Pet Portraits

Beverley Courtney draws pet portraits - of dogs, cats, and other pets. She works in graphite, tinted graphite, and coloured pencil.

"I like to be close to animals," says Beverley, "and in drawing a head-study I really get to know the subject well. As the drawing develops I learn more and more about them. I work with Artists' Coloured Pencils because they're such a sensitive medium, now increasingly used by animal artists for their ability to render fine detail - especially fur and feathers - and depth of colour. There's a palette of over 250 hues to choose from - that's why the colouring is so subtle. By building up the colour on the page, you can get all the shades and flecking that make up an animal's coat."

And these drawings are remarkable in that they show almost every hair and whisker. The breeze lifts the soft hairs on a spaniel's ears, the sun glows through the creamy fur of an exotic cat. Water drips from the mane of a collie in a stream. You feel you can reach out and touch the animals, and they each have their own individual character.

"I've lived and worked with animals all my life, so capturing their personality in a drawing is, to me, a natural extension of seeing and handling them," adds Beverley.

"The many hours taken to complete a portrait gives me time to really familiarise myself with the subject - this is why their characters shine through."

Living with several dogs, a cat, hens, and many fish, in the peaceful country town of Malvern in rural Worcestershire, she divides her time between drawing pet portraits and training puppies.

She's known around Malvern as a dog trainer who specialises in building a strong relationship between owners and their new puppies at Puppy School and beyond.

She’s the founder of Good for Dogs! puppy training school and has the delightful position of Puppy School Tutor for Malvern and Ledbury.

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