A Very Intricate Cat Portrait

I opened my LITDigitalPaintings Etsy shop over ten years ago and have created three hundred and forty custom pet portraits. The competition is fierce since that time because digital art has become so mainstream and the options are limitless. In spite of that it’s always so nice to get a request from a returning customer. And that’s what happened last week. The request was for a cat portrait because they had just lost their pet of eighteen years. Usually the images are primarily of the pet without a lot of background. But this one was very intricate indeed. It would not only include the lovely kitty, but also the sunflowers and leaves surrounding her, as well as whatever else was in the background. I think this portrait required about thirty plus layers to get everything just right. It also doubled the time to do it because each section took twice as long as usual. I still charge the same amount as when the shop opened. Given the time it takes to paint some of these portraits it makes me wonder if it’s enough. But I really don’t do this for the money - it’s a great hobby and keeps me busy. Right after I completed this portrait I got another request from another returning customer. This time it was for a third Labrador puppy being trained to be a service dog. The first one was chocolate, the second was yellow, now this one is black. It’s a cute way to remember each pup. It looks like there may soon become a wall of portraits.