Discover why a custom pencil portrait is the ideal Christmas gift—unique, meaningful, and perfect for loved ones in the UK.

Why Pencil Portraits Make Perfect Christmas Gifts

As Christmas approaches, finding the perfect gift can be challenging. If you’re looking for something meaningful, personalised, and sure to leave a lasting impression, a custom pencil portrait could be the answer. Hand-drawn from your favourite photos, pencil portraits are a thoughtful way to show someone how much you care.

A Gift That’s Truly Unique

Unlike off-the-shelf presents, a pencil portrait is one of a kind. Angela, a professional pencil artist based in the UK, creates each portrait by hand, ensuring every detail is captured beautifully. Whether it’s a family member, a beloved pet, or a cherished memory, the result is a bespoke piece of art that’s completely unique to the recipient.

Perfect for Everyone on Your List

A pencil portrait is a versatile gift that suits all ages and interests. Here are some ideas:

• For Parents: A portrait of their children or a favourite family photo.
• For Pet Lovers: Immortalise their furry friend in a stunning hand-drawn sketch.
• For Couples: Celebrate their love with a portrait from a cherished photo.
• For Friends: Create a keepsake from a fun moment or shared memory.

Handmade with Love in the UK

Angela’s portraits are drawn in her UK studio using high-quality materials, ensuring each piece is not only beautiful but durable. You can even personalise your order by choosing the size and framing options to suit your loved one’s style.

How to Order Your Pencil Portrait

Angela makes it easy to commission a pencil portrait in five simple steps:

1. Choose a clear photograph of your subject and upload it through the commission a portrait form. Include the desired size and any special requests.
2. Angela will reply quickly with a price, estimated delivery time, and answers to any questions you might have. (see pricing)
3. If you’re happy to proceed, you pay a 50% deposit, and Angela will get to work. (see payment options)
4. When it’s complete, Angela will send a sample scan for your approval. If needed, you can request minor adjustments.
5. After you’re satisfied, pay the remaining balance, and Angela will carefully package and send your finished portrait.

Order Early to Avoid the Holiday Rush!

To ensure your pencil portrait arrives before Christmas, it’s best to order as early as possible. Angela’s commissions are popular during the holiday season, so slots fill up quickly!

What’s Changed and Why

Just to avoid some confusion early on I should point out that when I say ‘I’ when referring to the changes ‘I’ve’ made, the credit really goes to my husband who has the expertise in website design and has kindly created this site for me based on my vision of how I’d like it to look and work.

New Look…

Firstly, I’ve tweaked the colour scheme to help the portraits stand out a little more, I’ve increased the page width to give us a more room to breathe and incorporated some of the nice new visual features that the latest Internet browsers can now display. Hopefully, you like these subtle changes and they and add up to a more enjoyable visual experience during your visit.

New Navigation…

Secondly, I’ve updated and improved the main navigation by simplifying it and incorporating mouse-over drop downs. The reason for this is to free up more space on the page and to allow you to go straight from one page to any other on the site with just one click. You may also notice that I’m trying to make better use of the footer at the bottom and I’ve added a handy ‘contact me’ form as well as some other links to drawing types and social media stuff like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc.

New Content…

Finally, I’ve updated lots of the content across the site, moved one or two pages to hopefully make a little more sense to you as you look around and tried to make the most important information to you accessible by as few clicks as possible. On top of this, I’ve added lots of new examples of my work and put them in a new pencil portrait gallery that allows you to choose by drawing type so you can see the types of pencil drawing that you like best with ease.

I’d Love to Hear Your thoughts

These changes will hopefully make the website work faster, make the pages easier to find and to navigate around, and make your experience of using the site more enjoyable. If you have any comments about the changes or any suggestions on how I could improve the site further please let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you’re interested in commissioning a pencil drawing of a lion or any big cat, please just pop over to my commission a portrait page and fill out the form. I’ll get straight back to you with a price.

Pencil Drawing of Haldir the White Lion

This is a pencil drawing that I was patiently waiting to do, as it is from a photo taken by a talented photographer known as Woxys on deviantART who has kindly granted me permission to use it. She took the photograph at Bratislava Zoo, in Slovakia and Woxys has lots of other fantastic photos on her web page, so I urge you to take a look.

I was thrilled with how this pencil drawing turned out, as was the woman who commissioned me to draw it for her. But it’s not difficult when you have a unique photograph of such a majestic creature to work from.

5 Things I Didn’t Know About White Lions

1. White lions are not albinos but are ‘leucistic’, which means they lack pigment (I looked it up :) ).
2. The white lion is a rare colour mutation of the Kruger subspecies of African lion know in Latin as Panthera Leo Krugeri.
3. White lions are thought to be indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries.
4. The Global White Lion Protection Trust or WLPT initiated the first-ever reintroduction of white lions to the Greater Timbavati region in South Africa in 2003.
5. White lions are revered and held as sacred by the local communities of the Greater Timbavati region.

Want to commission a lion drawing?

If you’re interested in owning an original pencil drawing of a lion, or any big cat, all you need to do is head over to my commission a portrait page. It would look great on your wall or make a wonderful gift for someone. I’d be pleased to sketch one for you, so please get in touch.

I look forward to hearing from you!

James Gandolfini from The Sopranos

I was so sorry to hear about the death of the James Gandolfini back in June 2013. I was a big fan of The Sopranos and have enjoyed many of the films that Mr Gandolfini has appeared in over the years, so I was very grateful to have the opportunity to draw the iconic Tony Soprano when a customer asked me for this commemorative pencil portrait.

