Your pet,
your way
Detailed, high quality pet portraits
in acrylic, watercolor, or pencil
We are Taly and Pat Walsh, a wife-husband team offering custom portraits of pets (and other subjects) in a variety of styles. Taly uses acrylic paint on canvas or watercolor, while Pat uses watercolor and/or pencils.
Feel free to request a consultation to discuss your specific needs. Or, if you’re ready to order, simply upload photos of your pet(s) along with any special requests on the order form, and we’ll work with you to make sure you’re 100% satisfied with the final piece. Depending on the size and complexity, the turnaround time is usually 2-4 weeks.
Standard Sizes and Prices
Below are some standard sizes offered (images are examples of actual paintings commissioned). Don’t see a specific size you’d like? No problem! Let us know when you order.
Featured Paintings
Slideshow
Ginger & Ranger - acrylic on canvas, 36"x24" -------------------- Ancilla's beautiful (and incorrigible) pups!
Scooter - acrylic on canvas, 24"x36" -------------------- Scooter is one of a series. His owner, Kay, contacted me after Scooter passed away. We settled on the general colors for the background (aqua) but when I suggested adding some peaches and pinks to brighten it up, Kay agreed. The portrait itself got progressively more detailed through about 10 painting sessions until we were both satisfied.
Elvis eats spaghetti - watercolor on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 18"x24"-------------------- Elvis was our cat at one time. After about 4 visits to the vet, who had to remove balls of lace, string, and other objects from his stomach, Pat painted this humorous picture, now hanging at the vet's office. The luminosity in the painting is achieved by applying many light layers of neutral tint and blues to the surrounding area.
Pup on red pillow - acrylic on canvas, 12"x16" -------------------- My hairdresser Zizi's dog. Closely copied the photo, applied layers of ochre and blues on the white fur for shadows.
Layla - acrylic on canvas, 12"x12" -------------------- Layla passed on and her owner wanted a painting showing her with flowers on a background of ocean, one of their favorite places to be. I loved working on Layla's eyes with her sweet expression, as well as the detail on her fur. The sky went through a few iterations, different paint layers with the clouds and finally "scrubbing" some of the paint off.
Abe - acrylic on canvas, 24"x24" -------------------- A wedding gift. I selected this photo from a bunch of photos, wanting to offset Abe's black fur with the variety of colors and shapes in the water. The stick emphasized Abe's carrying strength, and I painted it coming off the edge of the canvas.
Gus and the bluebonnets - acrylic on canvas, 36"x24" -------------------- A gift from a Mom to her son, who owns Gus and lives in Texas. We decided on a background of a field of bluebonnets. From several photo sources I created a photoshop mockup to show the client before we finally settled on how it might look. I painted the wood frame to set off the nameplate (also painted), adding the tree trunk on the bottom for additional depth.
Lucy - black & white pencil on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 11"x14" -------------------- Lucy is our boxer. Pat took several photos to capture the pose and details. After several sketches, he finalized the drawing on watercolor board. He used several hardnesses of black pencil, progressively darkening some areas, to achieve the shadows, folds and eye depth.
Three dogs - acrylic on canvas, 36"x48" each -------------------- Commissioned as a set. The client and I worked out the sizing based on where the paintings would be hung. The client measured wall area from couch to ceiling and horizontally end to end, and I created a photoshop mockup of where they would hang, including the space between each one. The style is somewhat abstract, with a unifying light blue background and red for the canvas edges.
Buster abstract - acrylic on wood panel, 9"x12" -------------------- Background colors add charm, along with paint-brush "sketch" to capture the folds of Buster's jowls and face. Enjoyed painting on a wooden surface.
Alice - acrylic on canvas, 12"x16" -------------------- Sweet Alice came to Joyce's family as an 8-week old puppy. She's tiny, but I wanted to give the impression of a bold and powerful member of the family.
Potter - watercolor and colored pencil on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 11"x14" -------------------- A dear friend's dog and running companion passed away. Pat and our friend's wife collaborated on this piece as a gift. Pat finalized the drawing on watercolor board. He laid down several paint layers before adding layers of colored pencil (Prismacolor).
Poppy's Angel - acrylic on canvas, 8"x10" -------------------- I took a number of photos and settled on this one to paint. Highlighted the solid black fur in light blues, and offset the cool blues and blacks of the dog with a warm quinacridone gold background.
Mac Daddy - acrylic on canvas, 12"x12" -------------------- Mac is a Bernese Mountain Dog. I added the flowers to enhance his happy, excitable personality.
German shepherd - watercolor and colored pencil on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 11"x14" -------------------- Pat laid down light paint layers before adding several layers of colored pencil (Prismacolor).
The squirrel chase - acrylic on canvas, 24"x36" -------------------- Georgia loves to chase squirrels, so I researched different images of squirrels before settling on this one. We didn't have an exact photo of Georgia that worked, so I created a composite from different photos in photoshop until the client was satisfied.
