I am Naomi, the artist behind NRJ Art & Commissions – a small independent business based in Milton Keynes, UK. I am a creative artist with a BA (Hons) in Illustration. I specialise in detailed, hand drawn portraits of pets, wildlife, cars and much more.
Ever since I was little, I have had a passion for animals and art, and it became a recurring theme in my work whilst in education. After graduating in 2016, I took the leap to start my own art business, creating commissions for family and friends.
Four and a half years down the line and I am fortunate enough to still be doing what I love most in life, drawing! It has been a serious learning curve and as any self-employed person will know, there has been many highs and many lows, I am not afraid to admit that.
I have had the most amazing opportunities whilst running my own business! From working with so many wonderful customers, drawing beautiful pets and selling my original wildlife illustrations which are now on the wall in someone’s home. The merchandise I have been lucky enough to create, print, sell and send all over the world.
Being interviewed on BBC Three Counties, exhibiting my artwork with the UK Colour Pencil Society, and exhibiting in a gallery in London. I have lost track of how many indoor and outdoor craft events I have been a part of as well as teaching people of all ages how to draw using coloured pencils.
I will never be able to thank you enough, every day it blows me away and I will be forever grateful for the constant support you all show me. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it gave you an insight about me and my background!
Ever since I was little, I have had a passion for animals and art, and it became a recurring theme in my work whilst in education. After graduating in 2016, I took the leap to start my own art business, creating commissions for family and friends.
Four and a half years down the line and I am fortunate enough to still be doing what I love most in life, drawing! It has been a serious learning curve and as any self-employed person will know, there has been many highs and many lows, I am not afraid to admit that.
I have had the most amazing opportunities whilst running my own business! From working with so many wonderful customers, drawing beautiful pets and selling my original wildlife illustrations which are now on the wall in someone’s home. The merchandise I have been lucky enough to create, print, sell and send all over the world.
Being interviewed on BBC Three Counties, exhibiting my artwork with the UK Colour Pencil Society, and exhibiting in a gallery in London. I have lost track of how many indoor and outdoor craft events I have been a part of as well as teaching people of all ages how to draw using coloured pencils.
I will never be able to thank you enough, every day it blows me away and I will be forever grateful for the constant support you all show me. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it gave you an insight about me and my background!
To put it simply, they are easy to use with not a lot of mess involved. I love the control and precision you can achieve as well as the broad range of colours to choose from. I use Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencils which are high-quality, oil based, acid-free, vibrant, and rich in colour. They are water-resistant, smudge-proof as well as eco pencils as they are made from wood from sustainably managed forests.
Even in school, I remember my art teacher telling me to get away from coloured pencils and use a different art medium. Over the years and whilst in education, I dabbled in a range of mediums from acrylic painting, paper cut art to paint marker window displays. When I graduated, I wasn’t overly happy with my creative portfolio. This was my time to start seriously drawing so I began with random wildlife illustrations.
Over the last four and a half years, I have seen my work develop and change using coloured pencils. I feel more confident using them and I know there’s certain colours I use a lot of, for example, black, browns, yellows, pinks, creams and white.
Even in school, I remember my art teacher telling me to get away from coloured pencils and use a different art medium. Over the years and whilst in education, I dabbled in a range of mediums from acrylic painting, paper cut art to paint marker window displays. When I graduated, I wasn’t overly happy with my creative portfolio. This was my time to start seriously drawing so I began with random wildlife illustrations.
Over the last four and a half years, I have seen my work develop and change using coloured pencils. I feel more confident using them and I know there’s certain colours I use a lot of, for example, black, browns, yellows, pinks, creams and white.
My pet portrait prices range from £65 to £300+ depending on the size. I strive for luxurious yet affordable artwork from pet portraits to fine art prints of my work. Custom sizes are also available, just ask me for a quote!
This is something I am frequently asked. Like anything in life, it takes time and practice. An A4 drawing back in school would take me forty hours to complete! An A4 portrait now can be anyway from fifteen to twenty-five hours depending on the subject. That might not seem like a long time but that’s with ten years of drawing experience behind me now.
