Wehrle Portraits--Skilled Pencil Portrait From Your Photo

It's true. You know that feeling you get when you look at your favorite photo of someone you love? That feeling is enhanced when your photo becomes an artist's pencil portrait.

• Imagine the pride you'll feel when you have a custom pencil portrait of someone special on display in your home for all your friends and family to see.
• Just think how your daughter will feel when she sees you've taken your favorite snapshot of her off the wall and hung an artist's beautiful pencil portrait of her in its place.
  • Will she blush?
  • Will she melt?
  • Will she hug you like there's no tomorrow?
• Is your spouse's mother like a second mother to you? Show your appreciation with a pencil portrait of her. Give it as an extra special gift to either her or your spouse. Your spouse will love you for it.

Imagine a pencil portrait that will grace your family for generations to come. It can only exist because of your thoughtfulness. Especially when a good artist captures a likeness perfectly.

Joe Wehrle, Jr. has created pencil portraits for over thirty years. Every customer has been satisfied. Yikes. Somehow it feels like we're tempting fate to write that down or say it out loud. Like we're just asking for trouble. But the truth is, it's a happy fact.

The real fact is this artist likes his customers so satisfied...

Joe first created a portrait of Clark Ashton Smith, poet, sculptor, fiction writer, to be used in two different Mirage Press books. That portrait (not seen here) was done with pen and ink.

Because Smith had such a wonderful face, Joe decided to do a different portrait just in pencil to display with his personal collection of Smith's books. The pencil portrait you see here, done from an obscure snapshot, brought out some characteristics better than a stiff pen rendering.

"It's wonderful how you balance the tones," said the woman who commissioned a pencil portrait of her parents as a Christmas gift for her sister. See her pencil portrait here.

You can see his skill at balancing tones in this profile shot of our family. He excells at capturing likenesses. A published illustrator, his work has appeared in magazines, books, and on book and record covers. See photo here.

For pencil portraits he uses black Prismacolor pencil on special textured paper called coquille board. It looks great as a portrait, and as an added advantage, reproduces excellently when reduced in size or printed out, just as photos print better in newspapers when they've been screened.

It's much easier to do a black-and-white portrait from a color photo than it is to do a color portrait from a black-and-white photo.

We speak with the voice of experience. One woman whose brother died insisted she wanted a color portrait to remember him by. All she had was one single black and white photo. When asked about eye color, hair color and skin tones, her answers were vague as if her memory was dimming.

That's likely why she felt she needed the portrait.

Upon delivery, she declared that in the portrait her brother looked healthier than he ever looked in reality, that he'd always been sickly. Thank goodness she liked the healthy glow.

If you can't see the details in the photo, neither can Joe.

Another woman wanted a pencil portrait of her grandmother, complete with the wealth of wrinkles all over her grandmother's face. Wrinkles tell of the life a person has lived. Worry lines? Laugh lines? Scowl lines? Crow's feet from squinting under a hot sun for years? Wrinkles are specific and reveal unique personality and life history. No two grandmothers--not even twins--are exactly alike.

Unfortunately the photo was so fuzzy the wrinkles were hard to see. Joe produced the best generic wrinkles in her pencil portrait that he could do and she declared herself satisfied, but it could have been so much more excellent with exact detail.

Don't worry about the size of the photo. It can be any size. And portraits can be any size up to real-life size.

But a pencil portrait that's larger than the person is in real life never looks right.

Oh sure, a huge portrait might work seen from a distance hanging above an enormous fireplace in a gigantic castle hall. But for the rest of us, a pencil portrait that's life-size or smaller is best. Create one the perfect size for your wall, mantel, piano, desk or bedside table.

And yes, Joe once did an outsized portrait because the customer demanded it, and she liked it. Maybe she had a huge wall?

• "I love this photo of my daughter where she looks so very beautiful, but standing beside her is her best-forgotten ex-husband."
• "I have a photo of my great-grandfather standing stiff and proud in his best black suit and a photo of my great-grandmother seated in her wedding dress, but nothing of them together as they were their whole lives."
• "I have a great shot of my cousin, but it looks like there's a telephone pole coming out the top of his head."
• "I love this photo of my dad because I can almost hear him laughing, but his lapels are the size of Texas."

Those are no problem at all!

A pencil portrait artist can add or delete a person, join two photos, remove distracting background elements, or change unwanted details easily.

Compare the portrait on the left with the photo in the center.

This is the same girl a few years later.

• Win points with your mate. Express your deep love and appreciation to your mate with a gift to treasure for a lifetime. Create a matched set of pencil portraits of you and your mate or commission a portrait of you together. What a great anniversary or birthday gift!
• Repay the person who saved your life. Show how you honor the teacher, mentor or role model who means the world to you. Create a pencil portrait of him or her. Hang their portrait on your wall in a place of honor as a lifelong remembrance. Or present their portrait as a gift to him or her.
• Impress someone important. Give a great and unique gift to someone who has everything. Create a pencil portrait of that person, or someone they love, or their favorite pet!
• Win points with your boss. Show you recognize how your boss stands head and shoulders above other bosses. Present a pencil portrait of him or her to hang in a place of honor as the company founder.
• Console yourself. Keep on display the dear face of someone who'll be away from you for some time. Maybe it's the soldier in your family. Maybe it's your beloved pet who was your best friend, now gone but so very much not forgotten. Maybe it's your child.
• Put your best foot forward. Are you an author? Create a pencil portrait of yourself as author for your latest book.
• Mend fences. Are there harsh words you wish with all your might you could take back? Do you have a sibling you haven't spoken to in years? What picture would touch the estranged one's heart so much, it would soften toward you?
• Build self-esteem. Let each precious grandchild see their portrait on your wall. After all, grandmas and grandpas have bragging rights.
• Blow your competition out of the water. Give your girlfriend a pencil portrait of her hugging her cat. She'll love you for it, think of you every time she looks at it and keep it far longer than any other guy's flowers, chocolates and CDs.
• Show what a class act you are. It's a rare person who commissions a custom pencil portrait. Most people never even think of it. Whether you consider yourself artistic or not, you know what you like. Show off your good taste, your eye for the valuable and unique, and your thoughtfulness.

Just imagine how good you'll feel when your friends and family see your unique pencil portrait.

Joe specializes in head shots of people and authors' portraits, and he also draws cats. He's most comfortable drawing finished image sizes of 5 x 7", 6 x 9" or 8 x 10".

Normal delivery time is two to six weeks. Your pencil portrait comes to you without a frame, so shipping in US is free. Satisfaction guaranteed.

It's easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Choose a good clear photo of your subject.
2. Choose what size you want for your finished pencil portrait. We've provided a chart of various sizes and order form here.
3. Send your photo and half-payment deposit to Joe. If sending by email, please send a .jpg or .jpeg of your photo, and use PayPal for your payment. It's quick, easy and safe.

To better see the texture of pencil portraits by Joe, click here.