Dog Days

1/27/24 Charger (reference photo by Kate Gliske)

1/21/24 Granite (reference photo by Samantha Le)

After the spate of cats, I received several dog commissions again – and especially handsome ones they were. Sadly, both Granite (right) and Sophia (below left) had recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and drawing them was especially poignant. It seems that the process or result would be the same whether the subject was living or not. But when I know the animals are gone, I feel different, as if the pets’ last gift was the joy I received in drawing them. In return, I feel a greater responsibility for capturing their spirit and personality well so that the drawings will evoke fond memories for their humans.

Moose (below right), who is still joyfully alive, is the most unusual dog I’ve sketched. His owner wasn’t sure of his breed, though she speculated part German shepherd and part Carolina dog (a breed I had to Google because I was unfamiliar with it). I don’t know anything about dog breeds, so I can’t say, but Moose has such unique facial markings! What made him so much fun to draw, though, was that wide grin. In fact, all the dogs in this post are smiling happily, which makes me smile as I draw.

1/24/24 Sophia (reference photo by Brian Grijalva)

1/25/24 Moose (reference photo by Katie Bryl)

Well, I’m not sure Charger (top of post) is smiling – maybe more like laughing maniacally! This was by far the most difficult pet to render in my series so far: Snout completely foreshortened and distorted by the camera, which was also a bit skewed horizontally; a curled tongue; a view straight down his throat and into his nostrils; one side of his face smashed against the floor, jowl pulled by gravity – holy pup, what a challenge!

At first I was tempted to turn the reference photo 90 degrees to get a more “normal” facial perspective, but then I recalled an exercise in Betty Edwards’ classic book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I clearly remember an image of a knight on a horse that we were to draw upside-down. The idea was to trick the brain to get out of the way so that the eyes could do more of the work. I was stunned by how well my drawing then had come out! I thought, perhaps, that the reference photo of Charger on his ear would help me render more accurately.

Nope. My brain didn’t fall for that trick, nor did my eyes step up for the job. It was so out of whack that I had to start over. Halfway through, I did turn the photo 90 degrees to check my work, and I was still quite a bit off. It was simply a very difficult drawing! Despite my struggles, I had to chuckle all the way through at Charger’s expression and attitude – he was probably laughing at me!

Paper notes: For Charger, I used Stonehenge Lenox Cotton paper, which I enjoyed using last year for the graphite portrait of my grand niece. The surface is delicious with colored pencil, but halfway through, I regretted that I hadn’t used watercolor paper so that I could make an underpainting. The darkest areas of his face might have gone a little more quickly that way.

I used Lenox Cotton for the sketch of the kitty named Megan, too. In that case, it was the ideal choice – the gentle tooth picked up pigment easily for all those fine fur details without showing its own grain (which is sometimes a bit strong in Strathmore watercolor paper, my choice for any water-soluble material, like Sophia’s background in Artgraf).