The best results are often achieved if you take photographs especially for the portrait. Please remember that a 'normal' photograph of, say, a labrador's body will produce a head size of about 1" (2-3 cm) which will be low in detail and difficult to develop into a satisfactory result.

Looking at the galleries will show you what works well,. Some people choose to have professional photos taken. This will produce a good basis for the portrait, but with patience and a little thought about the photo you should be able to achieve a suitable image. You may find the following suggestions helpful.

Lighting: · the best light conditions are outdoors, out of direct sunlight, which can bleach colouring and eliminate details in shadows. A bright overcast day is ideal. Flash lit photos are even worse than sunlit subjects.

Positioning: · try to have the camera at the same height as the subject's head, unless a particular effect is preferred. `More detail will be recorded if the camera is close to the subject rather than using zoom. For portraits, try to fill the viewfinder with the head and shoulder, and full body shots should just fill the frame.

Pet Control! Animals are often curious or distracted by cameras, so arrange to have a diversion and perhaps some helper to passify the pet. Since only the animal is of interest, it doesn't matter what else is in the frame by way of arms, hands, legs or stakes, provided none of these obscure the detail to be used (only kidding about the stakes!) Observe the expression of the pet, and try to capture a typical pose e.g. ears alert rather than flat etc. Also, too much tongue protruding is better avoided!

The final painting is dependent entirely on the quality of the original image, so it is fairly important to take a little time to get it 'right'.

Good luck!