Commissioning a Portrait of My Cat

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Portrait of Pepper
Artist Credit: Yelida Hierro
Many works of art created throughout history are the result of commissions; basically, a patron paid the artist to create a piece of art to their specifications. That system has largely fallen by the wayside, as artists working in the modern age have increasingly understood art to be an expressive work reflecting their individual thoughts and feelings. However, art is still a business and a livelihood, and there are still many artists who are willing to create custom pieces of art for their customers.

I recently had the privilege to commission such a piece of art. I ordered a pen and ink portrait of my cat Pepper from an artist named Yelida Hierro on Etsy. The final result was great; the artist captured the likeness of my cat perfectly and managed to convey her feisty personality, even in a pen and ink drawing.

But, to me, the most interesting part of the process was actually commissioning the drawing. Although I think a lot about art, I don’t actually produce it myself, and it was a mental exercise to make compositional choices about the drawing. The artist asked me to submit reference photos of Pepper, and I thought long and hard about which photos conveyed her personality while also being suitable for a portrait. I sent multiple photos to the artist, and we proceeded to discuss which one would be best for the drawing. After that, the artist sent me multiple updates and allowed me to offer feedback as she worked on the drawing.

Even though I think it’s a wonderful drawing, and it’s very meaningful to me, I doubt that this little portrait of Pepper will go down in posterity as a great masterpiece of art. In my opinion, however, that’s not the point. Any piece of art can be great art if it’s meaningful to you, and that’s one of the wonderful things about commissioning paintings and drawings. While there are certainly other ways to produce masterpieces, I think that the collaboration between an artist and a patron/customer can be a uniquely fulfilling experience that produces a visual meeting of the minds.

Plus, I have to say that there’s nothing more fun than being able to hang a beautiful portrait of your pet on the wall. If you’re interested in commissioning a portrait of your pet, I highly recommend Yelida Hierro on Etsy.

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