The Story Behind Gilli’s Portrait
The photos above show Gilli’s Life Story Portrait portrait just before framing, photographed at a slight angle with my pencils for scale. These close-up shots help bring out the natural textures of the pencil work.
Vivian, based in Hong Kong, got in touch to commission a very special birthday gift — a pencil Life Story Portrait portrait of her friend’s cat, Gilli. She had taken a fantastic set of high-resolution reference photos, which really made the drawing process a joy.
Vivian had a clear vision for the portrait, so we worked closely together by email, refining the composition with a few different layout mock-ups until we landed on the perfect design. I love collaborating like this to ensure every portrait is tailored to the client’s wishes.
Vivian also had a custom handmade stand created for displaying the portrait once framed. Scroll down to see more photos! This was a truly lovely piece to work on.
