Shelby - An Answered Prayer, part III

When I'm being commissioned to paint the portrait of a beloved family pet, I always ask the client to tell me more about their pet. To learn why and how much this animal is or was appreciated and loved by his or her owner sets the tone of the painting. It's a wonderful source of inspiration for me and I feel that it makes the painting better. After all, I want the portrait to be a deeply meaningful image to its owner, not just a painted photocopy of an animal.

In Judy's case, first and foremost, her spirituality and faith is very obvious through words like "prayer" and "angel". And from what Carol had written about her, Judy is a true humanitarian. Through Judy's words about Shelby, you know right away that her little Yorkie is not just a pretty face, but she is strong, smart, mature and sensitive. Shelby, although tiny, occupies a huge place in Judy's life and in her heart.

She is after all, her little angel, an answered prayer.

Yesterday was spent hunting and gathering all my decorative elements for Shelby's portrait. I won't end up using everything I found, but it's good to have more, because I can compare and eliminate as I'm progressing. I found this beautiful Renaissance angel playing the lute. I'm thinking of painting angels playing musical instruments in the background in a claire-obscure fresco way. I can already see a beautiful jeweled cross pendent hanging from Shelby's neck. My light source, which will come from the left, may be coming from a crystal chandelier.

I'll see later if I will use it.

And last, but not least, the chair (a/k/a the throne) on which Shelby will be sitting. I find this element very important because it anchors Shelby in the composition. The challenge with very small dogs like Shelby is that they can easily be lost amongst the elements. I do not want the chair to "swallow" her up.

There were chairs that were too big, too light, too masculine, too feminine, too square and too round. And then there was this perfect little settee with a luxurious velvet cushion. I redesigned it to fit Shelby's scale.

Now on to sketching everything together.

Here is the preliminary sketch. I will leave it alone for a while, take some distance and see if tomorrow morning I'm still happy with it.