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Day 286: Art, Short for Arthur

Arthur (Watercolour)
Arthur (Watercolour)

It’s the birthday of one of my best friends in the whole world today…  and as often happens with distance, we don’t keep in touch nearly enough. I’d like to give her something special for her birthday so I’ve started to paint a picture of her first dog Arthur, who passed away a few years ago. He was a great guy, very loyal and playful, very funny too – he and Frank, my dog, were very good friends. Frank was a bit older and Arthur would follow him around as if Frank was his big brother, watching to see what he should be doing.

So, it’s taken a very long time to get the drawing correct to begin with, making it look like a dog wasn’t too hard but getting Arthur’s likeness was much more difficult. Having put in some background I’m now wishing I’d made a tracing of the drawing as well because I’m already not happy with it – the paper was drying very quickly so the wash isn’t smooth, it’s also a staining colour so it won’t lift. You can see where I’ve tried in a few places already.

Anyway, I’m not panicking, yet. I wish I’d tried the paper before I started and I should have done some practice washes first… hindsight is a glorious thing… but there’s a long way to go and I’m already late to present it so I can take my time 🙂