I have a friend who had the most adorable little dog. His name is Withie. My friend lives alone and had been experiencing some health issues. She did not know how long she would be able to care for him adequately and had talked to the dog's groomer about her concerns.
The groomer loved the dog and offered to take him when my friend was ready to part with him. As it turns out, the groomer has two other dogs and could not take Withie anytime soon. However, the groomer did know a couple who had recently lost a dog and she thought they might be ready to adopt Withy.
About a month ago, the groomer arranged a meeting with my friend, the other couple and Withy. Of course, the other couple immediately fell in love with Withie and my friend was delighted to see that Withy would be cared for in a loving new home.
A couple of weeks ago my friend bid farewell to Withie and he went to live with his new family. Transitions like this are never easy, but knowing that Withy would be loved and cared for did make it less difficult. It was thoughtfully and carefully planned.
So, when I woke up recently I had this crazy idea. It turned out that I knew Withie's new family! I emailed them and asked if they would take some pictures of Withy so that I could paint his portrait for my friend.
Within days, I had some reference photos and got to work. Withie is a fluffy little guy - curly hair is not easy to recreate!
Using my pastels, I got the first shapes and colors in...
I began to define his face more - to capture his expression - and to figure out about the fluffy body. As it turned out, he had recently been groomed so he was not so fluffy... he had more of a shaved look.
Whereas, I like his stance, I decided to do a little cropping and throw the emphasis toward his expression rather than his body. This also solved my problem of what to do with the background. Would I put him in grass? or what?
A few more tweaks here and there...
Today I surprised my friend by ringing her doorbell and delivering the framed painting. We had a delightful visit and I left with such a great feeling. Almost burst into song "Oh, what a beautiful morning..." 🎵🎵
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