Certain pet breeds and animal species take me longer to draw because of the layers of colours involved. Not to mention, the size of the pencil strokes that can also take longer. For example, a shorthaired black dog could have seven maybe eight layers of dark greys and browns before I add the black coloured pencil.
Also, as a one-woman band, I can’t just sit drawing for ten hours of my day as much as I would love to! I have to be the admin administrator, editor and graphic designer, social media executive, customer liaison, personal accountant, as well as the chief tea maker.
Certain pet breeds and animal species take me longer to draw because of the layers of colours involved. Not to mention, the size of the pencil strokes that can also take longer. For example, a shorthaired black dog could have seven maybe eight layers of dark greys and browns before I add the black coloured pencil.
Also, as a one-woman band, I can’t just sit drawing for ten hours of my day as much as I would love to! I have to be the admin administrator, editor and graphic designer, social media executive, customer liaison, personal accountant, as well as the chief tea maker.
To be honest I find blank, white paper quite daunting. I use Daler-Rowney Pastel Paper which come in three different shades of beige. I choose a shade based on my subject matter, a white dog for example will be drawn on darker beige paper. This Pastel Paper also has a wonderful, lined texture which is visible in my original drawings as well as in my Fine Art prints.
Wildlife photographers are incredibly talented and without them, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. I use a company called Wildlife Reference Photos.com who are a family run business. I buy the Royalty Free License for animal photographs which supports the photographers for the amazing work they do. It also allows me to create coloured pencil illustrations, reproduce the original drawing as prints and other merchandise as well as exhibit my work without the worry of copyright infringements.
To be honest, I put so much time, love, and detail into my illustrations, I would not want a background to take the focus away from that. It allows the pet portrait or wildlife illustration to really speak for itself and it has become a recurring theme within my work.
In my spare time, I love getting up close and personal with wildlife to study my subjects from Bird of Prey experiences to walking with alpacas. I also volunteer with the Parks Trust at their Litter Picking events because it is important to look after our planet. I am heavily inspired by the natural world and you may not know this, but I am a keen certified PADI scuba diver. I learnt back in 2012 and I have scuba dived in the waters of Mexico and Cyprus.
Whilst I was in University, I based a lot of my projects on animal issues. I also wrote my dissertation on Animal Activism and how art can play a huge part in it. As a wildlife artist today, I am extremely passionate about conservation and raising awareness about the surrounding issues many species face today. It is my privilege to work with animal charities and help to protect and preserve our natural world through illustration.
Whilst I was in University, I based a lot of my projects on animal issues. I also wrote my dissertation on Animal Activism and how art can play a huge part in it. As a wildlife artist today, I am extremely passionate about conservation and raising awareness about the surrounding issues many species face today. It is my privilege to work with animal charities and help to protect and preserve our natural world through illustration.
I loved flicking through Animal Encyclopedia’s as a child. Maybe it is the scientific Illustrator in me, but I would like to think of my work as educational, including Animal Species names as well as being aesthetically pleasing.
Another frequent question that I am asked, and I get it, mistakes do happen. Especially when we are talking pencils and paper, it is inevitable and a massive part of the creative process. I work in layers starting from light to dark to ensure fur, for example is going in the right direction. I also have a range of rubbers from your standard office ones to hard, pencil shaped rubbers to rub away smaller areas.
Oh, I love this question! So, Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencils are oil based. This means you get a wonderful shine on an original drawing. Once completed, I scan my drawings in at a high resolution to ensure all the lovely detail. I will then edit and clean up the scanned in version on Adobe Photoshop. From there I am able to print the drawing onto plain, white 160gsm paper. A lot of people often think I print onto textured paper, but it is all from the scan in.
It is a personal preference for every Artist, however when I was in school, I will never forget how much my Art teacher drilled it into me to not sign the front of a piece of artwork. The small, black signature and date can easily distract your eye away which I can fully understand now. However, I do sign and date the back of my original artwork or fine art print, as well as the mount so that it is clear who has created it and when.
