Home

Custom
Pet Portraits

Realistic pet portraits that you can treasure for a lifetime
How to commission a pet portrait
German Shepherd pet portrait

Welcome!

My name is Mary and I am an Irish pet portrait artist. I live with my husband Niall, and our four rescued cats, in Clare, in the west of Ireland. I love to create highly detailed, custom pet portraits of cats and dogs. These pet portraits can be treasured for a lifetime, thanks to the superb lightfastness of the pencils I use. I also only use acid-free, archival quality drawing surfaces.

Being a proud Mom (servant!), to four rescued cats, I know how much we all love the animals we share our lives with. I can create a beautiful portait of your beloved pet, so you can remember them forever. We all have so many of photos of our pets on our phones, but there is something so life-like, so moving, about a specially commissioned portrait!
close up of a coloured pencil drawing of a German Shepherd Dog

Highly detailed

I love to create highly detailed custom pet portraits, but I can only do that if I have a very sharp, high resolution photo to work from. Ideally the photo of your pet will be well lit (preferably taken in daylight so I can see the true colours), with excellent detail in the eyes and face. If you can send me a few photos, that would be even better. I can then see more of your pet's personality.

custom pet portrait of a saluki dog, wearing a red collar

The eyes have it!

Most of the pet portraits I create are focused on the head and neck. That way I can lovingly recreate your pet's face in great detail and make them truly come alive in their portrait. I particularily love drawing highly realistic eyes, so do try to get a photo which shows as much facial detail as possible. If I can't see it in the photo, I can't draw it.

saluki pet portrait with coloured pencils

Memorial Pet Portraits

Losing our beloved furry companion can be heart-breaking. Remembering and celebrating their life with a realistic pet portrait can help us to remember the wonderful times we shared with them. If you would like to commission a portrait of a deceased pet, you can send me the best photos you have of them and I will do my best to capture their spirit and personality.

custome pet portraits

Remember them forever

I use the very best materials available. The coloured pencils I use are German-made Faber-Castell Polychromos and Swiss-made Caran d'Ache Luminace. They have the highest light-fastness ratings and drawings created with them will last, without fading, when proper care is taken. The finished art-work must never be hung in direct sunlight, and use of UV protecting glass is highly recommended.

Commission a pet portrait

What my clients say...

“When I commissioned Mary to draw a portrait of our Saluki "Stryder", I had a feeling it would be good. But when I saw it for the first time it brought tears to my eyes - it was stunning. It not only captured his beauty, but also somehow his character and soul. Her work and images speak for themselves. I can wholeheartedly, thoroughly recommend without hesitation.”
custom pet portrait of a saluki dog, wearing a red collar
Jonathan Hall
“I just received two portraits from Mary of my beloved cat, San, who is 15 years old and I am absolutely blown away. The level of detail is astonishing - it looks so real, like a photograph. Every tiny feature, from the texture of his fur to the expression in his eyes, is captured perfectly. Seeing it up close, I was struck by how much life and emotion it holds. What makes this even more special is knowing I now have something to cherish forever. San has been with me for so many years, and this beautiful portrait means the world to me. It's more than just a drawing; it's a lasting memory of my loving pet that I will treasure for a lifetime. I can't recommend Mary enough. The skill, the care and passion put into this piece are undeniable. If you're looking for an incredible pet portrait, this is the place to go!.”
personalised pet portrait
Yesom Breen
“Thank you Mary so much, for this amazing portrait of my much loved German Shepherd, Bruno. I was overwhelmed when I first saw his portrait, it was so incredibly life-like! You captured his expression perfectly!! I feel like he is looking back at me from the portrait. I can't stop looking at all the details!! Absolutely amazing! Definitely Five Stars from me - will recommend you to all my friends and family, xx.”
German Shepherd pet portrait
Gerard Brown
photo collage of the artist and husband, with her four rescue cats

How it started…

My love for art started when I was about three years of age.  I can clearly remember spending hours drawing and painting.  I was always asking for little paint sets and I had a blackboard on which I would draw and redraw the same little scene, until I was happy with it.  Yes, I was a perfectionist even at that young age!

Art was my favourite subject in school.  I even did after-school art classes.  In secondary school, we had an end of year art competition each year.  I think I won first prize every year.  When I left school, I went to art college in Cork City (my home town!), but that was a bit of a disappointment to me.  My love for detail and realism was not in vogue and was not appreciated.  There was an emphasis on a more expressive and abstract style.  That was not a direction that I wanted to go in.

How it’s going

In the last few years I have started to rekindle my passion for drawing.  I was surprised and delighted that I seemed to still have it!  In fact, even though I took a long break from art, my drawing ability seems to be better now that it was when I was younger.  I was lucky enough to come across the internationally acclaimed pet portrait artist, Bonny Snowdon, and I joined her academy where I have learned to fine-tune my skills in colour pencil drawing.  

Creating custom pet portraits is now central in my day to day life.  I absolutely love it! It’s wonderful seeing someone’s reaction when they see the portrait I have created of their much loved pet.  

an art studio and photos of the artist
grafix logo

Grafix archival drafting film is one of my favourite surfaces on which to draw. It allows for incredibly fine detail. An excellent choice when your reference photo is well focused and highly detailed.

Visit Strand Framing

If you are looking to have a beautiful, custom frame made for your pet portrait, check out Strand Framing. They are based in West Cork and they offer amazing custom-made frames. I find their online ordering to be simple and straight-forward. Then again, I AM from Cork, so maybe I biased 🙂

Facebook Instagram