Low Cost or Do It Yourself Pet Portraits and Dog Paintings

If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen those ads on Etsy or Pinterest where you can purchase a painting of your pet for hundreds of dollars. You may have even been tempted, like I have been, to buy one or check further into it, only to be deterred by the cost of the artist’s work. As an artist myself, I know that their time is valuable and their work is worth it if you have the money to spare. Many of us don’t have that kind of cash lying around for a treasured piece of art.

If you’re a little cash strapped and you’re looking for an inexpensive alternative for some custom pet artwork, either as a gift or for décor for your own home, look no further. This is the blog post you’re looking for! I have 3 low-cost options that every pet-enthusiast will love!

Waterlouge App

(Available on iTunes – $2.99)

This is my favorite app for watercolor dog paintings and cat paintings. It produces high quality watercolor-like images that you can save and email to yourself, then print at an enlarged size without losing the quality. I’ve used this app for framed pictures of my dog paintings, screensavers of my dogs, photo collages, and even custom greeting cards. At $2.99 you’ll be shocked at how much use you can get out of this app. It’s currently only available on iTunes for iPhone or iPad.

Fotor

(Free online editor, Free Mac AppStore Download)

Fotor is my next favorite App for editing photos into creative pieces of art to either print or share. This one is free and easy to use, not to mention fun to lose yourself in it for hours and hours! I like the preset vintage looks. It’s a lot like Instagram, but the quality is good enough to print and frame once you’re finished with the design, plus you can add words and borders to make it even more creative.

In-Store Framed Black & White Pet Portraits

That Fish Place – That Pet Place Retail Store, Monday – Thursday 8:30am-5pm, $14.99 each

Stop by our Groom Room at the Retail Store in Lancaster PA and ask to have your pet’s portrait taken. Someone from the photography department will come down and take a professional photograph, print it on quality photo paper at 5×7 inches and frame it in a black frame with a white mat. All for $14.99 and finished while you shop! You won’t find a lower price anywhere else for a custom portrait of your pet!

Fun, Custom Pet Caricatures by a local artist

thatpetplace.com, Starting at $16.99

Maybe you want a unique family portrait or depiction of your pet, but you just aren’t the artsy type or you aren’t local to our store. A really fun option is a one-of-a-kind Caricature by Neil McMillin, a Central Pennsylvania native, is a caricature artist with years of experience and a particular knack of capturing your pet’s personality in each of his unique illustrations. Neil will create a customized caricature based on your favorite photograph of your current or a passed on pet. Nothing says “alive” quite like a caricature – right? Dogs, especially, are all about FUN and living life in the moment. I think Neil is great about capturing that spirit in his work. If you’re local, stop by one of our events (like Proud Pet day on May 17, 2014), where Neil will be doing his caricatures in person! His prices can’t be beat and he is always donating his time to help local rescue organizations, like Lancaster C.A.R.E.S.!

Whether you’re a chronic DIYer, like me, or you just can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on custom pet artwork you should really try out some of these low cost options if you’d like o have some lasting pieces of art that are more than just pictures. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing with these apps and programs for the purposes of writing this post – I hope you’ll share your creations with me – link to them in the comments!