The Artist Series: Luke Jervis

Marley, my Portuguese Waterdog sitting on his couch next to his portrait

Dogs: best friends of humankind. How can one put love for their animals into words? Maybe it can't be done, but perhaps it can be painted.

During my quest to find the perfect dog portraits for a special birthday present, I encountered quite a few artists. It was not easy finding the right one. One day, my coworker recommended Luke Jervis. I saw his website and immediately knew that he was the artist: charming paintings with a dash of humor.

I contacted Luke, excited to commission my first work of art (ever!) Within a day, we were emailing back and forth about how to dress the Italian Spinonis, Leo and George. What Luke delivered in the end surpassed my expectations.

I hope that you enjoy reading about the process and the biographical sketch of a talented, predominantly self-taught artist. 

Working with Luke

From the beginning of the process, Luke directed me as to what he would need from me and how we would proceed. 

Step 1: Talk about the overall vision of the portraits and give him a time-frame. 

Step 2: Gather research and email photos of the dogs.

How does one dress dogs? I knew that I wanted them to be indisputably English. I started looking at photographs of English royalty, and it was not long until I came upon some ideas. I sent the images to Luke along with photos of the dogs.

George, the Italian Spinoni from England 

Leo, the Italian Spinoni from England

The Spinoni brothers hanging out in the garden

Step 3: Discuss the proposed research. Look at Luke's ideas. 

Luke sent back his own research: images of classical paintings, to get my opinion. I loved his ideas. We chose outfits together, based on classic portraits.

Step 4: Mockups. 

Within a short amount of time, Luke created mockups and sent them to me through email, using his research and the images that I had sent him of the dogs. After this step, he started working his magic on the actual paintings. 

Step Four: Luke paints. 

Luke sent several updates while I waited for the paintings to arrive, which I thought was courteous and exciting. The following images arrived to my inbox shortly after the process began: 

Leo (in the works)

George (in the works)

Step Five: Sending and arrival of the paintings.

The paintings arrived and were beautifully packaged, as if they had come from the 1800s. I made my coworkers open them with me, so I could share my excitement with others. The gift was incredibly well received!

Below are images of the final portraits:

Finished painting of Leo, the Italian Spinoni

Finished painting of George, the Italian Spinoni

Framed and installed

The entire experience was enjoyable! I commissioned a third portrait of my own dog, Marley (who lives in Utah), for Rab's Father's Day gift. 

Marley, my Portuguese Waterdog

Please enjoy the Q & A with Luke below. I would like to say thank you to the artist for his superb work and for taking time to participate in this blog post.

Q & A With Luke Jervis

Jessica: Where and when were you born? What did you study growing up? Have you always been drawn to art?  How did you start painting?

Luke:  I was born in a tiny village in North Wales, UK. I moved away for 5 years, but now I'm back here for a while. 

I was always the kid who would draw Pokemon for people in Primary school. I used to draw comics and superheroes all the time when I was little, but in Secondary school it was between Art and Computers and since we had really limited choices, I chose computers. I didn't actually study art until I was forced to, because I got kicked out of history class when I was 18, but failed it since it was way too late into the year.

Then I went to college when I was 19 to study art properly. I got a Foundation degree and went on to Demontfort University (in England) to study Graphic Design & Illustration. I got two years into the course without actually painting at all. I was just drawing animals all the time. It was only in the final year, when were given the option to create our own project, that I picked up a paintbrush properly and painted the cover for this Beatrix Potter inspired book I made.

Jessica: What sort of training have you had as a painter? Which artistic styles are your favorite / least favorite to do?

Luke: To be honest, I've had no actual painting training. You'd think studying art for four years, I'd have been taught something, but the classes we're so big, and since it was general 'art' it was mainly life drawing if we were lucky, leaving us to get on with it. It was more about picking things up off other people in the course than being taught by a teacher. But since I started painting so late (three years ago) I've pretty much taught myself everything. I like anything traditional, and I'm really into patterns and detail, so whenever I get to do things like that I'm happy.

Jessica: Please tell us about your business?

Luke: I paint pet portraits for people, but with a bit of a unique twist. Instead of painting the pet as their naked self, I dress them up in Victorian/Vintage style clothing and paint them into a portrait, as if they we're a person back in those times, using high quality acrylic paints on canvas board.

