My top 3 tips for picking reference photos
The photo you pick is the foundation of your portrait. Choose photos that best represent the subject's character and personality. Taking time in choosing a great photo is going to be worth it!
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Light​ing
The best portraits are drawn from well lit photographs, ideally taken in daylight - outside or near a window, where the subject is facing towards the light.
This allows for all the detail to show clearly and represents the natural colouring of the fur, eyes etc.
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If possible I would advise against using flash when taking your photos, as this can wash out the colours and details, as well as cause an unnatural reflection in the eyes.
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Clarity
It is best to use a digital camera but using a phone camera can be just as good.
Make sure the subject is fairly close up, and that the image is in focus, sharp and not blurry when zoomed in.
Photos taken from a long distance won't make great portraits in most cases, as when zoomed in, all the detail is lost and the image becomes blurry. You can see this in the examples below.
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Eyes
Unless you'd like your pet drawn sleeping, or with a particular expression where the eyes are closed,
the eyes are usually the most important part of the portrait and make the artwork come to life.
Taking your photos at eye level of the subject and making sure the eyes are clear and in focus, without flash reflection when possible, will make for the best results.
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In case of memorial portraits when you only have limited photographs to choose from, or if you are unable to take new photos for any reason,
the above is only a guide of what works best , from my own experience
but I will always be happy to help and will do my best to work with what we have available!
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Example of a good reference photograph,
taken at eye level of the kitten, near a bright window,
showing true colouring of the eyes and fur.
When zoomed in, the eyes and nose are sharp and clear with great amount of detail visible.
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Below you can see some common mistakes:
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photo taken from too far away and blurry when zoomed in
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photo taken with flash, washing out the colour and detail, creating an unnatural reflection in her eyes and sharp artificial shadows
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photo taken in bad lighting.
![[000123].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/326db0_35dfaa089cdd406a9b9cb1ff12441e18~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_251,y_433,w_1450,h_1902/fill/w_194,h_254,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5B000123%5D.jpg)
![[000099].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/326db0_8f005538b3d74558be3275cbb8479801~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_182,y_46,w_1090,h_1241/fill/w_223,h_254,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5B000099%5D.jpg)
Another example of a good photo,
taken at eye level of the dog,
outside, on an overcast day, with no sharp sunlight or intense shadows.
It shows true colouring of the fur, and captures dog's personality.
Again, when zoomed in, the eyes and nose are sharp and clear.
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Some more examples of common problems below:
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at first glance, a nice photograph, but because it's taken from too far away, becomes blurry when zoomed in
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again, a zoomed in photo that was taken from too far, in direct sunlight, making it difficult to work out all the detail
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photo taken in bad lighting using flash.
