ARTISTS’ PET PORTRAITS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND
Artists create long-lasting memories of cherished pets
Photographs are a great way to capture images of your dog or cat, horse or bird. But those smartphone snaps don’t get to the essence of your prized pet the way a painted portrait does. That is why there’s a growing demand for pet paintings and an eager cadre of artists to create them. Styles and materials are all over the map, with prices determined by an artist’s reputation and experience, the size of the work commissioned, materials involved and complexity of the subject (is there one dog pictured or several?). Here’s a look at a few local artists and their processes.
Painting in public
On summer afternoons, you’ll likely find David Kennett painting pet portraits on a Breckenridge street, next to a crepe stand, chatting up visitors and residents as they shop and stroll.
“I would go crazy at home by myself,” said Kennett, 41, a Denver resident who often paints at coffee shops when he’s in town. By painting in public, he said, “I can basically work and market
at the same time. People can see my work and they order.”
Like other portraitists, he works from photographs clients send him of their pets. While Kennett will take photos if needed, the pet’s owners can often get the best images because the dog or cat is familiar with and fond of them, he said.
“The pets are relaxed or doing something funny or are engaged,” he said. Kennett, a California native who started taking art classes when he was 7, studied art at San Diego State University. He painted and traveled before getting his master’s in architecture and business at the University of Colorado.
It was bad timing with the recession hitting the same year, so after doing some project-based consulting and sales, he started painting pet portraits on the side. He liked the work because not only could he make money as an artist, he learned how passionate people are about their cats and dogs.
“People tell me what animals mean to them and I learn interesting things about dog breeds,” said Kennett. “Some are extremely emotional and commission the painting as a memorial.”
The artist works in oil on an acrylic base, and his works are representational. He said he strives to have a painterly style, with strong brushwork and texture, “not too refined and detailed.” Prices range from about $475 to $2,750.
David Kennett, bffpetpaintings.com, david@bffpetpaintings.com
Colorful canines
Pet owners who want to commission a painting of a big brown dog are not going to hire Tif Choate for the job. This Lafayette-based artist is a self-described “colorhaulic.” She manipulates photographs in computer programs, breaking apart the colors, changing the hues, and varying the dark and light colors to make something new in her quest to capture an animal’s essence.
While self-taught as a fine artist, Choate studied art and illustration at the Art Institute of Florida in Fort Lauderdale. After school, she worked in a variety of part-time jobs, always painting on the side. Dogs are a special interest.
“Honestly, I love their eyes and the ways they look at you, which is soul–piercing,” said the artist. She did a series of 12 paintings called Truth is a Good Dog that was exhibited in January at a Lafayette coffee show, and included was a rainbow-hued likeness of her late schnauzer, Grover. While she also loves cephalopods, dogs have something squid don’t, she said: “They share a common trust, goodness and pure love.”
Choate, 48, her husband and their two sons were living in North Carolina in 2009 when they sold his electrical business and moved West for the “biking and running and trails and everything Colorado boasts.” It was a return of sorts as Choate spent time as a child in the summer and winter in the state with her grandparents in Grand Lake.
When they decided to move back, the family settled in Lafayette because of its vibrant arts community, and Choate quickly got involved with a grassroots group working on alley beautification. It helped her meet people and find clients for her art. She now creates all kinds of art — including murals and public art that involves painting such utilitarian things as transformer boxes. Prices for her pet paintings range from about $200 to $1,000. Tif Choate, artichoate.com, artbytif@gmail.com
Who’s minding the store
Artist and animal lover Meredith Topping-Brooks, 47, started painting animals 25 years ago as a sideline while working as a graphic artist for Sports Authority. She studied graphic design at Florida Atlantic University but always enjoyed painting as well. After moving to Denver from Florida in 2003, she got a studio space in the Santa Fe Arts District and became more serious about doing pet portraits.
“I started doing shows and got lots of commissions,” she said. Then in 2011, she opened a boutique selling pet food, toys and accessories on Old South Gaylord Street, which has to be one of the pet-friendliest retail zones in Denver. Down the block from her is Wash Bark daycare and spa, while Heavenly Dog, a wash and grooming business, is around the corner.
Topping-Brooks’ studio is in the back of the boutique, where her two adopted dogs, Nakita, a 10-year-old cattle dog-shepherd mix, and Bella, a year-old cattledog-Basenji mix, keep her company.
But the store’s mascot, and the subject of a large unfinished portrait hanging on the store’s back wall, is a 17-year-old calico cat named Kieko.
“She’s a legend in the neighborhood,” said the artist, noting the boutique’s Instagram account (@lilangelpetboutique) is full of photos of Kieko posing with customers. “She loves all people and dogs, but not other cats.”
Topping-Brooks works in acrylic and her portraits tend to have brightly colored backgrounds (which customers can weigh in on) and are in an abstract style, focusing on the animal’s face. She does about six paintings per month. Prices are typically $120 to $550. She also shares her knowledge with budding artists, hosting pet portrait classes at the store about every six weeks (check under “events” on the website). Meredith Topping-Brooks, Lil’ Angel Pet Boutique, 1014 S. Gaylord St., Denver, 303-777-0224, lilangelpetboutique.com
Art as the next chapter
When Andy Mallen, now 65, started her career as an artist nine years ago, she was a blank canvas.
“I didn’t know an acrylic from an oil, a flat brush from a round brush.” But she applied herself to learning the mechanics as well as pushing her creative side just as she did during the decades she spent in corporate America managing creative teams in marketing and advertising before losing her job in 2009 during the recession.
“I had an appreciation for art, since my mom was a hobbyist artist,” she said. “I figured that since I now had time, I’d take an art lesson.”
That led to private lessons, involvement in the Art Students League and making the main subject of her work one of her favorite creatures: dogs. A certified dog trainer and volunteer at the Denver Dumb Friends League, she painted work that was good enough to be exhibited at DDFL and donated art to pet charity benefits, broadening her audience.
“I just decided to throw myself into it not knowing any differently,” she said of her second career.
Mallen credits Denver artist Michael Dowling with helping her develop her talent. She works in two styles: realistic and one she calls “Playful Petrayals,” which is more whimsical. But she’s intent on trying to portray the dog’s personality.
“I lie on the floor and look into their eyes to always get some aspect of realism. I never want to abstract the eyes,” she said.
She also paints cats, birds and rabbits. And when painting in her home studio, she’s accompanied by three dogs of her own, all adopted. Mallen refers to her cattle dog mix, Tara, 14, as her “soulmate,” noting the canine has a “grateful, sweet disposition.”
Then there’s Macy, a beagle mix who’s 7 years old, and Annie Blue, 5, an Australian shepherd she got from Summit Dog Rescue in Boulder. Mallen works in oil and acrylic, and prices range from about $225 to $1,200.
Andy Mallen, canvas canines.com, andy@ canvascanines.com A painting of a mixed breed dog named Pinatubo, named after the volcano in the Philippines near where he was found, by pet artist David Kennett.