Goin’ to the Dogs – from Life!

 

Barnaby Sherlock patiently sits for me as I help raise funds for PAWS. (photo courtesy of ArtSpot)

When I look back on the 15 years that I’ve been drawing, a few experiences come to mind as the most intense. Being a correspondent at the Manchester Urban Sketchers Symposium would be near the top of the list. My early days of one-minute life drawing poses used to leave me breathless (both exhilarated and exhausted). But I’d have to say that last week’s benefit for PAWS beat both of those as the single-most intense drawing experience of my life!

What made it so intense? Beginning at ArtSpot, people and their dogs were lined up halfway down the block all evening, waiting for a portrait! When I participated in the same fundraiser last year, the time pressure was the same, but the work was divided among four artists. This year, one had to cancel at the last minute, so three of us carried the load for the full three hours.

8/20/26 Bob

Nessie had the most amazing eyelashes!

The other big difference for me was that of the 20 portraits I made, only three were from photos – all the rest were from sniffing, squirming life! Last year, it was the other way around: I started out doing a couple from life, but I soon realized it was impractical, given the time constraint. For the rest of that evening, I used photo references provided by the clients or that I had snapped myself. Using photos, though, can also be challenging (as I’ve learned from the many commissioned pet portraits I’ve made) when they are poorly lighted or blurry. Taking good photos of excited, distracted dogs in fading light isn’t easy, either.

Barnaby Sherlock

Phoebe Anne

When the first couple of clients said they wanted portraits from life, I was delighted – drawing from life instead of from photos is certainly my preference anytime. Up for the challenge, I decided I would continue drawing all of them from life unless a client showed up with a photo instead of a dog. At any time, I could have taken my own photos, but once I got started, I just kept going.

Lilo

Phe Phe (pronounced like Fifi). Chatting with Phe Phe's mom and another customer who had a part Chihuahua, I learned that a disproportionate number of mixed-breed dogs show Chihuahua lineage when they get their genes tested. Those little dogs get around!

Exhausted by the end, I still had a blast at this unique opportunity. It gave my confidence a big boost that I can sketch any dog’s portrait in less than nine minutes – from life!

Bee Paper mixed-media sketchbook

Material notes: Like last year, I kept materials simple, bringing only my current favorite Pentel Sign Brush Pen, a broader Kuretake Brush Writer and a gray Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Soft Brush Pen for shading. Once I got going, though, I mostly used only the Pentel with occasional help from the Kuretake.

For paper, ArtSpot offered each artist their choice of sketchbook to use for the benefit. I chose the same book I used last year: a 6-by-6-inch Bee Paper Co. Super Deluxe Mixed Media spiralbound sketchbook (the spiral binding was most practical for ripping out pages to give to clients). Although I would never choose a spiralbound book for urban sketching, I have grown fond of this Bee paper after using up the remains of last year’s book on Pencilvember and other animal portraits. It takes everything I’ve used on it beautifully – colored pencil and crayon, both wet and dry, various juicy brush pens and markers. If it weren’t for the darn wire binding, I would happily use Bee books for general urban sketching.