NYC artist captures whimsical side of your pet

NEW YORK -- An artist has made sketching portraits of pets and animals his calling -- painting everything from cats and dogs to farm animals and bulls.

Artist Ben Lenovitz makes his living at Fishs Eddy in the Flatiron District.

A 10-year-old pup named Teddy is the subject of Lenovitz's latest masterpiece.

He creates whimsical pet portraits in the corner of the store, and while he adores animals, he has never had a pet.

"I'm actually allergic to animals except for snakes and retiles," he said.

This all started 7 years ago in Japan. As Lenovitz was painting iconic New York City buildings, a woman asked him to paint her cat.

"I've never painted a cat, never thought about cats but she was so positive, I was like there is something here," Lenovitz said.

Over the years, Lenovitz has painted roughly 10,000 animals. The strangest, he says, was a painting of a crab; the biggest was a bull. He says he's also painted farm animals and toy dog robots.

The portraits are $300 unframed. It takes Lenovitz about 30 minutes from start to finish. He said he prefers to work off pictures because animals never stay still.

Lenovitz said he is often times so focused while painting that something extraordinary happens with pet owners.

"It opens them up to talk about raising a dog with a loved one... or grief or addiction," he said.

You check out Lenovitz's work and find his website through his Instagram page.