Maggie

 

7/11/25 Maggie (reference photo by Katelyn This)

Here’s Maggie, whose life had to end prematurely and very tragically. When I hear each pet’s story from the clients who commission the drawings, I am always moved. It helps me to feel a connection with the animal as I draw. Even if I’ve never met the dog (or the associated human, for that matter), and even if the result shows no difference, it’s somehow a very different experience from drawing a random Internet photo of a dog.

Material notes: Hmmm, I was troubled by this one, specifically the ArtGraf water-soluble graphite that I decided to use in front. As mentioned in my post about Dixie Sue, the last pet portrait I made, I was uneasy about using ArtGraf on Derwent Lightfast paper, which is not intended for wet media, so I skipped it that time. Before using it on Maggie, I practiced on some scrap paper to figure out the water balance I needed, but I don’t like the effect as much as I do on the Stonehenge Lenox Cotton paper that I usually use. It’s also not intended for wet media, but it takes ArtGraf in a mottled way that I like.

The easy solution would be to go back to Lenox Cotton, but Dixie Sue, Maggie and three more dogs I have yet to draw will all go to the same owner, and I don’t want to change the paper in case they will be displayed together: Lightfast has a much warmer tone than Lenox Cotton.

Argh. These are the types of issues I never have to think about with plain ol’ urban sketching in my sketchbook (and why I’m grateful that I don’t make this kind of portrait for a living).