Doodle - acrylic on canvas, 5"x7" -------------------- Susan's grand-dog as a puppy. She wanted to give family members paintings of him as gifts for Christmas. I painted several - each was a little different.
Quirky doggy - acrylic on canvas, 8"x10" -------------------- I took several photos of this little guy and captured one with this great expression. Introduced many colors in his fur for detail and depth.
Dallas, Cambridge, Toby and Jazz - acrylic on canvas, 24"x36" each -------------------- These beautiful dogs had all passed on when Kay asked me to paint them. She wanted them hanging in her large kitchen, and she took several photos of the space for us to work out the best placement together. We finally decided that above the cabinets would set them off well. I wanted to give them an abstract feel while capturing their individual personalities. Once the paintings were complete, I added the dogs' names in fluid acrylic.
Abstract doodle - acrylic on canvas, 12"x16" -------------------- I kept this painting loose and fresh.
Buster on couch - acrylic on canvas, 24"x48" -------------------- This is our boxer-mastiff dog Buster. He's 120 lbs. of lovable pup - a great model, with his droopy jowls and funny expressions.
Rudolph and Stuart - acrylic on canvas, 24"x24" -------------------- The photo of these two beagles lying in the shade was already terrific, I made a few adjustments to the grass and background but kept their poses true to the photo.
Boyd - acrylic on canvas, 36"x24" -------------------- The client provided a photo of Boyd similar to what you see here, and I added the leaves and water in the background for additional color and interest.
Coco 2 - acrylic on canvas, 5"x7" -------------------- I wanted to create an image of Coco the poodle in an abstract style that still got across her beautiful eyes and expression.
Mona Daisy - acrylic on canvas, 10"x12" -------------------- Worked on capturing Daisy's sweet, wise Mona Lisa look. I added the background colors to set off her coloring.
Buster Boy - acrylic on canvas, 10"x8" -------------------- Our dog Buster is a great model, and he has many different expressions. I painted him in a slightly abstract style while still retaining the detail of his eyes and jowls.
Bear family - acrylic on canvas, 48"x36" -------------------- A mix of realistic and abstract styles, using a number of different techniques. The background is spray-painted in several bright colors over cut-out paper stencils. The large bear in the foreground somehow "appeared" and I ran with it, adding the shadow bear behind her and the babies. The wavy shapes in front of the bears were brush-painted at the end.
Buster - black & white pencil on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 11"x14" -------------------- Buster is our 120 lb. boxer-mastiff. He has some wonderful expressions. Pat finalized the drawing on watercolor board. He used several hardnesses of black pencil, progressively darkening some areas, to achieve the shadows, folds and eye depth.
Two cats - acrylic on canvas, 16"x12" -------------------- From a few photos of the two cats I created a composite to include the cat bed. The eyes were so much fun, so different. I added the background blue and abstract sun to set off the colors of the cats.
Bella - acrylic on canvas, 36"x24" -------------------- The photo I worked from was similar to the painting, but I wanted to keep the style fresh and somewhat abstract.
Daniel's dogs - acrylic on canvas, 20"x16" -------------------- I started with a photo of the two dogs. They love hiking Nevada trails, so I added the forest scene.
Cooper - acrylic on canvas, 36"x24" -------------------- Cooper, a black lab, had passed away. His owners wanted a memory of him on the Hawaiian beach where they used to live. They provided several photos of Cooper and I worked with them on the pose and the composition, mocked up in photoshop before beginning the final on canvas.
The wedding - acrylic on canvas, 24"x36" -------------------- A wedding gift - the couple wanted a somewhat quirky approach (rather than traditional wedding pose), with their cats. The ginger tabby doesn't pose well for photos, but I thought the pose worked for the painting. Added gold and the archway to set off the couple more effectively.
Beagle - watercolor and colored pencil on cold-press (textured) watercolor board, 11"x14" -------------------- After initial sketches, Pat drew the final image on watercolor board, applied several light layers of watercolor, and finished the eyes and other details in colored pencils.
Three donkeys - acrylic on canvas, 16"x12" This was an alternate painting to one I had a commission on - I wanted to focus in on the donkeys' faces and the wood texture.
Cat in snow - watercolor on watercolor paper, 9"x12" -------------- Retained the color of the paper for the snow and white fur, while focusing in on the eyes and fur details.
Horse in Spring - watercolor on watercolor paper, 9"x12" -------------------- Photo shot during one of our hiking trips near Sperryville, VA. Light washes of green, pink, yellow ochre and umbers, then added more intense color for details.
Wild doodle - acrylic on canvas, 12"x9" -------------------- Background uses acrylic pour and palette knife to accentuate the action pose. Background colors echoed in the dog's fur, especially the chest and ears.
Horse and foal - acrylic on canvas, 24"x24" -------------------- Retained some transparency in the mother's head for style.
Baby's room animals - acrylic on canvas, 16"x20" each -------------------- Stylized with a textured white background.
Josh's cats - framed watercolor on cold-press (textured) watercolor paper, 24"x18" -------------------- Worked from a number of photos. Several painting sessions went into capturing the detail on the fur as well as the background.