If ever there was an artwork I really loved drawing, it is this commissioned pastel portrait of Bruno.
Simply put, Bruno is a joy. He is large dog – 55 kilograms of love and happiness. Bruno loves meeting people and he makes friends everywhere he goes, charming people with his big brown eyes and his very waggy tail. He is an American Bulldog, and he belongs to my friend who kindly shares Bruno with me.
Art inspired by Bruno the Dog
It is thanks to Bruno that I started sketching in charcoal, and developed a fundraising project in support of a local dog rescue.
When my friend adopted Bruno last year from Help 4 Hounds, we fell in love with him straight away. It has been the best 18 months since this big, sweet dog came into our lives. We will be eternally grateful to all at Help 4 Hounds for making it possible, and ensuring that Bruno found all the love that he deserves. I want to help more dogs and people find one another, so inspired by Bruno’s journey, I am sketching pet dogs to raise much needed funds.
Fine art pastel portrait
When you mention pastel, most people probably have an image of something looser in style, perhaps a dusty, smudgy artwork, more impressionistic than realistic.
Detailed art has always been my passion. I was inspired by representational illustrations in books as a young child, and strove to find ways to draw like that as I grew. A few years ago I discovered Pastelmat, and although it took some getting used to, once I understood how to draw on this paper there was no looking back.
Combining pastel blocks, pastel pencils and Pastelmat paper, I am able to create highly detailed portraits of both animals and people. I will be writing a post about working with pastels in the near future, so keep an eye out for that if you would like to know more.
To give you an idea of the level of fine detail and precision that is possible with pastel, take a look at my commissioned portrait of Thinle and his magnificent beard.
Portraits of dearly loved pet dogs
And if like me, you love dogs, you will also enjoy this selection of pencil, coloured pencil and pastel portraits: Lula the Golden Retriever, Dexter the Parsons Jack Russell, Morse the Spaniel, Ivy the Pug and Bonny Miss Bonnie, the smiliest little dog you could wish to see.
