Love and loyalty: Vail Valley artists offer several options for pet portraits

Mention you have a dog or cat to another pet lover, and, even if you just met them, there’s an instant connection. It might instantaneously become an enthusiastic conversation, chock full of details about the animal’s cutest behaviors and unique personality — along with show-and-tell photos on each of your phones. Our pets play such essential roles in our lives that the strong bond between ourselves and our furry babies often extends to mere strangers who share the experience of unconditional love. That bond is why so many people commission artists and photographers to depict their pets: They truly become our best friends.

“Dogs are the definition of unconditional love,” sais Vail Valley photographer Townsend Bessent. “They’re here for such a short amount of time, relatively speaking, that they deserve to be immortalized.”

He photographs pets both playing outdoors and posing in the studio, the latter of which he considers “fine art portraits,” because they remove any distractions and simply focus on aesthetics. His studio portraits might zoom in solely on a dog or cat’s paws or catch a special reflection off the eye, or even depict a dog’s head in a trashcan, rendered in black and white.

Conversely, he photographs plenty of dogs in environments where they’re most themselves, whether that’s bounding through wildflowers, running with big dogs in the park or following skiing or mountain-biking owners. He might create a huge landscape print where the dog plays a smaller, yet still essential, role in the scene, or shoot closeups of dogs with outdoor backgrounds accenting the photo.

“I take the same amount of care in capturing that dog’s personality as I would with a human,” he said. “You have to know a little background about what makes the pet special to the family or to that person. Then, we spend time interacting with, and getting to know, the animal. Animals are an open book … they show themselves quickly — just like a child, they warm up fast.”

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(Of course, the fact that he can say that means he has the most important credentials: Animals — and kids — trust him.) Like many other commissioned pet artists, he explores common activities clients share with their four-leggeds, as well as visuals they find most adorable, such as when their dog cocks its head, as if hanging on their every word. And, similar to many other artists, his portraits can range from small 5x7s to huge 36×48 or larger pieces.

“Every session we do is different,” Bessent said.

Just as parents love hanging photographs of their kids in their best light, fur-baby parents love seeing reminders of their beloved pets beaming with life.

“Pets are part of our family — especially in Colorado, we are all about our dogs,” said Agostina Zambieri, a Vail Valley artist who illustrates pets through stippling, or utilizing small dots to create an image. “Art is a good way to have them forever. It’s what gives us joy every day.”

Her black-and-white, dotted pet portraits are one of her best sellers.

“The technique captures a lot of detail. It’s also really easy to capture texture, like the hair,” she said. “Also, black-and-white gives a minimalist look, but at the same time, it captures personalities in the dogs. It’s not confusing (as) with color.”

She studies about three to five photos owners provide to capture the essence of the pet and offers 8x10s or up to 16x20s.

“Everything is in the eyes. If I can capture the eyes, I have 80% of the portrait already,” she said.

Other people prefer artists to render their dogs in vivid color, even if it’s not totally photorealistic. Suzanne Schirra, who shows her work at Vail Village Arts, has spent the past 25 years focusing on painting. She employs wildly vibrant colors to highlight pets. Schirra juxtaposes complimentary colors that radiate energy and depth, often translating black fur into shades of blue or golden hair into orange hues. After all, dogs don’t live plain vanilla lives; they express themselves boldly and authentically.

“People like my work because it’s fairly photorealistic, but I don’t use boring colors. I don’t use blacks, browns, greys or beiges,” said Schirra. “I use bright and more vibrant colors because it showcases the personalities. I keep the eyes realistic (using blacks or browns) because that’s the soul of the animal. But dogs are bigger and brighter than boring colors.”

After receiving a photo of the pet — preferably taken at their eye level — she sends a color sketch to clients for approval. Her typical paintings are 36×36, but she’s been known to go up to 60×60. A French bulldog might pop forward from a yellow background, or a greater Swiss mountain dog might look stunning against a red backdrop. She prefers painting just the head and chest of pets, saying that “this is where the personality is,” though she will include the entire body if clients want.

Her clients come from all over the world and include repeat customers, some of whom fill an entire wall with paintings of their dogs, such as an English man who commissioned her to portray all of his sled dogs individually.

Her latest “obsession” emerges through her “Boops” series, comprised of close-ups of dogs’ snouts and mouths. Some include an ear, or one or two of the eyes. The idea came to her after seeing close-ups of dog snouts on the many curated dog photos with which she fills her Facebook page.

About a quarter of her commissions represent dogs who have passed, as a way of memorializing them. Bessent also takes many portraits of elder dogs to preserve the memory of them.

“When dogs are close to the end of life, we want to remember who this creature was in our lives. We’re looking to put these memories on the wall that remind us of them,” Bessent says. “I think that’s the most powerful part of it.”

Whether pets are young, middle aged or old when artists portray them, the key lies in capturing their vibrancy.

David Vincent Gonzales, a Colorado artist represented at Raitman Art Galleries in Vail, infuses movement into his paintings through bright, expressive colors and energetic brushstrokes. The gallery describes his work as “not a static representation of a single moment; rather they are more like living entities with a past, present and future, ever-moving and unfolding.”

He initially captures the energy of the dog and slowly builds up the details.

“The motion and the movement is so important, because it’s life,” Bessent said.

He describes dogs as having a “never-ending love for us,” adding that when he comes home, his two dogs light up the room.

“We share something that’s in common, and that’s life, so it’s really easy for me to connect with that (in dogs). I listen to my intuition and allow myself to follow my gut instinct,” he said. “I focus on capturing the essence and the energy and the life of the animal. … They are mirrors of the self that we’re afraid to express.”

His overall aim revolves around emanating love through his paintings, which is exactly what our pets do: They radiate pure love.