Commissioned Portraits Part II - Boji Stone, Pekinese/Miniature Pincher (preliminary sketch)

Boji's preliminary sketch

For her motley crew, Lindsey chose 6" x 8" size canvasses, head shots with simple backgrounds/surroundings. Because all five individual portraits will most likely be hanging together, I want to make sure that the group has visual unity. So I'll start by drawing all five pets individually to see how they look together when regrouped, starting with Boji.

In the words of Boji's human mom Lindsey:

Boji Stone is by far the most spoiled of all the animals and he demands it to be this way. He is 6 years old and was found abandoned in a park when he was a puppy. After bottle feeding him and lots of TLC he grew into the overweight Peke-pin he is today. (Pekinese X Mini Pinscher) Boji is always in the middle of whatever the family is doing, especially dinner time. We are a vegetarian family but find my mother buying bacon when she visits just to make for Boji. He does not get along with other dogs so well and sometimes forces Ahlani to protect him after he's barked one too many times at another big dog. He is definitely the tiny ruler of the house.

Don't be fooled by this cutie-pie shot, Boji is the Napoleon of Lindsey's pack so I chose the photo below for his portrait.

It represents well his proud and confident personality. Although he's small in stature, the 'contre-plonge' shot gives him grandeur. I imagine that he gazes at his army or he's admiring the vastness of his realm.  With eyes, ears and a nose like that, he can see, hear and smell everything. How can he not be in the middle of it all? He's the king of the castle.