Muttley

Muttley © Peter Gander

Like buses, no paintings of dogs for years, then three come along at once ;) This one I did for Liz, a Christmas gift as it were, from my wife Fiona. Mutley’s a cross between a Lakeland Terrier and a Jack Russell, he’s down from Suffolk to stay for the night with us, so Stanley (our dog) will have company. They have already fought a few times, but now I think Stan understands that though this dog may be smaller, he is older, so he rules, even in Stan’s own house. That’s how the dog thing works. Anyway, from an artistic viewpoint, I worked from a photo but was very happy with the way that the sunlight effect came across with this uncompromising medium (watercolour). A very dry brush loaded subtly with Payne’s Grey dragged across the textured tooth of the paper assured a lovey texture, perfect for a rough-haired dog such as Muttley. You can see the texture of the paper in the upper green area where the (Winsor & Newton) paint pigment sinks into the pitted parts of the paper, becoming darker in those areas. The effect is lovely, a case of the painting partially at least, ‘painting itself’!