There’s something truly special about creating a piece of art that holds deep personal meaning for a client. Through my work as a wildlife artist, I’ve had the privilege of working with many different clients to bring their vision to life through bespoke wildlife art commissions. Each painting follows its own unique journey, and I’d love to share the story behind a recent one: a surprise gift featuring the elusive wolverine.
A SPECIAL GIFT FOR A FRIEND
Early in 2025, I was approached by a client in the USA who was searching for a unique and thoughtful gift – a bespoke wildlife art commission for a dear friend. The chosen subject was the fascinating, and often illusive, wolverine. The largest of the weasel family, wolverines look a bit like small bears with their thick fur, dark colours, and long claws. They can be found in habitats stretching from North America, Canada, Russia and northern Europe.
Collaborating with clients to bring their vision to life is one of the most rewarding parts of creating a custom wildlife painting. My client had a particular vision in mind: he wanted the artwork to depict the wolverine in a snowy setting, with beautifully thick fur, and to capture the wonderful facial features and expression in the eyes.
I set about gathering a range of reference photos and put together a number of composition options for my client to review. Through open discussion, we narrowed in on his vision, and I did a second round of compositions for him. Seeing the refined designs, he was so captivated by two of these compositions that he decided to commission both as paintings!
DESIGNING EACH CUSTOM WILDLIFE PAINTING
The two chosen designs offered wonderful contrasts. One portrayed a wolverine purposefully making its way through deep snow, with snowflakes gently falling and a dark forest providing the perfect out of focus background. This particular scene was inspired by a beautiful photograph from the talented wildlife photographer, Tracey Lund. She very kindly allowed me to use her photograph as a reference to draw my artwork from.
The second design captured a different mood: a wolverine standing alert in the crisp, bright snow of a sunny day, its form casting a striking deep blue shadow. The background trees were rendered in a soft, almost bokeh style, ensuring the wolverine remained the main focus of the scene. This image was inspired by an Ondrej Prosicky photograph. I loved the wolverine’s pose in the original photo, but it was set in lush green grass, and so I used my artistic license to depict it instead in a snowy environment.
Both of these custom wildlife paintings were to be A2 in size, affording me lots of scope for detail, especially in bringing the beautiful faces of each wolverine to life.
CREATING THE ARTWORK
As these pieces were commissioned as a pair, I wanted them to feel connected, despite the differing light conditions. By using a consistent palette of colours across both artworks and employing the soft-focus bokeh background style in each, they complement each other beautifully. They were created using my favourite medium – chalk pastels. Pastels worked brilliantly for these artworks, allowing me to create beautiful soft textures for the snow, fur and out of focus trees.
The soft focus of the forest backgrounds and the snow helped to keep the focus on the main subject in the paintings – the wolverines. I drew these in pin sharp focus, going all out on the details to bring their beautiful thick fur and facial features to life. The drawings took several weeks to complete. Once I was absolutely happy with the finished drawings, I sent photos of them to my client for approval. He absolutely loved them!
FRAMING YOUR BESPOKE WILDLIFE ART
Choosing the right framing for your bespoke wildlife art commission is key to really presenting it at its best and ensuring enjoyment of it for years to come. Framing also plays an important role in protecting your artwork. My client opted to use my professional framing service, as he wanted to be able to easily gift his friend the paintings upon receiving them.
We carefully discussed various frame and glass options to complement the artworks. The choice of a beautiful dark wooden frame with a subtle grain provided a classic, elegant look. We selected the mount colours to harmonise with the subtle tones within each pastel painting, keeping them consistent across both pieces so they truly worked as a pair.
For the glass, he chose UltraVue® – a superb quality glass. Its remarkable clarity ensures every intricate detail of the artwork can be fully appreciated without distracting reflections, and its UV protection ensures the pastel colours are preserved over time.
SHIPPING ART TO THE USA
As a UK wildlife artist, I regularly ship my pieces globally. Delivering framed artwork, particularly somewhere overseas like the USA, demands the utmost care and planning to guarantee a safe journey. For this commission, custom-made art shipping boxes were designed for each pastel painting. Both were then securely packed within a reinforced outer box for added protection during transit. This was then shipped out fully insured to my client in the states. The paintings reached my client in perfect condition and I’m pleased to say he was absolutely delighted with both of them!
COMMISSION YOUR OWN BESPOKE WILDLIFE ART
Commissioning a bespoke wildlife art piece is a wonderful journey, collaborating directly with the artist to create something deeply personal.
As a professional wildlife artist, I’m here to guide you through every step of the process. Whether you envision a detailed portrait of a beloved animal or a dynamic scene capturing a specific moment, a custom wildlife painting allows you to own a unique piece of art that reflects your passion and has deep personal meaning.
Find out more about the process, pricing, and size options on my wildlife art commissions page.
To book, simply get in touch and we can start planning your perfect wildlife art commission.
