW DOUGAL'S PROGRESS PAGE

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, or share this post with friends and family.

Karen
www.karenmberisford.co.uk

Dougal the Red Fox Labrador - coloured pencil drawing

29/3/2022

I recently completed this commission of Dougal. Pet portraits are my most requested subject, and Dougal's portrait was ordered from a returning customer as a birthday gift to a family member.

coloured pencil drawing of a Red Fox Labrador

Red fox Labrador

The reference image

The reference image used for this drawing was a great composition, but the detail and colour, was unfortunately lacking. Extra photos of Dougal were provided, which allowed me to gather additional detail. The leash was removed from the drawing, as this added nothing to his portrait.

Drawing a Red Fox Labrador using Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils

Living in Northumberland, the Labrador is a very popular dog breed here and having two Labradors myself, we often encounter Red fox Labradors and their owners, which allowed me to study their natural colour as we passed. I always try to balance out the values in each portrait, which means I will correct the colour tones, especially so when the colours in the photograph are washed out or under-exposed. I also spend time researching online, collecting photos of other Red Fox Labradors which act as a guide too.

Northumberland Artist Karen M Berisford drawing a Red fox Labrador in coloured pencils

If you are thinking about booking a commission of your own pet, get in touch. If you want to find out more about my commissions first, you can click one of the tabs below and read about the process or view my art gallery. I work in coloured pencils and acrylic paints, both offer very different outcomes, but are highly detailed.

Coloured pencils

Latest Acrylic paintings in progress during Covid-19 lockdown

14/4/2020

Whilst in confinement, I plan to complete a 'few' pieces of art that have been hanging around the studio for a while. Over the weekend, I worked on a painting of myself with our old Labrador/Collie cross called Cindy. I am using the Ampersand Pastelbord which allows me to create smooth layers due to its texture.

View the progress of this acrylic painting of Karen & Cindy

You can find more of my acrylic paintings in my online art gallery
Bespoke commissions are available to book.

Christmas Commissions 2018

26/12/2018

Last year I had four portraits that were booked for Christmas, as well as three that weren't, but that needed to be delivered before Christmas to avoid the postal build up, so last year was pretty hectic. All, bar one (the Chow Chow dog), were small portraits, but I also had three larger portraits booked too, which allowed a much steadier pace. One was delayed until the New Year to avoid any damage from the international post, going to the USA, and so here are the two commissions that I hope were received well by their recipients on christmas day.

Jetson - The 9 month old Newfoundland Dog
in Coloured pencils

Images of Jetson was Emailed to me by the Commissionee, having been taken by the husband of the recipient. Black dogs are very difficult to photograph as it requires the correct amount of lighting to capture good photos that differentiate between highlights & shadow, and so I worked from a few photos to create a portrait of balanced tones. The importance of working with high quality Coloured pencils allowed me to apply the highlights over the darker base tones and achieve the correct perspectives which can easily get lost in a portrait like this. Click the image to see Jetsons progress page.

George Darling
1940's Black Watch soldier
in Coloured pencils

I was contacted in November with a challenging request. A gent sent me an old sepia photograph depicting his girlfriends Grandad when he was in the Black Watch regiment back in the 1940's and asked if I could create a coloured portrait of it within a suitable background to give as a Christmas gift to his girlfriend after recently losing him. Having been provided with as much information as possible regarding the correct colours of the uniform and an extensive search online, I was quite excited to get started.

Find out about commissioning your own bespoke portrait

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas day and received some thoughtful gifts too.

Wishing you the very best for the New Year 2019!

Busy few months with Commissions

22/1/2018

Last year (2017), I started receiving Christmas orders as early as September, which kept me busy throughout the season. From mid-October onwards, I worked 10-12 hours a day, creating a schedule list for each day to ensure that all the portraits were completed on time. Some orders were from overseas, and I had to make sure that any frames ordered were received well in advance as framers tend to be very busy during the festive season. My goal was to finish all the orders a week before I travelled to my hometown of Chesterfield, but I worked late into the night before my journey.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and the person who commissioned it met me at the train station in Chesterfield to collect the portrait of Star the Chow Chow. The painting had travelled with me for six hours on a bus, coach, and train inside my suitcase. The lady who commissioned the painting gave me a lovely bunch of flowers. I was delighted to see the recipients' positive comments on Christmas day after receiving their beloved pets' portrait. Click on any of the images to visit the progress pages.

