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October 14, 2014
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October 14, 2014
Each October, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals honors Adopt-a-Dog Month by raising awareness of overcrowding in local animal shelters and encouraging households to welcome a new four-legged friend into the family.
While portrait artist Caroline Boudreaux doesn’t have the means to adopt every dog she meets, she does her part to celebrate their life and preserve their memory on her canvas.
The 27-year-old Houma native has been painting for as long as she can remember — watercolors, sketches, pencils and any other medium she could explore. She loves art and has made it her career, both in and out of the office.
“It’s really just been a part of my life for so long,” Boudreaux said. “I like making things that are pretty to look at.”
It was always clear that Boudreaux had talent. But one portrait, in particular, started getting attention — a portrait of a dog. Painting pet portraits began by chance when Boudreaux created one as a gift for a friend. When she posted the portrait online, it solidified her spot among her social circle as the pet portraitist.
“The first one I did was probably about six years ago when I did one for a friend as a gift,” Boudreaux said. “I posted it to Facebook and that got people wanting them for their own.”
Boudreaux’s pet portraits feature dogs and cats with close-up details and splashes of color. The portraits sit on brightly colored backgrounds or light auras of watercolor; and while they seem somewhat abstract, they form a cohesive image that attracts the eye. The animals are stoic, soft and elegant, almost like people looking at you from the formed photographs of paint.
Compared to portraits of people, Boudreaux finds the pet portraits much easier to paint. She works with photographs provided by the owners. Through numerous amounts of photographs, she can better feel the personality of the animal and discover its best angle.
“Doing people is a lot tougher,” Boudreaux said. “It takes a little more time, especially in the beginning. Just to get someone’s face is a little challenging.”
The pets featured in Boudreaux’s portraits display a light, fun feeling, showing a sort of smile and sparkle in the eye of the featured animal. Some are painted with mixed colors and blotches of paint, while other watercolor pieces provide a soft, sweet feeling to the onlooker. It’s a light, playful side to see compared to her more somber, serious pieces displayed among her work on social networks like Instagram and Facebook.
The use of social media has proven to be a successful motivator and has encouraged her to try new things concerning her art while aiding in the evolvement of her style.
“My style is changing constantly,” Boudreaux said. “I’ve been doing more painting, and I do see a lot of changes in my work.”
Boudreaux has completed countless portraits of dogs and cats; and while it would prove challenging, she wouldn’t mind trying a portrait of a bird or any other animal. Her process is generally the same, as with any other piece, where she does several sketches until she has drawn the perfect one.
“I try to plan it out the best I can,” Boudreaux said. “Usually, I have a vision, but it hardly ever looks like how I thought it would. That’s art to me — you can try to plan it as much as you like, but it will become what it wants.”
The pet portraitist chooses her words carefully, and isn’t one to ramble — her art speaks plenty. Her talent ranges from darker, more serious portraits to playful puppies. The art is buried deep within her and will only continue to grow. From work to home, art will seemingly always be a part of Boudreaux’s life.
“I hope that eventually I can have solid body of work to show in a gallery,” Boudreaux said. “I’d love to make more art that I want to make and get stuff together for a show or exhibition — I would love that.”
To see more of Boudreaux’s work, visit www.ilovecaroline.com, where she can also be commissioned to paint portraits.
— living@rushing-media.com
Portraitist Caroline Boudreaux (at left), a Houma native, captures the personalities of clients’ four-legged friends on her canvas.
