Pet artists in residence

Who knew pet portaiture would be so popular?

East Dallas neighbor Suzy Moritz works with oil, acrylic, pen and ink, and watercolor. Moritz has been a pet artist since 2005. The Pekingese pups in this portrait, Princess and Duke, are neighborhood dogs and some of the first Moritz painted. “I’ve done hundreds. I started doing this to make a living, and they’re so in demand. It’s just a miracle.”

SUZYMORITZFINEART.COM

Neighbor Kristen Druckenbrodt started digital artistry in 2012. “This hobby is the result of my effort to capture the inner beauty and spirit of our Australian shepherd, Rebel, and keeshond, Abby. Photos are fine, but they rarely possess a ‘wow’ factor. I wanted to create a work of art that captured the unique qualities that I loved about our dogs.” Druckenbrodt began creating pet portraits for family and friends earlier this year.

KCD-DESIGNS.NET

Neighborhood artist Christine Carey sometimes dabbles in pet portraiture, such as when she painted this picture for her neighbors, Bob and Melanie Richie, of their turkey, Stella. “They were going to feed out their birds and have them for Thanksgiving. Melanie’s bird didn’t survive. Thanksgiving came and went, and Bob’s turkey, Stella, was still around. Bob was telling everyone about how sweet his turkey was. He couldn’t do it.”

FACEBOOK.COM/JACKASSFLATSART

Neighbor Rebecca Collins became a digital artist in 1998 while playing around with a photo of her dog, Atticus. Right away, she realized she could do this for other people. “It’s a wonderful niche market. It really is, and it’s a diehard fan base. Even when the economy was bad, I never saw my sales go down because people continue to want to spend money on their pets. More and more, dogs and cats are a part of the family.” This painting of Prada the pug is one of Collins’ favorite client pieces.

ARTPAW.COM