In my last blog I wrote about the saga of mailing a watercolour painting of young friend's pet dog to him as a 19th birthday present. Well, this young man has a twin brother, who also has a dog. So it was obvious what his gift was to be! A watercolour! The dog is an old lady now and I wanted to capture her essence so that Oscar would have a memento of her when she is no longer around. But I knew it was going to be a challenge, for "Baby" is, to put it politely, no oil painting! Maybe she could be a watercolour, instead! I was going to have to work from memory and photographs someone else had taken, so the situation was not ideal. Usually I paint images of subjects I find appealing or have an emotional connection to. I have to admit I don't find bulldogs very attractive and my relationship with this dog consisted mainly of her sucking my toes when I visited! This time I was going to have to dig deep to channel the emotion her owners felt for her as I painted. Could I do her justice? Well, here she is and I'll let you be the judge! Sometimes it's good to take on a challenge and paint a subject you would not normally choose!
