Hey, First name / friends!

There's one motif that I always come back to again and again - animals! I've been an animal lover my whole life, so the subject is close to my heart. And animals just so happen to sell really well when it comes to art licensing. It's a win-win! 

 

We've done animal challenges in the past, but today I want to make it a little more personal!

This week, your challenge is to draw your pet (or any animal you love!). Pet portraits are a fabulous way to capture your furry friend and honor them as part of your family. They also make great gifts for your loved ones.

 

Pet portraits are also a hot commodity for custom commission work. If you want to explore additional income streams in your art business, offering pet portraits could be a great option!

 

At the end of last year, I got really into drawing funky, stylized pet portraits for my family and friends. I got them printed on products and they made the perfect gifts for the holidays!

 

The dog = Luna 🌙 (for my parents). The bunny = Tupelo 🎵 (for my sis-in-law). The cat = Pollo 🐓 (for myself).

 These were so much fun to draw, so I put together a blog post walking you through the process of creating your own unique portraits step-by-step.

Even though I don't have pets of my own (it's difficult to travel with them), I got verrrrrry attached to my neighbor's cat, Pollo, in Costa Rica and I knew I had to draw her. Pollo spent 90% of her time lounging in my living room watching me work on my laptop, so over the few months I spent there last year, she and I formed a special bond. 🩶

If you're like me and don't have a pet, you can draw a family member's pet, choose an animal reference image from somewhere like unsplash.com, or even pick an internet-famous animal to draw!

 

I can't wait to see your pet portraits. Please make sure to share your work on Instagram and tag me in the post so I can like, comment, and share it!

Here are some of the incredible submissions from last week's challenge. Don't forget to use the hashtag #CreateWithCatCoq and tag me @catcoq for a chance to be featured in this newsletter and on my Instagram stories.

Have a fabulous week!