This is Ollie. One of Jeffy’s friends. He’s another star-crossed pooch: part Jack Russell, and part Chihuahua according to the tin (though Papillon is suspected). And he’s lovely.
Nonetheless this was not the shot I wanted. Ollie not only has beautiful soulful eyes, he has a wholedog-profile to die for.
This was my starting point.
From photo to sketch, sketch to pattern, pattern to portrait.
On top of the cream body, there’s black for the harness, scraps of a browny/orange Liberty print for the face and tail, and a cream ear on top.
I love this. I love the fact that creams and browns of Ollie blend in and out of the flowery creams and browns. Personally, I love the way Ollie almost hides in the busyness of the background, that you could almost miss the dog the first time you look, then have to look again. But, and there’s a but, although I loved it, I wondered if I was protesting too much. I wondered if I’d missed a trick in choosing that background.
I’m a bit of a perfectionist (in some things, as my mother-in-law would say, glancing round the ‘lived in’ kitchen). I started again.
Ollie mark II
It probably works better.
But this is the one on my bookcase at the moment.
If you would like a bespoke portrait of your own pet have a look at the commissions page.
RocketFullOfPie 