PET PORTRAITS OF OLD DOGS
APRIL 2020
I have been doing pet portraits for over 25 years and there is something so touching about drawing an old dog. It´s like drawing an old "us". There is a wonderful book called OLD DOGS ARE THE BEST DOGS by Gene Weingarten with photographs by Michael S. Williamson. See the 2 photographs attached. One excerpt from that is: "JAKE, 16". "As you can see, Jake eventually grew into his feet. You are looking at the faces-young and old-of a gentle, docile dog who is great with children. And that´s a good thing, because 12 grandchildren come to visit Jake, and he lives half a block from an elementary school. That´s a lot of little noses to lick: Jake tries for every one. Dogs don´t understand photographs,so Jake probably isn´t engaged in any sort of bittersweet reverie here. He´s not being taunted by this image of his younger self. He isn´t wistfully contemplating the heartless assault of time. You are." I love drawing them and I love hearing stories about them.