I've completed all the Christmas commissions and took a well-deserved break to recharge. Now, I'm back in the studio, creating new articles and planning exciting art workshops for 2018 on my Step by Step Art website. There are numerous tasks to accomplish behind the scenes. If you're interested in booking a personalized commission or are an artist searching for helpful articles, mini-tutorials, and a chance to attend a 1-day art workshop with me, click on the links below to visit my website.

Here's hoping 2018 is a wonderful year for you!

Karen

Find Out About our Commissions

Visit the Step by Step Art Website

Christmas Commissions 2016 - Pets & Portraits

29/12/2016

This christmas, I was extremely busy with commissions. I had five to complete in the space of 6 weeks, which was a real challenge. Normally, one portrait can take 3 - 5 weeks each, so it was a very busy time. All were completed and delivered out to customers in ample time, and I have included all the commission details and final portraits below, alongside customer testimonials.

Springer Spaniel sat on grass in front of border plants

Buddy the Springer Spaniel - 11" x 14"

Buddy's portrait was created using 5 different photographs. The body taken from this photo, the head from another, the tail from a third, the background from a fourth and some of the background flowers from a fifth image, all cut and pasted together to create the mock up of the reference image. Doing this can throw a whole lot of problems into the mix as different images can have different lighting, luckily I was able to ensure the correct balance as I was provided with lots of great quality photos that i could pull detail from. As you would suspect the grass took the longest as each blade of grass was applied individually and this was done in 3 layers so individually repeated 3 times!

First stages of a Springer Spaniel sat on grass Acrylic painting

The base layer - Very messy but important

Acrylic painting of a Springer Spaniel sat on grass with beautiful border flowers in the background

The final completed painting

"I'm sitting looking at Buddy in pride of place on the wall, photo attached! It is absolutely lovely and it had the desired effect on Steve when he unwrapped - there were tears!! Everyone that has seen it has said how amazing it is with the amount of fine detail and so Buddy. If I manage to get a decent photo of Buddy next to it I will send it on! Thank you once again, it is lovely to have a painting of Buddy forever."
Esther

view Buddy's page

Springer Spaniel jumping through long grass on a sunny day photograph

Dudley the Springer Spaniel - 9" x 12" in Acrylics

This was a lovely composition but a tiny photo meaning that it pixelated when zooming in and the detail was lost in the face, especially around the eyes. The Commissionee loved the composition so much that I decided to see what I could do and asked if she could send some close up photos of Dudley taken in a less sunny environment and using all the photos together, I elaborated on the background/foreground somewhat and toned down the colouration on his head whilst still keeping the favoured stance. This was a challenge but I really loved the composition too and was happy with the final painting.

Base layers of a springer spaniel acrylic painting

Loose undertones preparing for the layering

Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord of a Springer spaniel running through long grass in the sun

The final painting

"Just wanted to let you know that mum loves her portrait and we all cried our eyes out when we first saw it. What you've done is so special and we couldn't have asked for a better painting to remember him by. It captures his brilliant personality so well. I'll definitely be recommending you to my spaniel loving friends!
Picture of framed painting to follow soon!
Andrea xx."

view dudley's page

Photo of a Japanese Akita looking at the camera

The customer only had a few photos of Kita, having recently lost her, and I was limited to flash photos. The reference image was a good pose, but as flash distorts colour and detail, I had to research the breed and add a little artistic licence. The image was also slightly out of focus, but I found that I was able to apply a lot of detail by overworking the fur, and the final portrait was far more detailed than I thought possible. The final painting was framed in a black moulding called ASHGATE, which accentuated the light tones in Kita's fur.

Base layers of an acrylic painting of a Japanese Akita dog

Japanese Akita acrylic painting highly detailed with green background

"Hi Karen, I just wanted you to know that I absolutely love my painting of Kita. Thank you so much, you have done the most amazing portrait of him. He was my best friend and my little boy and the painting has been hung in the living room so we can all admire him everyday! Thank you again xx"

visit kita's page

Couple and their French Bulldog at Pennan in Aberdeenshire

Diarmid E-mailed me a great photo of himself, his girlfriend Max and their little French Bulldog Kyla stood in front of the famous red phone box from the film 'Local Hero' when they visited Pennan in Aberdeenshire. As the phone box only covered half the background and the other half would add nothing to the composition it was decided to leave the background out completely and simply write 'Pennan' in the corner of the portrait. As mobile phone images tend to 'flatten' detail, the fineness of the Coloured pencils brought back the sharpness of detail and I really enjoyed creating this portrait - I always love a challenge!

