Annick Svistovski’s cats wander about the room nonchalantly as Svistovski sits at her desk ready to begin work on her latest pet portrait.
The felines, of which there are three, have yet to be painted by the artist and no doubt hope by hanging around they might, perchance, get a portrait of themselves.
Purry Styles (a.k.a. Pea), Montgomery (or Monty), and Smokie are on her list, but the self-taught artist has yet to find the time as she’s too busy working on paintings of other people’s pets.
Svistovski, 29, had always been artistically inclined, sketching and painting since her high school days.
She would hone her talent by painting scenes from her favourite films and TV shows.
After graduating from high school, Svistovski started working at the Winnipeg Art Gallery conducting workshops for children and visitor tours.
Her time there exposed her to different artistic styles and gave her the impetus to expand her repertoire.
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“It helped me learn about the creative process and understand how people respond and react to a work of art,” she says.
She started painting pet portraits as gifts during the pandemic after her friend Lauren requested a painting of her two dogs, Bailey and Baloo, and found herself enjoying the process.
For a long time Svistovski didn’t feel she was ready to take on commissions. Then, in June 2023, she began posting her animal portraits on her Instagram account @notamorningperson_wpg and discovered a host of people all wanting their pets to be painted.
“People love their pets so much. We don’t have as much time with our pets and people want them immortalized,” she says.
Annick’s house cats, such as Hawkins here, love to hang around while she works. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
So far Svistovski has only painted dogs and cats, although she says she is open to painting other animals and hopes she will get the chance to do that soon.
She paints from photographs for reasons of accuracy — “I could try painting in real time but I don’t think pet sitting would be as precise” — and works from a selection of high-resolution digital images which pet owners send to her.
Monty the cat looks on as Annick works. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
She digitally manipulates images to clearly identify colour contrasts and texture variations in animals’ fur, before sketching out the outline in pencil.
Pictures cannot be pixelated as she requires clarity in order to create her detailed portraits.
In order for the painting to be as close as possible to the real deal, Svistovski starts with a dark base, similar to the undertones in the fur, before beginning to layer lighter tones on top.
Peaches checking out some of Annick Svistovski’s work including a self-portrait of herself. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
“I like people to choose their own pictures and a lot of times the ones they choose will have a lot of their animal’s personality. It’s surprisingly easy to capture their disposition just from the photo,” she says.
The watercolour portraits take anything from eight to 20 hours, depending on the level of detail required. She usually works on one pet portrait at a time and says dogs are far easier to paint than cats due to nuances in feline features and expressions.
Annick Svistovski currently paints cats and dogs only but is hoping to be able to paint other pets. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press)
Portraits come in two sizes — 6-by-8 inches or 9-by-12 inches — and pricing depends on the level of detail and time involved. She says she wants her prices to remain accessible as she believes everyone deserves to have a portrait of their pet painted.
“I would love to be able to make a living off the things that I create and the things that I am passionate about, but at the same time I am not in any rush to try and make it a chore. I am very happy with the balance I have going right now.”
av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
AV Kitching
Reporter
AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press.
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