Pet Portraits Studio and Materials – Behind the Scenes

Our Custom Garden Studio

We have been in business since 1996, and for years we worked from whatever room we could — a spare bedroom, a corner of the house, anywhere with space. In March 2014, we finally converted our 20 x 14 foot workshop into a full-time studio.

It's tucked away in a peaceful wooded part of our garden, away from the cottage and lane — a perfect, quiet spot for work. We had builders insulate it top to bottom, install floorboards, tongue and groove walls, double glazing, and a triple-layer felt roof.

With a heating system too, it's warm and cozy year-round — pure bliss.

Melanie's Pencil Portrait Workspace

We have created a lovely work environment that suits us both. It's taken me a while to get my area just how I wanted it. I envisaged being surrounded by lots of plants and greenery with shelving where I had access to keep my art materials and packing, which I am managing to achieve as you can see.

I use a tilted drawing desk. The plan chest holds all of my paper and I have a little unit behind my chair with all of my pencils in. Under the worktop there is more storage.

Having a setup that works well not only to look aesthetically pleasing but to also work well for daily use is really important.

Nicholas's Oil Painting Station

Nicholas prefers to stand at his easel and I snapped this photo while he was just looking at Lily, it was a complete fluke that I caught the moment between them just right. His oak kitchen trolley holds all of his oil paints, brushes, and mixing tools.

It's the perfect height for keeping everything he needs there while painting. It even has a kitchen roll holder, perfect for cleanup! You can also see all of his lighting around him along with being right next to the window so it's a lovely light space and environment for him to work.

It's a simple but efficient layout that he loves.

Working from Reference Photos

Nicholas uses a few different ways to view reference images while he paints. It depends on the subject and how complicated the commission is. Sometimes he prints photos and sometimes he uses his iPad.

The iPad is fairly old now as it goes onto a special iPad mount which you can't seem to buy anymore. So let's hope our iPads last another few years yet! It's mounted to a beam so keeps everything at eye level.

Every part of the studio is designed to make the creative process as smooth as possible.

Art Studio Features

We have tried to design our studio in such a way that we have different work stations for different tasks. Obviously we each have a drawing and painting area with space around us to spread out for larger projects. We have each worked on larger canvases and drawings up to 40" x 30" so space is required when we are working on projects like these.

The packaging desk is another hugely important area. We need space to spread out the packing materials and make sure the area is clean for packing the portraits.

Then our office area is also an important place, as it's where we do the mock-ups, chat to clients and of course design and maintain the websites and socials.

We have another section of our studio that is dedicated to workout equipment that is not pictures. We have a large running machine, a cross trainer and a rowing machine. Along with numerous weights and kettlebells. Time is always short in our lives and they absolutely should be used more... work is always busy!

Complete Studio Features

Our studio is designed to handle every aspect of creating pet portraits, from initial sketches to final photography of completed works.

Our clients are always welcome to visit our studio. When customers collect their paintings or drawings we usually have a cuppa in our cozy cottage and then head down to the studio for the big reveal.

If clients would like to visit, please let us know and we can arrange a time. We always love meeting our clients!

Studio Life with Lily

Lily has plenty of beds in the studio, although she does love this rug. She not only has lots of beds in the studio she has a bed in every room of the cottage pretty much! She is very well looked after and quite content as you can see.

She will happily sleep on just about anything. When we open packaging from art materials she is the first to sleep on the cardboard. Leave a jumper on the floor and within minutes, she's claimed it.

With a Tibetan Terrier, nothing is truly yours. If it's soft and unattended, it's hers! She keeps us company wherever we are and always finds the coziest spot in the room.

Studio Life in Spring and Summer

When the spring and summer weather arrives, we make the most of it by having breakfast and lunch out in the garden, just outside the studio. It's a peaceful spot, shaded by trees that provide beautiful dappled light.

The birds and wildlife love it just as much as we do. Not to mention the chickens in the garden who often come and see us for leftovers if we let them out of their pen.

It's the perfect setting for a quiet break and a reminder of how lucky we are to work where we do.

The Complete Renovation Process

Here are just a handful of the hundreds of photos we took during the renovation process of our studio, which took about nine weeks from start to finish. The shed was a general purpose Workshop Shed that we bought locally. As you can see from the first photos it was bare bones. We had builders to renovate for us who employed electricians, plumbers and a specialist carpenter who did all our interior cladding beautifully.

The first job was to insulate and lay a proper floor. We used Sellotex on the walls and roof, slotted in between the shed structure so we didn't loose any actual shed space. We had to plan where we wanted the writing, plugs, sink etc at this point so they would wire everything in before the cladding went on.

You can see the start of the cladding in the second photo. We were originally going to just have large sheets of hardboard and one feature wall of tongue in groove, but as it started to develop we loved the look and opted for tongue in groove for the whole of the inside.

The Next Renovation Stages

This was the most exciting part for us. Seeing it all start to come togeether properly. New double glazed windows, proper double glazed door with side pannel and our worktop desk starting to form. Lily approved!!

The transformation from bare-bones workshop to professional studio was remarkable. We varnished the floor about four times — it turned out so good it almost felt wrong to walk on it!

Premium Materials and Suppliers

Most of the materials we purchase are from Jackson's Art Supplies, a great UK-based art materials supplier with plenty of choice. They are very reliable and have a fast delivery service.

I'm certain that most artists reading this will have heard of Jackson's. We also use Rosemary & Co, who make the most wonderful brushes — Nicholas uses their Shiraz filberts alongside his Da Vinci Nova brushes and they are both excellent.

It's important to us that every portrait stands the test of time.

Finding the Perfect Paper

After many years of testing professional papers, I now use Arches Aquarelle Hot Pressed — a 300gsm, 100% cotton paper made in France. Although best known as a watercolour paper, the Hot Pressed surface is beautifully smooth and ideal for detailed graphite work.

The smooth surface allows graphite to glide cleanly and predictably, which is essential when building up the fine layers of fur and subtle tonal detail that make a pencil portrait come alive.

It is the difference between a drawing that looks good today and a portrait designed to last for generations.

Professional Tools and Workflow

Every tool we use has been chosen for its quality and suitability for our specific techniques. From pencils to brushes to canvases, nothing is left to chance.

For my pencil work I use a range of professional graphite pencils — Faber-Castell 9000 are my absolute go-to, alongside Staedtler Mars Lumograph, Derwent Graphic, Tombow Mono 100 and Koh-I-Noor. Each has its own character and I mix and match them depending on the stage and detail of the drawing.

Nicholas works with Da Vinci Nova Series 1875 filbert brushes for both detailed and broader work, alongside Rosemary's Shiraz filberts for precision. Every tool is fine-tuned to how he works.

Good tools make all the difference when you are working at this level of precision. Each brush and pencil has its place and purpose — it's all part of the craft.