Need help with dog portrait.?

Question

a trainer asked me to do a portrait of her dogs, i have one almost done but cant decide if i should put a background on it or leave it blank. any help would be appreciated.

This is Thunder: http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm19/sarah_md_ks/?action=view&current=Thunderpics002.jpg

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm19/sarah_md_ks/?action=view&current=Thunderpics003.jpg

My portrait: http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm19/sarah_md_ks/?action=view&current=drawings004.jpg

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm19/sarah_md_ks/?action=view&current=drawings006.jpg

heres a video of a background i like, its kind of long at 3:50 is when the background starts and last a couple minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqJGdqmuTyY&feature=related

Answer 1

Leave the background blank. You want to draw attention to your nice portrait of the dog, not a busy background.

Answer 2

I don't know, but those portraits are amazing!!  You are such a great artist!!

Answer 3

The portrait is extremely good. And i think if you do something like that it will really make the dog POP!

So i would say yes do the backround.

AND AWESOME JOB!

Answer 4

I'm in 'greement with the first answerer, I think putting a busy background like that would only distract from how handsome the dog is.

Answer 5

Wonderful portrait!

If this was of my dog, I wouldn't want a background for a couple of reasons...first, IMO it would distract from the dog and would (for me) be too busy. Secondly, if  I were putting my dog down, I would want the focus to be on the animal. Just my feelings though.

Answer 6

Ask the trainer what they want. If you do a back round that one way nice I really liked it. Good Luck

Answer 7

Personally, I think you should leave it how it is.  Since it's a portrait only of the head, a background would be a bit too distracting, and if you don't do it just perfectly, could be a serious distraction from the actual portrait itself.