Get to Know Kat Chua: A Portrait Artist Capturing Dogs in a New Light

(SPOT.ph) TRex the Yorkie mix looks like it’s waiting for something. Quiet and pensive, its eyes are trained singularly on you. Scout has its ears perked up at full attention, waiting for a treat or a command. And Milo looks off to the side, with a hint of concern behind its eyes. Meanwhile, Tiger the Asong Gubat looks pleased, with its ears down and eyes almost closed in contentment. You can almost imagine its tail wagging just beyond the frame.

This is the art of pet portrait artist Kat Chua, and through her oil paintings, she captures the vibrant personalities of the pets she has met over the past year.

Chua shares that her practice is mostly influenced by her childhood memories. When she was younger, she and her sister would draw on sheets of paper and coloring books. Eventually, she moved on to working with other media, such as acrylics, then watercolor, and finally gouache. “I do remember one of my first paintings. I was 10 years old and I painted this stork with a top hat that I just copied from a fairytale book that I had,” she reminisces.

Coming from a family of doctors, pursuing art didn’t seem like a feasible career choice at first. But when she was 30 and contemplating her next move, she was reminded of how art had always been there to lift her spirits, especially when she'd feel stressed or down. So when she finally quit her corporate job and decided on pursuing something she wanted to do, she returned to a hobby she loved and honed her skills so she could do it full-time.

She began by watching YouTube video tutorials on the fundamentals of oil painting, aiming to achieve a premium look with top-quality artist-grade oil paints and brushes. She was also particularly drawn to the amount of care and level of detail of the 19th-century classical realist style. After practicing with landscapes and still life, she tried her hand at painting an animal for the first time: a photo of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that particularly caught her eye.

As an artist, Chua thinks that pet portraits are not so different from human portraits. “I wanted to show in my paintings that animals have the same emotional depth that humans do,” she says.

It can be difficult for some pet owners to explain in words why they have such a deep connection with their pets, but painting the dogs with close attention to their eyes and small gestures showcases the depth of their emotion. In oil and canvas, she reveals this special kind of connection that these dog owners have without words.

"Usually, the art that I see relating to dogs is cutesy, a lot of illustrations. I wanted to show that dogs also could become subjects of classical art," Chua says. "The level of detail and level of skill that's required to do a portrait of a human can also be translated to pet portraits."

What helps is that she has also always felt a deep connection to dogs. She couldn’t have a pet herself growing up, so perhaps it was this longing for a pet that allowed her to see something truly special in her friends’ dogs whenever she interacted with them. "Compared to human portraiture, I think mas may connection ako with dogs. Knowing that they're good companions, and parang they have this affection for their owners. I see yung subtle head tilts and yung gaze nila, and see the nuance: Is it soft? Is it super strong, or at attention?" she says.

Posting her first pet portrait online caught the attention of one of her friends, who wanted to commission an artwork for her Golden Retriever, Bambina. Painting these portraits for someone else’s pet, she learned, came with its own challenges. Chua paints alla prima, meaning the entire painting comes together in one sitting. It encourages quick, bold brushstrokes that infuse each portrait with a fresh, lively look, but it also takes a long time to do. Any owner knows that getting your pet to sit still for too long is an impossible task, so instead, she seeks out the right reference photo to start.

It’s one thing to take pictures of your pet to post and share with friends, but it’s another to take the ideal photo that will soon be immortalized on canvas. "Even when I take photos of my dog, it's really hard to get a reference photo that really works well in a painting," she admits. "So sometimes what my husband, who is a hobbyist photographer, and I would do is we would go to the owner's house and take photos of their pets so we get the right reference photo." In that way, they’re able to get the proper lighting, the proper angle, and even catch them in a regal pose.

Only a year into her art career, Chua is excited to have the chance to hold her first solo exhibit, IMPRINT. It’s proof to her that her art and her message have reached the right audience. From November 22 until December 12, she’ll be displaying some of her recently commissioned works to the public at Archivo 1984 in Karrivin Plaza, Makati City. 

And while her eye and talent have shone through this early, she’s eager to see how she can still grow. “I think after this show, I'll be focusing more on just studying more subjects. Exploring new themes, trying to find my own style, so my art evolves. Because I've only been doing this for a year, I haven't really tried other subjects yet. Since I started with pet portraiture, I'll probably adapt what I've learned this year to my art next year.”

Case in point, she just finished the last piece that will be part of her show—one that is unlike her past commissions. At the center of her exhibit is Basking, which Chua says is a preview of the next chapter of her artistic career.

According to her, moving forward, she wants to explore the use of dramatic light and shadow to create "calm intimate moments that invite the viewer to pause and look closer." Clearly, there's more to Chua than pet portraiture, making her an exciting artist to follow. “That's what I want to show people—that I can also do this kind of work. I don't just do commissions, I can do my own original work that will be all nice for display in your home,” she says. And with that, we can't wait to see what this young artist has under her sleeves in the years to come.

Catch Katrina Chua's work in IMPRINT from November 22 until December 12, at Archivo 1984 in Karrivin Plaza, Makati City. You can also follow her on Instagram or check out her website.

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