The commission was actually a 10″ x 10″, as this made more sense in the context of a pencil drawing (not to leave too much white space), but I’ve cropped it here more in line with how the source photograph is cropped and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out.

Some Interesting James Gandolfini Facts

1. He was born in 1961 in Westwood, New Jersey.
2. His Broadway début was in a revival of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ in 1992.
3. His breakthrough role was Virgil, a hitman in Tony Scott’s ‘True Romance’ in 1993.
4. He is best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano in the hit HBO drama The Sopranos, which ran from 1999 to 2007.
5. He famously said that he was nothing like Tony Soprano in real life: “I’m a neurotic mess. I’m really basically just like a 260-pound Woody Allen”.
6. He played the trumpet and saxophone.
7. He was married twice and had two daughters, one from each marriage.
8. Sadly, he died unexpectedly of a heart attack while on holiday in Italy in 2013.

I hope that adds a little bit more background for you (thank you Wikipedia and IMDB)

Want Your Own Celebrity Drawing?

If you’re interested in owning an original drawing of your favourite celebrity, or you know someone that think would like one, all you need to do is pop over to my commission a portrait page. Whether it’s a current actor, a personal hero from the past or even a classic star from the silver screen, I would be very pleased to sketch them for you, so please get in touch.

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge (1940)

I was asked to draw this striking portrait of Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh for a lovely lady called Danielle, who wanted to give it as a birthday gift to her sister (Waterloo Bridge being her sister’s favourite film).  The commission itself was for a 12in x 16in pencil portrait and I am very pleased to say that both Danielle and her sister were very pleased with it (see my customer reviews page).

Five Interesting Waterloo Bridge (1940 Film) Facts

1. Waterloo Bridge, made in 1940, is a remake of a 1931 film, also called Waterloo Bridge.
2. It tells the story of an army captain and a dancer who meet by chance on Waterloo Bridge.
3. It was Vivien Leigh’s first film after the success of Gone with the Wind.
   
4. It was nominated for two academy awards (Best Music & Best Cinematography).
5. It was also considered to be a personal favourite by both Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh.

I hope that adds a little to the background for you (thank you Wikipedia).

Commission Your Celebrity Drawing

If you like the idea of having an original drawing of your favourite celebrity on your wall, or you know someone that think would love one, all you need to do is pop over to my commission a portrait page. Whether it’s a modern celebrity or a classic star from the silver screen, I would be very happy to draw them for you, so please get in touch.

I look forward to hearing from you.

The Mallard Steam Train – Pencil Drawing

This Mallard steam train was drawn as a gift for Father’s Day for a very lucky gentleman who has a passion for steam locomotives. He hasn’t received it yet, so I can’t give you the feedback on what he thought yet, but the very kind wife, who commissioned it on behalf of her two children, said that she (and the kids) loved it, so let’s hope he does too!

Six Facts about the Mallard Steam Train

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this amazing looking train, I thought I’d give you six facts about this famous steam locomotive (thank you Wikipedia):

1. This locomotive is officially numbered 4468 Mallard.
2. It’s a London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive.
3. It was built in Doncaster, England in 1938.
4. It is probably most famous for holding the official world speed record for steam locomotives reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour (160km/h).
5. The Mallard’s crew on its record breaking run were driver Joseph Duddington and fireman Thomas Bray.
6. The Mallard is now part of the National Collection at the United Kingdom’s National Railway Museum in York.

Hope I got everything right, my apologies if not, I am definitely NO expert.

Buy this Drawing of the Mallard as an LE Print

If you’d like this drawing of the Mallard train on your wall, then why not buy it as limited edition print of the original. I will be selling just 20 prints and each will be numbered and signed (if you like), by me, the artist. The prints are 12in x 8in in size and the price for each print is just £10.

If you’re interested in buying a limited edition print of the Mallard train, or you just want to find out more, please send me an email and I’ll get right back to you.

Commission your own Steam Engine Drawings

If there’s another steam engine that has a special place in your heart and you would like to have it as an original pencil drawing, I can, of course, do this for you as a commission (and would love to do so). You will find everything you need to know about the order process on my commission a portrait page.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Snow Leopard Drawings for Sale

In a slight departure for me, I am (for the first time) selling the hand-drawn original of this Snow Leopard drawing as well as limited edition prints from it. I normally work to customer commission only, but I loved this photo so much when I saw it that I had to draw it, just for fun. You can also find this drawing on my Pet Portraits page, where I’ve added it to the pet portraits gallery.

So if you like it and think it would look great hanging on your wall it can be yours for just £60, but don’t delay, as it is likely to get ‘snapped’ up fast!

Details of this Snow Leopard Drawing

The original pencil drawing is 12″ x 8″ (approximately A4) and comes complete with a lovely black picture mount that sets it the leopards off perfectly. The outer dimensions of the picture mount are 16″ x 12″ which is a standard ‘off-the-shelf’ size so you should be able to find the perfect frame for it easily at any local or online framing shop.

Buy this Snow Leopard drawing as an LE Print

As well as the hand-drawn original of this Snow Leopard portrait, I am also selling limited edition prints of the original. I will be selling just 100 prints and each print will be numbered and signed (if you like), by the portrait artist, me – Angela. The prints are 12″ x 8″ in size and the price for each print is just £15 + P&P.

If you’re interested in buying a limited edition print of these lovely Snow Leopards, or you just want to find out more, please send me an email and I’ll get straight back to you.

Commission your own Drawings of Snow Leopards

If you have seen a different photograph of Snow Leopards that you really love and would like to have it as an original pencil drawing, I can, of course, do this for you as a commission (and would be happy to do so). You will find everything you need to know about the order process on my commission a portrait page.

I look forward to hearing from you.