dogs

who doesn't
love 'em

dogs

We had one dog when we were children. But she
chased the cows in the pasture across the street. The
owner of the pasture told my mother that she had to
keep her out. We tied her up, but that didn't work, as
Feather liked to run with the wind. She went away to
the pound, I suppose. I've always loved our neighbors'
dogs. Now I make portraits of dogs-any dog. I have a
wood shop that I go to when I want to do a portrait,
and I search the wood piles until I find a piece that
wants to become a portrait. I then live with the wood
until I figure out how the portrait will be drawn on
the wood. I've done many, but I failed to document
some. Here is what I can share with you.

Nikki the dog was done for a professor at the
University of South Florida. Nikki is done in ink on
maple wood, and the piece is approximately 12"x14".

Ruby is a doggy portrait that I did some years
ago. She is charcoal on wood.

Kiva is a special
piece that I did
for a friend who
moved out west.
She is carved
into the wood,
and highlighted
with conte
crayon. The
background is
done with
bronze and
patina.

Grover the dog lives near Seattle, WA. He is one
good looking boy, so it was tough to find wood to
match his looks and personality. I decided on teak
wood, and I am pleased with the way Grover looks.
The piece is approximately 14"x9", and the drawing is
done with ink and varnish.

Chelsea the Princess Queen God
Mother of the Universe was hard to
do in any medium. This etching
tinted with watercolor and gold leaf
is quite lovely, though.

I did this German Shepard a few years ago, and it
is a nice piece. The colors are oxidation and the
drawing is done with pencil and conte crayon.

Charley-Stu was drawn
as he slept near me. I
could not pass up the
chance to get his eight
bucked teeth, and the
position he slept in
matched so beautifully
the knots and grain in
the wood. The
drawing is pencil and
charcoal.

Alfie was done on lace wood
and drawn with pencil and
charcoal. Little Alfie slept
on a chair and I drew him
several times. I thought that
the wood matched perfectly
with his coat.

Chelsea was also affectionately known as Monkey
because she climbed monkey bars quite well in her
younger years. I really wanted to accentuate the idea of
monkey in the drawing, and I love her eyes.

This is Lazy the dog. She was suppose to die as a
puppy, but she showed the world! She loved to fish
with her entire head under water, and she was afraid
of balloons. Lazy was a good girl.

These two cute guys are Sherman and Simon; Sherman
is the gentleman in the foreground. He is the oldest
brother in the family (Sparky, the third brother, just
joined the family.). These guys are definitely daddy's
boys, but their mother dotes on them and loves them
all the more for it. Simon and Sparky chase each
other around the house, and they pull all, I mean all,
of their toys out of the toy box. This is a nice
drawing because it is pyrography on wood. I have
not done before this one a detailed drawing like it by
burning alone. I really enjoyed the process, and I can
see more drawings like it coming (check out 2007,
page 3 for one on paper).