Carrie Ruane Welcome to my website!   My name is Carrie Ruane, and I’m a professional portrait artist.   I have provided custom drawings of beloved pets and people to happy customers since 1991.   My work is an expression of my artistic vision: my love for the beauty of animals, birds, and the natural world.   My goal is to capture the personality and spirit of my subjects in a soft yet realistic style.   My specialty is colored pencil, but I am also skilled in working with graphite pencils, pen and ink, watercolors, and acrylics.   I am not limited to just people and pets – I am able to recreate any kind of subject matter from your photos.   Send me your favorite photos and I will create for you a unique, one-of-a-kind portrait.   View my portrait galleries to see samples of my work, and visit my portraits page to find out how you can commission your own beautiful drawing today!   In addition to custom commissioned portraits, I also offer prints of my artwork, which feature birds, wildlife, and nature scenes.   Please view my prints gallery to see these samples.  About I grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, where I began my interest in drawing and art at an early age.   While in high school, I was commissioned to do my first pet portrait, a landscape drawing of three dogs and a house.   People continued to ask me to do portraits throughout college as I pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communication Design/Illustration at the University of Dayton.   After graduating, I worked as a picture framer for a number of years, and continued to build my portrait client base.   I now work as a professional portrait artist from my studio in Dayton, Ohio, where I specialize in colored and graphite pencil and create detailed, realistic drawings.   I also exhibit my work at a number of different art fairs and festivals/shows in Ohio.   My artwork can be purchased as prints or custom commissioned portraits.