At RUFF, I’m always looking for new ways to celebrate the bond people have with their pets. It all started with dogs, but the more I created, the more I realized it was about something bigger: the relationships we share with the animals in our lives.
That’s what inspired my latest experiment: Magic Pet Portraits.
Each one is a 2”x3” glossy mini print with a peelable sticker backing, shipped right to your mailbox, plus a digital download to keep forever. You can stand them up in an acrylic or magnet frame, collect them like keepsakes, slap them on your water bottle or laptop, or share them with friends and family.
In this post, I want to share where the idea came from, the winding process that shaped it, and why I decided to brand this series around magic
Where It Started
The portraits began with my own dogs. They were my first muses, and drawing them was what pulled me back into making art after years of stepping away. From there, I started experimenting with portraits of friends’ pets — mostly cats and dogs — and began to see how personal and meaningful it could be when someone’s own animal was at the center of the work.
A big turning point came during one of RUFF’s vending events a few years earlier. Up until then, most of what I made was dog-themed art and products. But standing behind the table, I realized people wanted something more personal: not just dogs in general, but their dog. That moment shifted how I thought about what RUFF could be.
Enter AI
When I first experimented with AI, the results were messy. Some portraits felt off, others completely missed the mark. But every so often, something clicked — and it felt like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
That’s when I realized AI didn’t just help me move faster, it made the process feel like magic. Like painting with the internet, where each attempt carried a surprise for me as much as for the customer.
For a while, I pieced together a system that gave me more polished results. But just as quickly, AI advanced and made that system obsolete. Instead of seeing that as a setback, I started to recognize something: the portraits weren’t magic because the process was perfect. They were magic because I embraced the unpredictability.
From Portrait to Keepsake
That mindset shift also changed the format. Instead of thinking of portraits as something to hang on the wall, I wanted them to feel more playful and collectible — something you could keep close, share easily, and enjoy every day. By turning portraits into mini prints with sticker backs, they became less about permanence and more about play. That’s when they really started to click.
Branding the Feeling
For a while, I tried to explain them as “AI portraits” or “custom illustrations.” But that never landed. What stuck was the feeling people had when they saw the portraits.
When I reframed the whole thing as Magic Pet Portraits, everything came together. Friends and early supporters lit up at the name — it resonated in a way the technical explanation never could.
And for me, “magic” carries another meaning. My grandfather was a close-up magician. He passed when I was young, but that spark always stayed in my family. Naming these portraits magic ties today’s sense of wonder to something personal.
A photo of my grandfather, Albert Goshman, reimagined as a Magic Portrait.
The Bigger Picture
At a more recent vending event, I tested out the new Magic Pet Portraits live. I mostly made portraits of cats and dogs, but then someone asked if I could do their opossum. I gave it a shot — and it turned out great. That experience showed me the portraits could grow beyond the usual pets, and it’s exciting to finally open that door.
And what’s interesting is how it all ties together. The style I now use for Magic Pet Portraits grew out of another project: a pet-themed tarot deck I’ve been developing, with artwork for all 78 cards. Working through that many designs pushed me to refine a bold, playful visual language — and that became the foundation for the portraits.
That’s what RUFF has always been about: experimenting with ways to capture the magic of our relationships with pets. Sometimes that looks like stickers. Sometimes it looks like tarot. And now, it looks like these portraits.
These aren’t magic because of the workflow. It’s because they surprise, delight, and carry the spirit of the pets we love.
And this is just the beginning. In the future, I’d love to explore limited edition runs, new styles, and special variations to make them even more collectible. Just like the pets they’re inspired by, no two will ever be the same.
At the end of the day, the real magic doesn’t come from the AI, or even from me — it comes from the pets themselves. These portraits are just my way of reflecting that back.
—Matthew