Animals As Well As People Have Their Own Opinions, Artist Found Out

Animals don't like to pose for a picture, and this is what distinguishes animal portrait painting from human portraiture. It takes a lot of hard work on the part of the artist to maintain the animal's attention. This is the forte of a Wilmington artist. She belongs to the well known family, the Delawares Her grandfather has this collection of sea and landscape paintings which were actually famous. At the young age of 3, this female artist began painting as well.

Animals dominated most of the drawings she made. She was 12 when she drew illustration for children's books and was younger still at the age of 10 when she had her first show. She learned all about the different types of dance with the help of dance teachers in Philadelphia. She did solo performances in dance for a long time and was even known for a very convincing death portrayal in one of her dances.

She makes portraits of various animals, though the dog remains her favorite. It is interesting to watch her as she begins doing the dog's portrait. She draws different sketches while the owner tries to keep the dog from moving too much.

While she tries to find the best pose that would suit the dog, her pencil just seems to fly over her sketchpad. All the while, she is making conversation to the dog and telling him what a great appearance he has. She uses props of all shapes and sizes to maintain the animal's interest. In getting pictures for her collection, she asks permission from the owner if she may have some of his photos of the dog duplicated. She collects hair from the dog's tail, ears, and tummy and tries to match their colors. The snips are organized according the dog who owns them.

Afterwards, she concerns herself with the pose of the dog and the composition with a suitable background. A composition is selected based on the type of dog or animal. She stayed in a duck blind and made sketches just for the portrait of one Chesapeake Bay retriever.

She believes that animals have viewpoints regarding something, just like humans. An American pointer proves this point when he crept up behind one artist and tore her painting apart with his teeth. The painting must have been terrible if the dog did that and had to be given large doses of medication after.

On the back of the portraits of beagles of bassets, she puts the kennel club's identifying symbols, and for the scenery in the picture, she includes a paw print. With her dog to aid her, she even made abstract backgrounds. Cooperation is not something animals frequently show. When one of the models ran off with one of the females, she knew that portrait painting was over for the day. Ordinary as it may be, it just shows that the unusual can take place when an animal's portrait is being made.