Progress of a coloured pencil portrait of a couple and their french Bulldog

Working on the undertones and building up the tonal layers

Highly detailed Coloured pencil portrait of a man and his girlfriend with their French Bulldog

The final portrait treated with an application of UV fixative

"Hi Karen , Hope you had a lovely Christmas. Wanted to drop you a note to say that Max absolutely loved the portrait! She couldn't believe how well you'd captured the detail from the photo and was thrilled to pieces! We've already recommended you to friends and family and am sure we'll use your amazing skills again in the the future. Have a great New Year!! Diarmid"

visit Diarmid's page

Bearded Collies duo female and male photograph

This portrait was the last drawing I completed for Christmas and depicts 2 Bearded Collie's called Pyppa (L) & William (R) completed in Coloured pencils. I had taken some photos of them both a year earlier but as William (R) is a rather nervous little boy, I struggled to get any close ups of him. trying to distinguish between them after a year was a challenge too! I was provided with a few great quality photos which I could also use to add in their eyes a little more too.

progress of Bearded Collie's coloured pencil portrait

Coloured pencil portrait of Bearded collies on white paper

"Thank you so much for my beautiful portrait, you've really excelled yourself this time, its amazing!"

Latest Acrylic portrait - Japanese Akita 12" x 12"

23/12/2016

Kita

Photograph of a Japanese Akita laid down taken with flash

Acrylic painting of a Japanese Akita in a black frame and green background next to a christmas wreath

This year has been an extremely busy Christmas for Commissions and I suspect I ended up biting off more than I could chew, finally finishing the last commission of the year today and feeling emotionally shattered after early mornings and late nights creating some beautiful doggies and very special portraits for some lovely people. This is one of the Christmas commissions that I can show as it was given to the recipient early so Kita's Mum could choose the frame of the memorial portrait of her precious boy. Having created so many Pet portraits over the years I was able to work far more into the painting than was seen in the photograph as Kita's owners sadly had few photos of him and as Acrylic portraits offer extremely fine detail, every single hair had to be applied individually using a very thin brush to give the fine detail.

Painting the fur around the nose of an Acrylic painting of a Japanese Akita

fur detail in an acrylic painting of a Japanese Akita

Upon completion of the portrait I then applied 2 layers of satin varnish which was then framed in the 'Brockwell' moulding, packaged up and sent to his new home. Upon receipt Kita's mum sent me the following text:

"I just wanted you to know that I absolutely love my painting of Kita. You have done the most amazing portrait of him, he was my best friend and my little boy. I love him so much and the painting of him has been put up in the living room so we can all admire him everyday!!!
Thank you again" xx
Rachel

It is always special recieving such feedback and I am looking forward to hearing how my other portraits have gone down this Christmas, hoping I am able to bring a smile to the recipient's face and knowing I did a good job for them all. I will share each portrait on my blog once I've had a decent break and would like to offer this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!

Springer Spaniel 'WILLOW' Latest Acrylic Commission

3/9/2016

I recently completed this stunning portrait of Willow the Springer Spaniel, as a surprise portrait from a husband to his wife, for their special 1 year wedding anniversary. The reference photograph was a brilliant composition to begin with, and I knew the painting would be great fun to do.

Acrylic painting of a Springer Spaniel laid on the grass looking at a tennis ball

The final painting

Artist Karen M Berisford holding her painting of a Springer Spaniel

Myself with the 9" x 12" 22mm portrait

My acrylic paintings are created to offer vibrancy and wherever possible, texture and as the ball was at the forefront of the painting I mixed a moulding paste in with the paints to give the fluffy texture of a tennis ball. I also added texture into Willow's fur using the moulding paste too to add interest when viewing the painting at different angles.

Springer Spaniel acrylic painting detail

Fine details up close

Springer Spaniel acrylic painting on a 22mm Ampersand board

22mm Board with painted corners

Wall protectors on a 22mm Ampersand board

Wall protectors applied for all unframed portraits

This portrait was created on a 22mm Gessobord so that it could be hung without a frame and the edges were also painted too. The painting was sealed with a few layers of Satin Varnish and 2 wall protector feet were added to the bottom corners on the back of the painting for added protection. The great thing about these 22mm board portraits are that you can choose at a later date to have a frame added if you prefer or keep them unframed for that contemporary feel. I really enjoyed creating this portrait and was pleased to hear Willow's Mum was pretty happy with her surprise when she received it too!

Karen, I was the lucky one to receive this beautiful painting. I can't tell you what a lovely gift it is, thank you so much for capturing Willow's character so well. I absolutely love it, it's beautiful and one to be treasured for many years to come.
Victoria D.M

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