I have been drawing pet portraits for many years using coloured pencils but now I use pastels which I find brilliant for fur detail and softness. I use the sticks for blending backgrounds and also for a layer of colour before I add in details of eyes and fur with my pastel pencils. 

I draw two styles, one with more natural colours and one that is a bit more vibrant. You can also choose a style of background too or leave the paper blank. 

Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image…

For the backgrounds of the drawings below I have added a nice simple background of distant blurred lights, a style called ‘bokeh’.

You can see above with the blue dog the difference a background can make. 

Also I can embellish a drawing with my 3D paints as seen in the florals on the puppy drawing below.