Recently, pets have started playing an increasingly important role in the psychological welfare of people in modern societies. Due to the recent rising trends of late marriages, increasing divorce rates, dropping birthrates, and a steady increase in the average age of the population, pet ownership rates have been markedly increasing. According to the Council of Agriculture's statistics on feline and canine ownership, canine ownership has grown by 40.2% and feline ownership has increased by an even greater rate of 91.1% over the past three years. These obvious growth trends demonstrates the importance placed by modern people on the companionship and stress relief provided by their pets. There is a popular demand for designs that are able to provide warmth and comfort on a psychological level. That demand is the motivation behind this research.

There are three objectives to this research: first, to discuss the societal circumstances that gave rise to the demand for comforting designs; second, to organize the available information on the subject and discuss methods of applying them to works of art; and finally, to represent the emotional interactions between pet and owner using these pieces of art. These creative works uses the author's own interactions with her pet as the source inspirational material. The nature of the art's design and the relationship between pets and their ability to provide comfort to their owners were analyzed through literary review as well as discussions of case studies of the various styles of comforting pet illustrations. A series of such illustrations was developed based upon the results, attempting to demonstrate the emotional bonds between a person and their pet. Freehand and computer assisted techniques were used in the creation of the twelve works as part of this research project. The author hopes to bring positive emotions to those who observe the works as well as to provide a suitable reference for future researchers in this field.