The painting is completed by putting it in an old-style swept gold frame and packaging it in brown paper with string. I love the idea of someone receiving the package and it looking like it's come straight from the 1800s. 

Jessica: How did you come up with the idea to start your business? What was the moment that set your business into motion?

Luke: Well I mentioned that book I did for my final year University project. It all came from that. The book was set in Victorian times in Paris, and main character was a Koala bear, and for the cover, I painted him in a portrait style in a Napoleon-esque military outfit. (one of the first paintings I did).

While doing some research for the book, I somehow stumbled upon a blog called ...LoveMaegan, where I saw she was looking for Victorian style portraits of her two dogs. The post was about six months old at this point, but I emailed her anyway, saying I'd love to do the paintings for her if she liked my work. I sent her the Koala painting and probably some rough ones I did after too. At this point I didn't expect to hear back since the blog was really popular. Then a within a day or two she emailed back, saying she'd love me to do these paintings for her. It must have taken me a couple of months to paint them, since I was still really new to it. Eventually they were finished and I posted them. I quickly created a website (my old website), and she created a blog post all about the paintings with some really nice photos, and the business was born.

Jessica: How would you describe your artistic style? Do you do other types of artwork?

Luke: Definitely traditional, but with a tiny hint of style. I want the paintings to look as charming and original as possible. I love painting landscapes, but still in this traditional style. I'm also really into Watercolours and Calligraphy.

Jessica: What and/or who are your biggest artistic inspirations?

Luke: I've always loved animals, and I love that I get to paint different ones from all around the world. It's more the reaction I get from people when they see the paintings that inspires me. 

But actual artist inspiration: I didn't discover Rembrandt's work until I was about 19, but I remember being being so amazed by it, and I still am. I was lucky enough to see his work in Amsterdam earlier this year. I love any kind of old traditional art, especially paintings of big scenes about greek mythology or ones that tell religious stories in one picture.

Jessica: What is your biggest challenge to overcome as a professional artist?

Luke: Without a doubt, and I'm sure every artist will back me up on this: it's getting your work out there. It's great having social media etc, but at the same time because all other artists use these sites, it is really hard to get your work seen. I've had some success on some websites though, through posting over and over. I'm grateful for that. I guess its just finding out how to use it. It's not as simple as it looks.

Also another challenge for me is sticking to one thing at a time. I always have multiple ideas in my head and half way through a painting, I want to go and start this new idea.

Jessica: What do you hope will be the future of Jervis Pet Portraits?

Luke: I have a lot of plans for it.  I'm thinking of going through a complete rebrand at the moment. I've recently started to sell prints, but I would love to have a bigger selection of these and also T-shirts. I've been working on a number of unique paintings (one being a Racoon Musketeer). I'm going to use for a range of T-shirts and throw Cushions. It's harder because it is just me funding it.  I want the items to be really unique and fresh (even though they are Victorian style haha).

I also love the idea of creating books based on the characters I've painted for prints. It's kind of a reverse of how the business started with the koala painting.

These are all on the side of my Pet Portrait business. I will keep painting pet portraits as long as I possibly can. I love how each one is unique, and I'm always amazed by how much people love them and the compliments I get. I hope I get to carry on with it for a long time to come.

Oh and I've recently just got an order for a painting that is 20" x 24" so I'm sure that will keep me busy for a few months.

Jessica: What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of as an artist?

Luke: Just my whole Pet Portrait company really (if you could call it that, since it is just me). As I mentioned before, it started from nothing  and it makes people happy, and knowing people would like my work hanging up on their walls makes me happy. I'm also proud and love the idea of my work being all around the world in all people's houses. It's pretty crazy.

Jessica: Please add any concluding thoughts, and thank you!

Luke: I think I've gone on enough, and you'll be happy for me to finally end it haha. Thank you so much taking the time to write these questions. They kept me entertained :)

A photo of artist, Luke Jervis

More examples of Luke's work

For more information about Luke and his artwork, see his website: www.lukejervis.com or find him on Facebook 

P.S. Apparently, George is a bit of a Tumblr celebrity now! See here.