German Shepherd Portrait in oils

Welcome to my blog about this German Shepherd portrait who is called Iris. Iris’s portrait is painted in Oils for a returning client from the USA.

German Shepherd portrait Iris – Her life story

Back in January I was contacted by a returning client from the USA. Many years ago I had painted a portrait in pastels of their two Pomeranians. They contacted me again to ask if I would do an Oil Portrait of their one year old German Shepherd called Iris. They asked if I could also paint her as a puppy in the corner too. I was delighted to hear from them again and was really looking forward to painting Iris’s portrait too. My client sent me lots of lovely photos by email so I could choose which would be the best for the portrait. We decided on one that was particularly lovely, a very happy pose. Here is German Shepherd Iris’s story from her mum and dad……..

Regarding Iris, she is a sweetheart. We got her in February 2018 as 10 week old puppy. She was very curious and showed a lot of intelligence early on. She has a true love for humans and especially children. Her second love is her green ball which is either in her mouth or close by. If you are familiar with the Charlie Brown comics or cartoons that green ball is the equivalent to Linus’ blue blanket. Iris loves to walk and explore her surroundings. She is happiest when she is doing a job for her humans. One of her habits is every night she comes upstairs and says goodnight. She then goes back down and lays at the foot of stairs in guard duty. Occasionally she back upstairs to check that we are alright. I really couldn’t be happier with Iris and look forward to spending many years of ball throwing and squirrel chasing with her. 

Work in progress of German shepherd iris

Below is a work in progress of Iris’s portrait. German Shepherds have lovely thick fur which has many different layers and colours. I should know we have a German Shepherd ourselves! The hoover comes out daily! and don’t you just love the mud they bring in :-). I love the thick texture of their coats. Lots of beautiful colours to paint.

Framed German Shepherd Portrait

I just love the frame my clients chose for their painting. The outer edge is black with a large inner edge which is stressed gold. Inside the frame is a small canvas liner/slip. This frames suits the portrait of German Shepherd Iris beautifully. See below my client comments when they viewed the portrait online and then when they received their painting.

German shepherd portrait and client comments

After several weeks building up the lovely layers of fur, Iris’s portrait was finally finished. I really did enjoy painting her and I miss looking at her portrait here in my Studio. It was finally time to pack up the portrait and send it to the USA. It took just 24hrs to reach my client! Once I had finished the painting I posted the portrait on social media and had some lovely responses and comments. Below are my clients comments……….

Clients comments….

Comments when first viewed online…..

Lorraine,

That looks beautiful. You have captured the look in her eyes. Beth and I were speechless when we first saw the picture. 

I received this beautiful feedback on Facebook from my client when she had received her portrait of German Shepherd Iris. Along with a photograph.

Joe and I love the portrait of Iris! You are blessed with an incredible talent! We will put it on a wall with the pastel you did of my Pomeranians……Simply magnificent! I shared this with a German Shepherd Facebook Group I belong to. It received 1.8k reactions, and many commented to ascertain your contact info, which I shared. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Joe, Beth and Iris in Voller Bluite Stehen……

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Iris’s portrait. If you would like to discuss a portrait of your pet, I’d love to hear from you. You can either contact me from my contact page or call me, or message me from Facebook or Instagram.