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Pet portraits have never been so easy to create, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence software that can instantly turn a photo of a cat or dog into anything from a Renaissance nobleperson to a celebrity crooner.
However, hand-painted pet portraits are still very much a going concern. The Post talked to four artists whose business is booming, thanks to artistic talent and pet owners who believe only a human can capture the personality of their beloved animal.
Bold choice
Ben Lenovitz has been painting pet portraits for eight years and has a regular gig at the home goods store Fishs Eddy in the Flatiron District.
In a studio there, he paints pets from photos, which are mostly submitted to his website. However, he is available in person, first-come, first-served, in the store from 1 to 4p.m. on Saturdays.
He uses acrylic paints in broad brushstrokes, capturing the pet’s personality in an almost cartoonlike way. He paints on cardboard to make the art seem less serious. Brown is also a good midtone found in many animals’ coats, and contrasts with a light blue background.
“I’ve learned over time that every pet is unique, and how to paint fur better, and to focus on the eyes,” Lenovitz, 34, told The Post in January from Thailand, where he was taking a winter break to study ecological communities. “Most dogs have Resting Sad Face, but when their tongues come out, their eyes look super happy.”
Lenovitz spends about 40 minutes on a painting. “I don’t want to overpaint, and some of my best work is done quickly.” He charges $400 for a framed, 22” x 17” portrait of one pet.
He’s noticed pet owners are becoming “more obsessed,” especially those who got a dog during COVID, then realized “it gave them a whole new love, it became their priority.”
The Battery Park City native never had a pet growing up, and is highly allergic to cats and dogs. “Just their saliva in the air gives me asthma,” Lenovitz said. “But to their owners, they’re the most magic being in their life. I never understood that until now, and I’m a bit jealous of that.”
Fine lines
Amanda Moeckel is a pet portraitist and children’s book illustrator based in Warwick, NY. She cut her teeth doing pet portraits in New York City, and moved during the pandemic.
She works half-time creating custom pet portraits, primarily of dogs (75%) and cats (25%), completing 42 commissions in 2025. This is high-end stuff: She works in acrylic paint, from photos, and spends two to four weeks on each piece.
Moeckel selects the best photos with clients, creates digital mockups in Procreate on her iPad and sends progress photos at the halfway point and before completion, to ensure accuracy of details like facial markings.
She mixes her blacks from blues, reds and yellows to create more dimensional fur. She attributes increased business to a backlash against AI art, with clients seeking authentic, handmade work.
She also conducts live portrait events at stores and veterinary hospitals, creating 15-minute acrylic sketches. Memorial portraits for deceased pets make up a significant portion of her commissions.
“I love when they hit me with a long email, it shows me the love that they have for their pet, and helps me choose the right pose for the portrait, or the right expression,” Moeckel told The Post.
“In the past couple decades, there’s been more of a push for handmade art, and even in the last year or so, AI has brought the conversation to the forefront about what makes good art,” she said.
Moeckel doesn’t feel at all threatened by software trained on other people’s work: “I can’t imagine people wanting to consume art that’s not made by a human. It’s missing the voice and the perspective of a human. All of our accumulated experiences in life are inside our bodies and come out.”
Master class
Hannah Stahl runs Huund, specializing in classical oil paintings on canvas, using Old Master techniques. She has completed over 170 commissioned portraits, and lives in Rhode Island.
Pet portraiture has become her full-time gig, and she always has five to 12 people in line.
“My clients know every expression, every posture, every hair, and I think what they really want is someone to see their dog or cat the way they do,” Stahl told The Post.
She says when people realize their pet won’t live forever, they get motivated.
“Our animals mark these chapters in our lives. A lot of people are like, ‘My dog has gotten me through this divorce, or this heartbreak, or my mother passing,’ ” she said.
AI is driving customers to her because animal owners still want to be part of the long tradition of commissioning oil paintings of royalty, family members and, yes, pets.
“I think my customers appreciate participating in something that isn’t computer-generated . . . I can do a giant, pop art dog for a modern apartment, or a pet that looks like they could be at the foot of a Velázquez painting,” she said.
Her craft relies on “deeply, deeply looking” at the pet. She starts with an anatomical drawing and then adds layers of paint.
“It’s a very slow process, in contrast to AI. The human hand is fixing and refining, until suddenly, something emerges. It’s like the animal breathes or blinks, and people cry. It’s a mysterious process, even to me,” Stahl said.
She was able to capture the muscles and shadows of a leaping terrier called Lucy, because “I knew that dog, so I was able to be around when the dog was being photographed and was aware of getting wonderful morning light.”
“It’s very emotional and there’s a lot of crying when they’re telling me about their dog, or when they get the portrait.”
Hannah Stahl
“People just love their dogs so much, like a child or a best friend,” she added. “It’s very emotional and there’s a lot of crying when they’re telling me about their dog, or when they get the portrait.”
She does cats, too.
“Dogs tell you who they are, their emotions are written all over their faces . . . catching a scent or smiling or panting, there’s a lot going on. I think cats make you work for it a little more, they’re more mysterious. It’s all about the eyes.”
Stahl likes photos that show how slinky a cat is, because “the arching of their back and their tails are really exciting to me.”
Fur is easy to paint: “It’s just light, I don’t get caught up in the details of individual hairs.”
She mixes her black from ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and Van Dyke brown. “It’s like a really deep purple. No matter what color cat or a dog I’m painting, it’s in it.”
Real deal
Victor Andrade is the cofounder of Bondel (“eternal bond”), a family-run business. He contracts with artists around the world who paint portraits from photos, often as memorials. He feels pet owners want something that captures their animal’s personality in a way AI never could.
“Our customers come to us because they hate AI,” Andrade told The Post. “We, as humans, like to feel there’s someone who cares about the work they’re doing, someone is listening to their feedback and allowing unlimited additions.”
The Bondel signature style includes a patterned background that makes the animal pop forward in the plane.
“We make things look different, and people are very emotional about their pets right now,” Andrade said, suggesting that despite financial uncertainty, people will still spend their disposable income on a portrait of a dog that just passed away.
Bondel’s median sales price is $200, but Andrade says they often sell large paintings for around $1,000. He is based in Portugal and has customers in New York and Miami. He is also getting into the Australian market, where, he says, “the dog culture is huge.”
Of his New York customers, he said: “The younger demo thinks of their pets as their children, they’re demanding about details. And they’re great gift buyers.”
